Hawkes Wine

About Winery and Wines

The Hawkes Family has been growing grapes in the Alexander Valley for forty years. Today, the Hawkes family farms over eighty-five acres of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, and Chardonnay vineyards in the southern half of Alexander Valley, all planted on sparsely-soiled hillsides, all yielding small amounts of intense fruit. In bottling small lots of Hawkes Wine, we aim to translate our extraordinary standards for the quality of our grapes into extraordinary wine, estate grown and produced in Alexander Valley, Sonoma County. You’ll know if you’ve had our wines. We’re here drinking wine every day, come join us!

The Stone Vineyard itself takes the shape of a small valley, with Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot planted in the thin chalky soils of its surrounding hills and Chardonnay growing in the slightly richer soils of the foothills below. As a result of this layout, the Cabernet and Merlot receive the benefit of greater exposure to the elements and exceptional drainage, while the Chardonnay often spends much of the day shrouded in the fog flowing off the Pacific Ocean and through the Russian River Valley. The Stone Vineyard’s unique geography, together with minimal irrigation and a program of aggressive thinning in the Spring, ends with the red grapes in loose clusters of thick-skinned, densely flavored berries. This is particularly true of the Cabernet Sauvignon, where the upper hills often yield less than two tons to the acre. The Chardonnay, because of the extended cool it enjoys, is allowed to ripen slowly and late, developing a complex citrus character. The Red Winery Vineyard, 22 acres in all, is planted in Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot. It is a long, narrow rectangle, running from the floor of the Alexander Valley, up to the base of the Mayacamas Mountains. We have been working this farm for more than 30 years now, searching for root stocks to match the field’s unusually varied soils. That we chose the Red Winery Vineyard for the source of our inaugural vintage is a testament to the fine results of this long effort.