{"id":2085,"date":"2022-04-28T16:07:23","date_gmt":"2022-04-28T16:07:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/powertasting.com\/?p=2085"},"modified":"2022-04-28T16:07:23","modified_gmt":"2022-04-28T16:07:23","slug":"arrowood-winery","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/powertasting.com\/?p=2085","title":{"rendered":"Arrowood Winery"},"content":{"rendered":"

Back in our earlier years of wine tasting in California, there was Napa Valley and only Napa Valley.\u00a0 Oh, we had heard that there was wine being made on the other side of the mountain in Sonoma County, so occasionally we\u2019d take the Oakville Grade and find our way to Route 12 in Glen Ellen.\u00a0 Turn right and we could visit Arrowood\u2026if we could find it.\u00a0 The problem was (and is) that the turnoff road for Arrowood (www.arrowood.com<\/a>) is shared with another winery and that one\u2019s sign is more prominent.\u00a0 So we would drive right by.<\/p>\n

If you see a sign for Imagery, be aware that that\u2019s Arrowood too, and there are still some very good reasons to take that turn.<\/p>\n

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The tasting room at Arrowood, with its great view.\u00a0 Photo courtesy of Winetraveler.<\/em><\/p>\n

The first is the beauty of the setting.\u00a0 Arrowood\u2019s tasting room sits atop a rise and there is a wide panoramic window that provides a view of the vineyards and a swath of Sonoma scenery.\u00a0 If you care for wine with a view<\/a> (and we do) Arrowood has a lot to offer.\u00a0 The building itself seems like an upscale farmhouse, but it\u2019s a bit difficult to take in because it is best seen while driving up the hill.\u00a0 Better to keep you eyes on the road.<\/p>\n

The winery is named for its founder, Richard Arrowood.\u00a0 Now retired, his career reads like a history of Sonoma winemaking.\u00a0 He began at Korbel in 1965; then at Rodney Strong; was the first winemaker at Chateau St. Jean and then opened his own winery in 1985.\u00a0 The winery has changed hands several times over the years and is now in the Jackson Family collection, with Richard staying involved through 2010.<\/p>\n

He has been a strong proponent of Cabernet Sauvignon from Sonoma County and the wines you will sample there lean heavily in that direction.\u00a0 The winery used to make a Syrah that we particularly liked, but that no longer seems to be the case.\u00a0 They source grapes from all around the county: their own estate in Sonoma Valley, whites from Russian River, Alexander Valley and Knights Valley.\u00a0 This alone is a reason to have a tasting at Arrowood.\u00a0 With one winemaking team, the differences among the wines must be reflective of the terroirs where the grapes are grown.\u00a0 In general, we have found the servers to be knowledgeable and helpful, especially in describing the different vineyards.<\/p>\n

If you happen to be tasting in December, you\u2019ll find the tasting room to be pleasantly decorated for the season, with a fire going in the fireplace.\u00a0 It reflects the elegant hominess that is a hallmark of Arrowood, both the winery and the wines.<\/p>\n

Arrowood\u2019s story in many ways echoes that of top-end California winemaking.\u00a0 It has a reputation and a style built around its founder, a Sonoma County pioneer.\u00a0 It has been sold and re-sold and now belongs to a multi-label corporation.\u00a0 While Jackson is best known for its low-end wines, the company does own quite a few well-respected vineyards.\u00a0 It seems that Arrowood is left to its own stylistic devices; still, there is a similarity among its wines and among Sonoma County Cabernet Sauvignons generally.\u00a0 Is this a good thing or the opposite?\u00a0 Each taster needs to make up his or her own mind.<\/p>\n

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Back in our earlier years of wine tasting in California, there was Napa Valley and only Napa Valley.\u00a0 Oh, we had heard that there was wine being made on the other side of the mountain in Sonoma County, so occasionally we\u2019d take the Oakville Grade and find our way to Route 12 in Glen Ellen.\u00a0 … Continue reading Arrowood Winery<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2085"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2085"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2085\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2087,"href":"https:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2085\/revisions\/2087"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2085"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2085"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2085"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}