Founded by master Cabernet-maker Richard Arrowood in 1986, after he'd built Chateau St. Jean's reputation, Arrowood has stayed focused on age-worthy Sonoma Cabernet across four decades and three ownerships. The hillside Glen Ellen tasting room offers a wraparound veranda and views of Sonoma Mountain. Now part of Jackson Family Wines.
Richard Arrowood was already a master Sonoma winemaker when he and his wife Alis founded Arrowood Vineyards & Winery in 1986. Working previously at Chateau St. Jean, Arrowood had established his reputation for Bordeaux-style Sonoma wines, and his eponymous label was meant to be the more focused, terroir-driven expression of that work. The Glen Ellen property — a New England farmhouse-style building perched on an eastern hillside above Sonoma Valley — has changed ownership multiple times since the Arrowoods sold to Robert Mondavi Corporation in 2000. After Constellation Brands acquired Mondavi in 2004, the winery passed through Legacy Estates Group before being acquired by Jackson Family Wines, where it remains today. Through all of it, the program has stayed Cabernet-centered, drawing from three Sonoma AVAs that the winery considers ideal for the variety: Knights Valley, Alexander Valley, and Sonoma Valley itself.
Réserve Spéciale Cabernet Sauvignon, Sonoma County — The flagship; the vintage's top Cabernet barrels aged 24 months, blended, then returned to barrel for six more.
Knights Valley Cabernet Sauvignon — A powerful, terroir-driven Cabernet from one of Arrowood's signature warm-climate sites.
Sonoma Valley Cabernet Sauvignon — Estate-area Cabernet from the warm pocket below the Mayacamas Ridge.
Syrah — A nod to founder Dick Arrowood's acclaimed 1990s Syrah program.
Chardonnay — A vineyard-designated white in the style that first made Arrowood's name.
Today Arrowood produces around 25,000–30,000 cases a year, with roughly a third dedicated to Cabernet Sauvignon — including the flagship Réserve Spéciale, aged 24 months in barrel before blending and another six months after. Chardonnay, Syrah, Merlot, and a small Viognier program round out the lineup. Tastings take place either around the fireplace inside the farmhouse or out on the wraparound veranda overlooking Sonoma Mountain. The signature experience pairs four hand-crafted wines; the Premium Cabernet Tasting offers four limited-production Cabernets side by side. Vineyards are sustainably and organically farmed across the broader Sonoma County estate program. Open daily 11–4:30, by reservation, with same-day appointments often available.
Born in San Diego and raised in Missouri, Kristina Shideler caught the wine bug on European trips her mother led for college students, fascinated by the way wine and food reflect a place. She double-majored in biochemistry and agricultural economics at the University of Missouri, interned with a local winemaker, then entered UC Davis's Viticulture & Enology master's program, adding harvests in New Zealand and stints at Niepoort in Portugal and Bodega Caelum in Argentina. After a 2011 internship at Vérité and roles at Stonestreet from 2012, she was named winemaker at Arrowood in 2015 and head winemaker at Stonestreet in 2022, leading both Jackson Family estates. Her passion is mountain-grown Bordeaux varieties from high-elevation sites along the western Mayacamas, with a vineyard-focused philosophy that seeks balance in the field rather than the cellar.
Arrowood bears the name of Richard Arrowood, one of Sonoma’s most decorated winemakers, and his wife and partner, Alis. Richard spent sixteen years as the founding winemaker of Chateau St. Jean — pioneering some of the county’s first vineyard-designated Chardonnays and Cabernets — before he and Alis launched their own label in the mid-1980s, building a New England-style farmhouse winery on a hillside south of Glen Ellen. Alis ran the business while Richard chased a non-interventionist ideal across Sonoma’s finest fruit, earning the winery a legendary reputation for Cabernet Sauvignon before the couple’s later retirement.
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Réserve Spéciale Cabernet Sauvignon, Sonoma County — The flagship; the vintage's top Cabernet barrels aged 24 months, blended, then returned to barrel for six more.
Knights Valley Cabernet Sauvignon — A powerful, terroir-driven Cabernet from one of Arrowood's signature warm-climate sites.
Sonoma Valley Cabernet Sauvignon — Estate-area Cabernet from the warm pocket below the Mayacamas Ridge.
Syrah — A nod to founder Dick Arrowood's acclaimed 1990s Syrah program.
Chardonnay — A vineyard-designated white in the style that first made Arrowood's name.
Richard Arrowood was already a master Sonoma winemaker when he and his wife Alis founded Arrowood Vineyards & Winery in 1986. Working previously at Chateau St. Jean, Arrowood had established his reputation for Bordeaux-style Sonoma wines, and his eponymous label was meant to be the more focused, terroir-driven expression of that work. The Glen Ellen property — a New England farmhouse-style building perched on an eastern hillside above Sonoma Valley — has changed ownership multiple times since the Arrowoods sold to Robert Mondavi Corporation in 2000. After Constellation Brands acquired Mondavi in 2004, the winery passed through Legacy Estates Group before being acquired by Jackson Family Wines, where it remains today. Through all of it, the program has stayed Cabernet-centered, drawing from three Sonoma AVAs that the winery considers ideal for the variety: Knights Valley, Alexander Valley, and Sonoma Valley itself.
Today Arrowood produces around 25,000–30,000 cases a year, with roughly a third dedicated to Cabernet Sauvignon — including the flagship Réserve Spéciale, aged 24 months in barrel before blending and another six months after. Chardonnay, Syrah, Merlot, and a small Viognier program round out the lineup. Tastings take place either around the fireplace inside the farmhouse or out on the wraparound veranda overlooking Sonoma Mountain. The signature experience pairs four hand-crafted wines; the Premium Cabernet Tasting offers four limited-production Cabernets side by side. Vineyards are sustainably and organically farmed across the broader Sonoma County estate program. Open daily 11–4:30, by reservation, with same-day appointments often available.
Born in San Diego and raised in Missouri, Kristina Shideler caught the wine bug on European trips her mother led for college students, fascinated by the way wine and food reflect a place. She double-majored in biochemistry and agricultural economics at the University of Missouri, interned with a local winemaker, then entered UC Davis's Viticulture & Enology master's program, adding harvests in New Zealand and stints at Niepoort in Portugal and Bodega Caelum in Argentina. After a 2011 internship at Vérité and roles at Stonestreet from 2012, she was named winemaker at Arrowood in 2015 and head winemaker at Stonestreet in 2022, leading both Jackson Family estates. Her passion is mountain-grown Bordeaux varieties from high-elevation sites along the western Mayacamas, with a vineyard-focused philosophy that seeks balance in the field rather than the cellar.
Arrowood bears the name of Richard Arrowood, one of Sonoma’s most decorated winemakers, and his wife and partner, Alis. Richard spent sixteen years as the founding winemaker of Chateau St. Jean — pioneering some of the county’s first vineyard-designated Chardonnays and Cabernets — before he and Alis launched their own label in the mid-1980s, building a New England-style farmhouse winery on a hillside south of Glen Ellen. Alis ran the business while Richard chased a non-interventionist ideal across Sonoma’s finest fruit, earning the winery a legendary reputation for Cabernet Sauvignon before the couple’s later retirement.
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