A beautiful Merlot, soft, elegant and classy. With richly textured tannins, it's ready to drink now, featuring raspberry, cherry, mocha and spice flavors.

The 2013 Proprietary Red is dark, plush and inviting. Here, too, the flavors are lifted by the energy and brightness of the year. Sweet red cherry, plum, licorice, mint and savory herbs add nuance throughout.

Exploring The Best New Releases from Sonoma and Beyond The 2016 Cabernet Sauvignon (Knights Valley) is very pretty. Bright, punchy and full of life, the 2016 has too much to offer. A rush of red berry fruit, flowers, savory herbs and crushed rocks runs through this super-expressive, delineated Cabernet Sauvignon. This is a gorgeous Knights Valley Cabernet. The mid-weight, energetic style is quite appealing.

Dark cherry, plum, grilled herbs, game, smoke, licorice and lavender infuse the 2015 Cabernet Sauvignon (Knights Valley) with tons of character. Beams of tannin and persistent saline notes – both typical of Knights Valley – give the 2015 much of its character. There is so much to like.

The 2015 Cabernet Sauvignon is deep garnet-purple and gives very pretty notes of crushed red currants, black cherries and black currants with touches of camphor, pencil shavings, lilacs and cigar box. Medium to full-bodied, the palate has a taut structure of grainy tannins and great freshness supporting the muscular red and black fruits, finishing with a lingering minty lift.

The 2014 Arrowood cab delivers a huge burst of ripe blackberry and cassis fruit and has notes of wood vanillin. It is equipped with smooth, supple tannins that make for easy drinking now, although another two to four years in the cellar would benefit this wine tremendously.

A deep, powerful wine, the 2014 Cabernet Sauvignon (Knights Valley) captures plenty of the depth and intensity of the appellation. In this vintage, the more mineral and savory notes of the year are pretty much covered by the distinctly red-toned fruit. All things considered, this is a fairly approachable style for Knights Valley. The 2014 will drink well with minimal cellaring.

Very deep garnet-purple in color, the 2014 Cabernet Sauvignon, composed of 80% Cabernet Sauvignon, 16% Merlot and 4% Malbec, is scented of red currants, blackberries and wild blueberries with touches of olives and underbrush. Medium-bodied, tightly wound and packed with tense red and black fruits, it has a fine-grained texture and savory finish.

Arrowood's 2014 Cabernet Sauvignon Monte Rosso Vineyard emerges from 80 year-old, own-rooted vines in this historic Moon Mountain vineyard. The 2014 is wild, powerful and savory – as wines from this site tend to be – and yet remains wonderfully nuanced and silky. The 2014 is deceptively medium in body, but it has more than enough depth to handle the 100% new oak.

Smooth, mellow and balanced with sweet oak, spice and plum; balanced, supple and complex with depth and lovely style.

Dark red cherry, plum, spices, mocha and raspberry jam all jump from the glass in the 2010 Cabernet Sauvignon Smothers Remick Ridge. The style is juicy, exuberant and highly expressive. Today, the flavors are really popping. There is a lot to like here, beginning with the wine approachable personality.

Ruby-red. Smoke-accented aromas of cherry compote, cassis and cured tobacco, with a subtle vanilla quality in the background. Creamy and round, offering sweet dark fruit and bitter chocolate flavors that become spicier with air. Finishes energetic and focused, with firming tannins and lingering sweetness.

This is deliciously drinkable now despite firm tannins that give it a bite of astringency. Blackberry, cherry, currant and chocolate flavors testify to it’s ideal ripeness. Should glidepath in its evolution until 2020 or so.

Inky ruby. Powerful aromas of black and blue fruits, vanilla and smoky oak spices. Deeply pitched cassis and blueberry flavors are impressively concentrated but energetic as well. Becomes spicier with air and finishes sweet and long, with the blueberry and vanilla notes repeating.

This is just your basic Arrowood Sonoma County Cab, and that's a good thing. This vintage offers rich dark fruits on the palate, intriguing aromas of cassis, cedar and spice on the nose, and firm structure that delivers the promise of long life. It finishes with length and persistence, and shows a hint of spice.

Opaque ruby. Blackcurrant, licorice and vanilla aromas are complicated by allspice, anise and pipe tobacco. Broad and fleshy on the palate, offering hefty dark fruit preserve flavors and a supple texture. Fine-grained tannins arrive late and add shape to the very long, spicy finish.

The 2008 Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve Speciale, from vineyards in Sonoma Valley and Knights Valley, comes across as soft, lush and beautifully expressive. The wine boasts gorgeous inner sweetness, layers of soft fruit and an open, seductive personality that is hard to resist. Sweet herbs, licorice and mint are layered into the inviting finish. Anticipated maturity: 2013-2023.

...lurking deep below the surface is a vast underground landscape of blackberry fruit, cassis, plums, olives, herbs and oak. Fascinating and intricate and a little heady, but undrinkable now due to immaturity. Needs 5-6 years to show its stuff.

The 2007 Cabernet Sauvignon Monte Rosso Vineyard shows good inner perfume and softness. Plums, black cherries, tar, smoke, licorice, savory herbs and tobacco are woven together beautifully in this highly expressive Cabernet Sauvignon. The 2007 needs another year or two for the tannins to soften, but it will always remain a firm, structured wine best paired with similarly hearty foods. Anticipated maturity: 2014-2022.

It shows a massive core of blackberries, currants, dark baker's chocolate and smoky oak, and the balance of acidity makes it clean and bright. All indications are of a cellarworthy wine. Drink 2014 and beyond.

Inky ruby. Sexy aromas of cherry-cola, cassis, cocoa powder and vanilla Round, dense and palate-staining, with a firm backbone to the sweet, chewy flavors of dark berry preserves, bitter cherry, menthol and minerals. The deep, spicy dark fruit qualities carry through the very long, assertive finish, which features suave, integrated tannins and a hint of candied flowers. This unfined and unfiltered wine spent 30 months in barrels, most of them French.

It's very rich in blackberries, smoked meat and charred wood, with a finish that's fine, long and sweet in ripe fruits. Should blossom after 2014 and hold for a number of years.

This Cabernet doesn't show any signs of age, even though it's more than four years old. It's still fresh and powerful in tannins, with intensely concentrated blackberry and cassis fruit. With an impeccable structure, it should easily negotiate the next decade.

A beautiful Cabernet, made in an elegantly approachable way. Dry and smooth, it shows complex flavors of blackberries, currants and dried herbs, wrapped into rich, dusty tannins. The alcohol level is quite high, but balanced, in a California way.

2003 ARROWOOD CABERNET SAUVIGNON RESERVE SPECIALE The brilliant 2003 Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve Speciale needs a lot of time, but it reveals plenty of potential. A 100 percent Cabernet Sauvignon aged 18 months in French oak, there are only 1,580 cases of this beauty. Abundant creme de cassis notes intermixed with loamy soil, graphite, and flowers leap from the glass. There is a terrific fruit on the attack, full body, plenty of power and intensity, and a long, rich finish. It should be at its best in 4-5 years, and keep for 15-20.