Above the Valley is a micro producer of about 48 cases each year, located on the lower slopes of the Atlas Peak Appellation. While not associated with the hot air balloon companies, their label was inspired by the hot air balloons commonly floating past their property in the mornings. The brand is owned by Rob Stahman and Jim Liefer with their marketing overseen by former Rutherford Grill wine buyer, Joe Ruck. Jim and Rob began looking for property in Napa Valley specifically for a place to live when they retired. They began their search in Calistoga; their real estate agent eventually told them about a small property perched on the lower hills of the Vaca mountains in Atlas Peak. They fell in love with the views and the location. And as Rob says, “we lucked out with this location”.
Less than an acre of Cabernet Sauvignon was growing next to the house with the grapes given to a painter every year, that the former owner knew well. The painter would make home wine and give some of the resulting bottles back to the property owner. Luis Navarro planted the vineyard in the 1980s; many of these original vines are still growing although over the decades disease or weak yielding vines have been replaced. Two rows of Chardonnay were originally planted but these have long since been grafted over to Cabernet Sauvignon. Today there are 22 rows, all of varying lengths, and all planted to Cabernet Sauvignon. Rob took extension courses at UC Davis to learn the basics of viticulture. Luis’s son Andreas son now oversees the management of this micro-vineyard.
Their first vintage under their ownership from the vineyard was in 2013; the wines were produced at Judd’s Hill Winery until 2020, taking advantage of their micro-winery services and location only, a less than 10-minute drive from their vineyard. The early vintages were made for personal consumption. Eventually after multiple vintages of home wine, they realized they had produced more wine than both men could ever drink. Production was moved to The Wine Foundry overseen by winemaker Patrick Saboe. Rob and Joe always participate in their blending sessions.
Their original wine label was called Dos Padres and its visual was a photograph of the vineyard that Rob’s sister took. In 2018 their packaging was handsomly rebranded by label designer, Kelly Partridge, introduced to them by Judd’s Hill. The elevation markers printed on the left side of the label lists their vineyard’s elevation as 750 feet above sea level. Rob chose this number after noticing the GPS/altimeter in his car always showed this number upon arriving at the property. When looking at designs, they were inspired by the local hot air balloon company, Balloons Above the Valley.
An even smaller block of 5 rows they used to refer to as the ‘side vineyard’ was removed in 2020. This never produced as good a quality of wine as the main vineyard. When this was completed, they added two more rows to the main block. And learning how the birds decimated the vineyard prior to their ownership, the vines are always netted in late summer prior to harvest. There are few vineyards in this immediate part of Atlas Peak; several neighbors grow small vineyards, including one producing home wine each year. The closet commercially producing vineyard is most likely Aequitas Vineyards.
Atlas Peak has a long history of wildfires. In 2017, the fires devastated both vineyards and homes throughout the appellation. Rob and Jim were in San Francisco when they heard about the fires. They spotted the fires already burning on their property and around their house from their remote cameras. But then the cameras shut off, either a result of the electricity going offline or the house burning. However, later they were able to still connect to their fire system alarm – and with a cautious sense of relief, realized the house may not have burned. Several weeks later, a friend visited the property and confirmed via text that their house had not burned, referencing an imaginary ‘force field’ which had kept the fire at bay.
Their vineyard consistently produces wines that show younger than their actual vintage. Regardless of the year, their wines are always energetic, showing both a freshness, brightness and integrated tannins, right out of the gate. These are very much food friendly wines. And they have the characteristics to age remarkably well. The wines are generally always close to 100% varietal with sometimes small amounts of other blending varieties included, always from Atlas Peak vineyards.
Select Wines
Rosé of Cabernet Sauvignon
Their 2020 crop was higher than normal, yielding 2 tons. Typical yields are usually between 1 and 1.5 tons. Because of the ash and smoke from the resulting Glass Fire, they decided to separate 1/2 of their grapes and produce a rosé. This was the first time they had ever produced a rosé from the property. Extra attention was given to the grapes this year; they used a garden hose to wash the clusters and also a leaf blower to dry them and blow away remaining ash. The grapes were again cleaned when they reached the winery.
The 2020 Above the Valley Rosé of Cabernet Vineyard is pale purple in color; its darker color is immediately noticeable, a result of the grapes left on the skins for a full day before being pressed. And this wine was made as an intentional rosé, direct to press rather than “saignée” or bleeding off the juice. The bouquet offers aromas of red cherry, raspberry, wild strawberry and white pepper. As it opens, it reveals a note of cran-apple. The acidity is soft and balanced. The palate sports flavors of raspberry, tart cherry, strawberry, not fully ripe red-plums reminding us of the red plums we harvest in late spring/early summer while riding our bike around Napa, cran-apple and not fully ripe boysenberry. Easy drinking. Its texture is lightly creamy, rounded and lingers with lightly grainy tannins. The finish is as bright as a halogen lamp, mouthwatering and fresh. For reference, we tasted this wine 5 years post vintage.
