Foss Valley, above the fog

On September 23, 2026, Jean-Charles Boisset bought Artesa Estate from Raventos Codorniu. The sale took the brand, the 350-acre Carneros property, the tasting room, and the bottles already in the cellar. He is putting JCB on that hill, and the wines that were already in the house had to go.

Foss Valley Ranch sits on Atlas Peak, up around 1,500 feet, where the fog gives up and the cabernet keeps hanging. Two extra weeks on the vine. The 2019 is 99 percent Cabernet Sauvignon and 1 percent Petit Verdot, and the winery made 425 cases. This is mountain fruit with a spine, the kind of cabernet people expect to pay the winery price for.

What does cabernet taste like when it hangs two extra weeks above the fog on Atlas Peak and the bottle is $35?

Blackberry, cassis, and plum open the glass. Dried fig and dried sage follow, and the tannin stays firm without turning hard. The winery still shows this bottle at $155. Here it is only $35, and the wine is terrific.

Volcanic ground on Atlas Peak

The ground is volcanic, old igneous rock worn down on the west side of the Vaca range. The 2019 harvest came in October. The crew picked at night, then sorted every cluster and every berry. The fog never reaches this fruit. The days stay warm, and the nights at that height cool the grapes back down.

That extra hang time is the whole point of the site. The lots were fermented apart, on the yeast that came in with the grapes. A flawless mountain cabernet starts there, before a barrel ever gets a vote.

Blackberry, fig, and firm tannin

Pour it and the blackberry hits first. Cassis and plum come with it, then the fig and the sage, and the glass stays lively instead of turning sweet. The lots rested in French oak for about 22 months. The fruit never left, and the tannin came out polished.

A ribeye with blackberry and sage is the plate this wine wants. Lamb with dried fig does the same work from the other side. The herb is already in the glass, and the tannin has the meat to lean on. It is a flawless glass of Atlas Peak cabernet.

A pyramid in the Carneros hill

Codorniu, the old winemaking family from Spain, opened this estate in Los Carneros in 1991 and named it Artesa. The building at 1345 Henry Road is a white pyramid set into the hill above a water court, a little piece of Barcelona in the Napa light. You take the stairs, and the whole valley opens in front of you.

These bottles are from that cellar, and the price is the part that should stop you. This cabernet is the Atlas Peak bottle, Foss Valley Ranch, and it is only $35 against the winery price of $155.

Ribeye with blackberry, and lamb with fig

Blackberry and cassis want a steak with a real crust. A ribeye with blackberry and a sage leaf takes the fruit and the herb in the wine and puts them on the plate.

Lamb chops with dried fig and sage follow the same note. The firm tannin has the meat to work against, and the fig is already in the glass.