His career path eventually led him to Sonoma County, where he worked at Chateau Souverain in Geyserville, Hotel La Rose in Santa Rosa, the Plaza Street Grill and Tre Scalini in Healdsburg, among others. His stint as chef de cuisine at Tre Scalini came at the peak of that now defunct restaurant's popularity. But like a lot of restaurants, it's hard to stay at that level. At the Swiss-owned Cuvaison in Napa Valley, Young got his first taste of being a winery chef, serving lunches five days a week for invited guests. In 1998, he was hired by the Wetzel family, just as their historic Alexander Valley winery was gearing up for its 25th anniversary.
People come here from around the country.
They taste the food and wine together, and it makes a huge impression. I'm constantly amazed that big wineries don't have chefs. Alexander Valley Vineyards currently has 160 acres of premium variety grapes planted, from the top of the ridge down to the river, and produces 100,000 cases of wine a year. Their red wines include cabernet sauvignon, merlot, pinot noir, cabernet franc, syrah and a limited production, handcrafted red wine blend called Cyrus. White wines include a chardonnay and reserve chardonnay, chenin blanc, viognier, and a new gewurztraminer that is fermented for six weeks and bottled in November.