George Davis began Porter Creek in 1977 when he purchased 40 acres of land in Sonoma, adjacent to Porter Creek, in the most prestigious part of the Russian River appellation, before Russian River Valley was an appellation. He planted 10 acres of Chardonnay in addition to the 12 acres of Pinot Noir that were already on the land. His first vintage was in 1982. He worked for the next 15 years, paying no attention to shifting wine trends, with the focus of expressing the unique terroirs of the Russian River Valley. In 1997 his son Alex took over the winemaking. Alex had grown up learning how to operate every aspect of the winery, studied enology and viticulture at Fresno State and Dijon, and trained in Dijon and in the Rhône Valley. Like his father, Alex chooses to ignore popular style shifts, and works with a focus on organic, biodynamic, hillside-grown, vineyard-designated wines primarily from their Russian River estate. Rigorous attention is paid both to the soil and the vines to ensure the entire vineyard is operating in harmony. Alex shows rare dedication, passion and attention to detail and produces some of the most balanced, elegant, and refined wines in America.