Deep Cover: Collectible Classic!

Get this. It’s been 8 long years since we brought you an Arrowood, and that was the 2013 vintage. And today, we’re back with a 10-year-young library release, the FLAGSHIP 2014 Réserve Spéciale!

First made in 1991, Press Democrat recently picked the Réserve Spéciale as one of “the 100 most amazing wines in Sonoma County” stating that “founder Richard Arrowood gave this wine its name to indicate it had “special reserve” quality. It still does…”

In a 2020 Wine Spectator highlight Tim Fish reported that “to mark 50 years in the business, Arrowood staged a vintage retrospective. I was impressed. His Chateau St. Jean Cabernet Sauvignon Sonoma Valley Glen Ellen Vineyards 1977 and Chateau St. Jean Cabernet Sauvignon Sonoma Valley Laurel Glen Vineyards 1975 were incredibly youthful, and the Arrowood Cabernet Sauvignon Sonoma County Réserve Spéciale 1997 was stunning.”

So is this 2014 today! A regal, balanced, complete wine from this team that offers beautiful minerality as well as bramble, crème de cassis, violets, and tobacco. Remarkably elegant and seamless, it surely shines for rarely seen purity and balance. What a blue chip!

Wine Advocate also added “I just don’t remember them being quite this good! This may be partly explained by the vintage and partly by the arrival in 2014 of winemaker Kristina Shideler. ‘As much of an opportunity it is to continue the legacy of a very classic California producer, I also have a vision for these vineyard sites and want to show that Sonoma County Cabernet can be among some of the best in the world,’ she says. Bravo to the evolution at Arrowood. I can’t wait to see what the future has in store for this property.”

Well, folks, seize this fleeting moment, the FUTURE is NOW.

95 Points – Robert Parker’s Wine Advocate

“Deep garnet-purple colored, the 2014 Cabernet Sauvignon Réserve Spéciale has a black forest cake and crème de cassis-scented nose with touches of charcoal, black soil, mocha and salami plus a hint of cigar box. Medium to full-bodied, the palate is packed with black fruit and savory layers with beautifully ripe, fine-grained tannins and just enough freshness, finishing with great persistence. Drink 2017-2035.”