Founder
Hank Wetzel
Founder and Family Partner, Alexander Valley Vineyards
- Discipline
- Founder
Portrait of Hank Wetzel
i. Biography
Hank Wetzel is the founder and family partner of Alexander Valley Vineyards in Healdsburg, California, where he and Linda Wetzel founded the bonded winery in 1975 and produced the winery’s first wine that same year. He studied Fermentation Science at the University of California, Davis, graduating in 1974, and built the winery from a senior project plan into a business that expanded from 7,000 cases to more than 180,000 cases. Wetzel also helped lead the committee that secured Alexander Valley’s AVA status and was honored by Sonoma County Vintners as a 2025 Sonoma County Icon.
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