Cabernet Sauvignon
The 2021 Above the Valley Cabernet Sauvignon, Atlas Peak Napa Valley; this wine is deep ruby in color and nearly opaque. Two baking spice aromatics immediately jump out at this age: cinnamon and cardamon, reminding us of the Biskoff cookies we have enjoyed as airplane snacks on numerous flights over the years. Its scents are red fruited and distinctive, and we hope we could identify this in a blind tasting against their other vintages. The fruit becomes more expressive as the wine evolves including aromas of raspberry, blueberry and cherry pie. And a thread of suede. Lively, juicy and energetic, yet also balanced, this wine is crafted to drink now or cellar for many years. Its flavors include raspberry, red plum, red cherry, currant and cranberry, but without the astringency that this fruit is known for. The tannins are gravelly, with a grainy texture and linger with a light dusty character that fully coats the palate. Finishes red-fruited and tart, mouthwatering, refreshing and savory. This bottling is a standout vintage from this vineyard.
The 2020 Above the Valley Cabernet Sauvignon, Atlas Peak Napa Valley is deep ruby in color; its aromas are red fruited and well layered. The star of this vintage despite the hardships during harvest, is clearly the fruit. Its scents include cherry pie, raspberry, red plums and currant. And additional layers including of dried herbs and suede. Soft, balanced and easy drinking, this wine is in a comfortable place right now, 5 years post vintage. Not a technical term, but the first words we thought of to describe its overall cadence is crowd friendly. The finish lingers dusty, with notes of pipe tobacco, smoked sage and dense but rounded and fully palate coating tannins. Their texture persists well beyond the fruit on the finish.
The 2019 Above the Valley Cabernet Sauvignon, Atlas Peak Napa Valley is deep ruby; red fruited, its aromas include raspberry, cherry, sweet tobacco spice, dried tobacco spice, dried herbs and attractive sweeter spices including cardamom, cinnamon and cloves. Bright, fresh and completely expressing the red fruited character that this vineyard consistently produces, its flavors are of raspberry, tart cherry, red plum, red currants and cranberries. Finishes savory with sage, an earthy chalky character, and a hint of dried bay leaf. Lifted high by its vivacious acidity, the finish is energetic and fresh. Its tannins linger beyond the fruit with a dusty and gravelly character. This wine is showing in a sweet spot right now 6 years post vintage and has loads of life ahead of it, as in several decades.
The 2018 Above the Valley Cabernet Sauvignon, Atlas Peak Napa Valley is medium to deep ruby in color; the bouquet is red fruited including of raspberry, red cherry and Santa Rosa plum accompanied by white chocolate, a kiss of cedar, tobacco spices and a light assortment of sweet baking spices. Fresh, lively and still highly youthful 7 years post vintage, the palate is brightly lit, spicy and red fruited with flavors of currant, cranberry, pomegranate and rhubarb and a lingering herbal note including sage and assorted dried herbs. Soft as running one’s fingers across a thick cashmere sweater, the tannins are fully rounded and resolved, lingering with a lightly grainy character. 14.2% ABV. Texturally this might be the softest of the vintages we tried.
The 2014 Dos Padres Cabernet Sauvignon, Atlas Peak Napa Valley; this wine is deep ruby and opaque. The bouquet smells higher toned and sports scents of red plum, raspberry, cherry, currant and cranberry, rose petals and violets. Its aromatics still show plenty of primary fruit characteristics with only a light bottle bouquet at this age, 11 years post vintage. But it also features a spicy and savory character including of pink peppercorn and dried herbs. On the palate there are flavors of tart cherry, red currant, cranberry and rhubarb. The finish lingers with some herbal notes. Palate cleansing. Lingers savory and dark, but still brightly lit based upon its fresh acidity. Tart finish. Mouth watering. Gravelly tannins. A dusty character persists. This wine shows fresher than the vintage date would indicate.
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Above the Valley is a member of the Atlas Peak Appellation Association. The first ever consumer tasting Above the Valley participated in was the Atlas Peak Apellation tasting hosted at the former William Hill Winery on May 17, 2025. This is where we first discovered this tiny brand. The wines are currently only available directly through the website, although a limited number of bottles may at some point in the future be available from select wine shops in San Francisco. For more information or to purchase wine, visit: www.abovethevalley.com
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