Coup de Foudre Winery

2023 Lightning Bolt | 97 Points
Jan 2026

The 2023 Lightning Bolt Cabernet Sauvignon is 100% Cabernet Sauvignon, a barrel selection of the six best barrels. Deep garnet-purple in color, notes of juicy plums, boysenberries, and blackcurrant jelly leap from the glass, opening out to underlying lavender, dried mint, crushed rocks, and hints of fallen leaves. The full-bodied palate is straight-laced with a lot of gravitas, featuring savory-laced black fruit layers and a firm, grainy texture, finishing with lots of freshness and energy.
— Lisa Perrotti-Brown

2023 Cabernet Sauvignon | 96 Points
Jan 2026

The 2023 Cabernet Sauvignon is a blend of 92% Cabernet Sauvignon, 2% Cabernet Franc, and 6% Petit Verdot. Deep garnet-purple in color, it gallops out with powerful notes of juicy plums and cassis, giving way to hints of Provence herbs, pencil shavings, and black olives, plus a touch of iron ore. The full-bodied palate is tight-knit and intense, framed by very firm, grainy tannins and fantastic tension, finishing long and ferrous.
— Lisa Perrotti-Brown

2023 Pinot Noir | 95 Points
Jan 2026

The 2023 Pinot Noir sports a medium ruby-purple color. It erupts from the glass with powerful scents of juicy black cherries, wild blueberries, and pomegranate, followed by hints of violets, underbrush, spearmint, and wild thyme. The full-bodied palate is silky and crisp, delivering decadent black and blue fruit layers, finishing with a lingering mintiness.
— Lisa Perrotti-Brown

2024 Sauvignon Blanc | 95 Points
Jan 2026

The 2024 Sauvignon Blanc skyrockets out of the glass with notes of passion fruit and pink grapefruit, followed by an undercurrent of white peaches, elderflower, and lime leaves with a waft of sea spray. The medium to full-bodied palate bursts with bold tropical and citrus flavors, supported by a crisp backbone and decadently satiny texture, with a very long finish.
— Lisa Perrotti-Brown

2023 Lightning Bolt | 96 Points
Aug 2025

A fruit-forward blend of Rhone grape varieties and Bordeaux reds from the Calistoga AVA, with light tannins wrapping up vivid, rather crisp red fruit and a lightly tannic mouthfeel. The grapes are grenache, petit verdot, merlot, syrah and cabernet franc. Full-bodied but balanced. Drink or hold. — Jim Gordon

2023 Cabernet Sauvignon | 94 Points
October 2025

A six-barrel selection from an Atlas Peak vineyard at 1,600 feet above sea level, Coup de Founder's 2023 Cabernet Sauvignon Lightning Bolt is a muscular, full-bodied wine. Rich and concentrated, it's loaded with black cherries and some slightly tarry notes while being tannic and long—even a bit chewy. Give it several years in the cellar. — Joe Czerwinski