The Next Big Thing in California Cabernet—Straight from Santa Cruz Mountains

K&L Wine Merchants

98-Point Santa Cruz Cabernet from Monte Bello’s Neighbor
2021 I. Brand & Family "Fellom Ranch"
Santa Cruz Mountains Cabernet Sauvignon ($74.95)
"It retains an impressive level of freshness throughout its full-bodied boldness, showing structure and elegance within an undeniable level of intensity.”
—Jeb Dunnuck, 98 Points

Sharing a fence line with the legendary Ridge Monte Bello, the Fellom Ranch Vineyard is another historic gem in the Santa Cruz Mountains, long known for producing world-class, long-lived Cabernet Sauvignon of real distinction. Ian Brand sources fruit from two old-vine blocks planted in 1980 and 1982 to a heritage Beringer clone—east- and north-facing parcels rooted in limestone-rich soils.

Intent on showcasing the aromatic intensity and vitality of these mature vines, Ian ages the wine in a large-format Austrian Stockinger cask, allowing purity and nuance to take center stage. The result is a Cabernet of striking finesse and quiet power—lifted and perfumed with red and black fruit, crushed rock minerality, and layers of camphor, sagebrush, leather, and leafy tobacco.

While beautifully refined and approachable in its youth thanks to polished tannins, this is a wine built for the long haul. With time, it will reward patience with even greater depth and complexity—a true benchmark of site, heritage, and craft.

-Ryan Woodhouse, K&L Domestic Wine Buyer

2021 I. Brand & Family "Fellom Ranch" Santa Cruz Mountains Cabernet Sauvignon ($74.95)

98 points Jeb Dunnuck: "From a site at 2,200-feet elevation and a vineyard named for a former state senator, 2021 Cabernet Sauvignon Fellom Ranch Montebello Road is generously floral in perfumed red fruit and an abundance of iron. Grippy and concentrated, it retains an impressive level of freshness throughout its full-bodied boldness, showing structure and elegance within an undeniable level of intensity that speaks to the extreme nature of the grapes' growing conditions." (04/2025)

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