Arnot-Roberts Fellom Ranch Cabernet Sauvignon, Santa Cruz Mountains, USA 2019

Arnot-Roberts was founded in Healdsburg in 2001 by childhood friends Duncan Arnot Meyers and Nathan Lee Roberts. Beginning with one barrel of wine made in their basement, the winery started small and grew slowly by sourcing grapes from some of the most remarkable vineyards in California. Duncan and Nathan grew up together in the Napa Valley and from an early age were immersed in the rhythm of agrarian life surrounded by the vineyards and winemaking of the early 1980’s. Both of their families, while not directly involved in winemaking, were deeply rooted in the community as chefs, coopers, teachers and attorneys in what, at the time, was a small up and coming wine region. After college, the duo followed their passion into the wine industry with Nathan joining his father as a cooper of oak wine barrels and Duncan pursuing winemaking in several renowned wineries in Napa and Sonoma counties.

"The 2019 Cabernet Sauvignon Fellom Ranch is the most broodingly tannic wine in this range. Readers will have to be patient, as the 2019 is incredibly tightly wound today. Time in the glass brings out all of that Santa Cruz Mountains savoriness and intensity. Leather, iron, scorched earth and tobacco fill out the layers over time. Fellom Ranch typically produces small berries and small juice yields. That natural intensity is especially evident in the 2019." Vinous 94