Arnot-Roberts, founded in 2001 by Duncan Arnot Meyers and Nathan Lee Roberts, built its reputation on restraint: cool or high-elevation sites, native fermentations and very little new oak. Fellom Ranch shows that philosophy at its most compelling. The vineyard sits at roughly 2,200 feet on Monte Bello Ridge in the Santa Cruz Mountains, the same ridge Ridge Vineyards made famous. Its steep, dry-farmed slopes of fractured serpentinite and shale see wide swings between day and night temperatures, yielding Cabernet with mountain concentration, savory depth and modest sugar levels.

The 2022 fermented with native yeasts and spent 20 months in neutral French oak barrels, letting the site speak louder than the wood. The result is old-school California Cabernet: tart cassis, dark plum, graphite, cedar, dried bay leaf and crushed rock, all held together by a chiseled tannic spine.

Why You'll Love It

• Mountain Cabernet from one of California's most celebrated ridgelines.
• Restraint-driven, with moderate alcohol and lively natural acidity.
• Cassis, pencil lead, dried sage, tobacco leaf and iron on the nose.
• Firm, fine-grained tannins and a long, savory finish.
• A cellar-worthy bottle that will keep improving well into the 2040s.

How To Serve It

• Serve at cool room temperature, 60-64°F.
• Decant for 1 to 1.5 hours to soften its mountain tannins.
• Bordeaux stems will frame its classic, structured profile.
• Pair with dry-aged ribeye and rosemary garlic butter, an herb-crusted rack of lamb, or venison loin with juniper and blackberry.