One of the newer estates under the Jackson Family umbrella, Bootleg is managed by Kristy Melton, who’s turned out a brilliant Syrah blend in 2015. Made from 85% Syrah and 15% Petite Sirah, its deep purple color is followed by a peppery, meaty, dark fruited beauty that has full-bodied richness, complex notes of olives and spice, sweet tannin, and a great finish. It’s a pleasure-bent 2015 that should keep for a decade.

This opaque and midnight purple colored red blend from Bootleg opens with a blackberry bouquet with a hint of blueberry in the background. On the palate, this wine is full bodied, rich and extracted. The flavor profile is an extracted blackberry jam with notes of boysenberry and oak. I also detected hints of chocolate and stewed plum in the background. The finish, features lengthy tannins that are very sticky. This wine has been recently released and now I know why it was held back. That said, there is no way readers will guess this wine is mostly Merlot. It could easily sit in the cellar for many years. If you are interested in it in the near term, decant it and serve it with Roy’s rib-roast. It was still showing strong on day three.

Publisher's Picks From its caramel-pear nose to its spectacular silky texture, this is certainly a stunning wine from the winery's collaboration with Drew Barrymore. The blend of 79% Pinot Grigio and 21% Chardonnay really addresses its mouthfeel and flavor profile. Crisp white grapefruit, lychee, and peach tones are lifted due to 100% stainless steel fermentation, and white pepper dots the finish.

A mind-boggling effort, the 2007 Pinot Blanc Saralee's Vineyard is one of the finest Pinot Blancs I have ever tasted. Arrowood can perform magic with this varietal, and the 2007 (100% barrel fermented and put through 100% malolactic) must be tasted to be believed. Exotic aromas of honeyed melon, mango, lychee nut, and orange rind jump from the glass of this crisp, elegant, medium-bodied, super-fruity, precise, steely Pinot Blanc. While loaded with flavor, it comes across as delicate yet substantial. Sadly, there are only 250 cases of this big time sleeper of the vintage.

The 2010 Syrah Saralee's Vineyard is another intense, powerful wine loaded with fruit. The addition of 6% Viognier gives the 2010 an attractive lift. Black cherries, savory herbs, licorice, smoke and game all burst from the glass. The 2010 combines great expression of fruit with plenty of cooler-climate aromas and flavors, all supported by firm yet well-integrated tannins. This is a terrific showing from Arrowood. The 2010 is arguably the finest value in this portfolio. Anticipated maturity: 2013-2020.

USA, Northern California, Napa Valley: 2016 & 2017 – A Tale of Two Vintages The 2015 Cabernet Sauvignon Smothers Remick Ridge Vineyard (100% Cabernet Sauvignon) is deep garnet-purple colored and features open-knit scents of warm cassis, blackberry pie and blueberry compote with touches of dark chocolate, bay leaves and tobacco leaf plus a waft of lavender. Full-bodied and packed with taut, muscular fruit, it has a firm backbone of ripe, grainy tannins and plenty of background freshness, finishing long.

This pitch black colored Cabernet Sauvignon from Arrowood really impressed out mini-tasting group. It opens with a black currant bouquet with a hint of oak and faint leather. On the palate, this wine is medium to full bodied, nicely balanced and a little juicy. The flavor profile is very complex with several layers. It starts with a tasty mild black cherry and oak blend with mild minerality mixed in. I also detected hints of olive, before closing with some coconut and black coffee on the after taste. The finish is dry and its moderate tannins build up and stick around for quite some time. This Cab held up very well over a period of three days. I would decant it and pair this wine with a marbled ribeye steak.

Deep garnet-purple in color, the 2014 Cabernet Sauvignon Monte Rosso Vineyards is sporting its cedar upfront at this youthful stage, with a spicy, warm black berry and plums core with hints of menthol and potpourri plus a touch of smoked meats. Medium-bodied with a generous black fruit and savory/meaty profile, it has a chewy texture and long refreshing finish.

Arrowood's 2014 Cabernet Sauvignon Réserve Spéciale is a powerful, unctuous wine with tons of fruit density and more than enough structure to balance things out. Super-ripe dark cherry, plum, chocolate, sage, grilled herbs leather, spice and menthol all flesh out in this bold, flavorful Cabernet Sauvignon.

Dark and dense, smooth and rich; deep, intense and luscious; ripe blackberry and cherry; notes of licorice, toasted oak and spice; lovely texture and length.

The 2013 Cabernet Sauvignon Réserve Spéciale is a very good wine, maybe even more than that, but it is also less distinctive than some of other wines in the range as it draws from an array of vineyard sites. Deep and intense, the 2013 offers a striking interplay of racy, dark red stone fruit and more floral/savory notes. There is no shortage of power and concentration. The 2013 should drink well with minimal cellaring.

One of the most distinctive wines in this lineup, the 2013 Cabernet Sauvignon Smothers-Remick Ridge is deep and beautifully resonant in the glass. A host of dark cherry, plum, cloves, tobacco and licorice build in a deeply expressive, layered Cabernet Sauvignon endowed with real personality and class.

Black cherries, grilled herbs, tobacco, smoke and licorice all burst from the glass in the 2009 Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve Speciale. Powerful and intense, the 2009 boasts tons of depth and pure richness. Layers of fruit continue to build as the wine sits in the glass. Dark raspberries, tobacco and incense add complexity on the plush, inviting finish. This is a typical 2009 loaded with intensity and radiance. It should continue to drink well for another decade, perhaps longer. Anticipated maturity: 2014-2024.

Opaque ruby. Heady aromas of red fruit liqueur, potpourri, cigar box and candied licorice, with subtle tobacco and Indian spice nuances in the background. Sappy, high-pitched and sharply delineated, showing a seductively sweet quality to its red fruit, mineral and floral pastille flavors. Finishes very long and broad, with silky tannins and a lingering floral quality.

A great, elegant Cabernet to drink now and for the next four years or so. It's soft in acids and satiny in tannins, with extraordinarily delicious blackberry-and cherry-pie filling, anise liqueur, cassis, cola and sweet, smoky oak flavors. Gets better as it breathes in the glass.

The two big Cabernets (meant to age 2-3 decades) include the 2006 Cabernet Sauvignon Monte Rosso and the 2006 Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve Speciale. These two offerings will improve in the cellar, and may well outpace my conservative ratings. The 2006 Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve Speciale is another brilliant effort. One has only to go back to older vintages to see how well this wine ages. It is often a candidate for one of the top three or four Cabernet Sauvignons made on the Sonoma side of the Mayacamas Mountains. A dense ruby/purple color is followed by aromas of creme de cassis, cedar, licorice, tobacco leaf, and spice box. The wine is full-bodied, rich, and heady with superb concentration and depth as well as moderately high tannins in the long, 40+ second finish. Give it 2-3 years of bottle age and drink it over the following 25 years.

A beautiful wine made by Dick Arrowood, it includes four sources for this 100% Cabernet Sauvignon, aged 30 months in a combination of primarily French (80%) and the rest American oak barrels. Bottled unfined and unfiltered, this wine, coming from four Sonoma Valley vineyards (Smothers-Remick Ridge, Murray, Monte Rosso and Lasseter) has a dense ruby/purple color, a youthful nose of cedar wood, vanilla, blackcurrants, licorice and graphite. It is full-bodied and ripe, with beautifully sweet tannin, adequate acidity and impressive purity, length and richness. Combining both power and elegance, this wine can be drunk now or cellared for another 12-15+ years.

Shows the impeccable balance you expect from this master winemaker, even in this hot vintage, where supermaturity was a challenge. The wine is certainly ripe, offering a mouthful of blackberries, cherries and currants. But it never loses its elegant tannin-acid architecture. Beautiful now, and should develop through 2014.

This multivineyard blend is from Sonoma Valley and Dry Creek Valley. You really don't want to open it yet because it's too young. But it has great future ahead, to judge from the rich, softly fine tannins and cherry, red currant, cola, olive tapenade and sweet fresh herb flavors. Balanced and refined, this Cab defines the Sonoma style. Best 2008-2015.

They kept this Cab back all this time, presumably at some cost to the company, but consumers are the beneficiaries. Everything has mellowed. The wine, with 1% Petit Verdot, is like hands of cassis, dark chocolate and oak massaging the palate. The grapes were sourced from top vineyards in the Dry Creek, Sonoma and Alexander Valleys. Drink now-2010.

An extraordinary Viognier, as rich as they come. The great Saralee’s Vineyard gave fantastically ripe grapes, and the winemaker has lavished the wine with opulent touches of oak and lees. It’s flamboyant in tropical fruits and honey, with mouthwatering acidity

As I have written before, for over 40 years Dick Arrowood has been a reference point for high quality, world-class Auslese, Beerenauslese, and Trockenbeerenauslese-styled sweet Rieslings from California. His 2008 Special Select Late Harvest Riesling Saralee's Vineyard, made in a Beerenauslese style, reveals wonderful apricot and peach marmalade notes intertwined with hints of maple syrup, lychee nuts, buttered apples, and shortbread. As always, this cuvee possesses terrific acidity as well as outstanding concentration. While it is almost impossible to resist at present, this 2008 will last an incredibly long time.

2005 ARROWOOD SELECT LATE HARVEST RIESLING SARALEE'S VYD. No one in America produces more decadently rich Auslese, Beerenauslese, and Trockenbeerenauslese-styled late harvest Reislings than Dick Arrowood, who began making these wines when he was the winemaker at Chateau St. Jean during the decade of the seventies. These brilliant sweet wines can age exceptionally well as evidenced by some bottles in my cellar from the late seventies. While their colors now resemble molasses, they remain fresh and lively. Arrowood has hit home runs with all three cuvees in 2005. Arrowood's Beerenauslese wine, the 2005 Select Late Harvest Riesling Saralee's Vineyard, was bottled with 12.1 grams of residual sugar. It is similar to the regular Late Harvest Riesling, just richer, more intense, and more unctuous.

The 2008 Chardonnay Reserve Speciale, which comes from five vineyards, was 100% barrel-fermented and put through 100% malolactic. Always one of California's top Chardonnays, it is a blend of 51% Russian River and 49% Carneros fruit. This light straw/gold-colored Chardonnay offers up notes of peach, honeysuckle, popcorn and brioche in a rich, concentrated, pure format with good underlying acidity as well as a generous mouthfeel. This 2008 should continue to drink well for 5-6 years.

The outstanding premier cru Meursault-like 2006 Chardonnay Reserve Speciale is fashioned from some of the top Russian River vineyard sites. It spent additional time in French oak, resulting in a creamier texture and is a bigger, nuttier-styled Chardonnay. Aromas of roasted hazelnuts, marmalade, creme brulee, honeysuckle, and tropical fruit emerge from this beautiful effort. Enjoy it over the next 3-4 years.