2004 CHARDONNAY RESERVE SPECIALE Arrowood's top Chardonnay, the 2004 Reserve Speciale, is a 357-case offering that represents a selection from three separate vineyards, and receives the same treatment as the Alary vineyards cuvee. Copious quantities of orange blossom, pineapple, and other tropical fruits are accompanied by good definition, refreshing acidity, and a full-bodied, concentrated mouthfeel.

Get Ready: The Super Italians Are Coming Big and rich wine with lots of fruit and tannins. Plenty of wood, too. Full body. Needs two or three years to soften.

Aromas of blueberries with blanched almonds follow through to a medium body, firm tannins and a fresh finish. Better in 2018 but already delicious. A blend of merlot cabernet franc, cabernet sauvignon and petit verdot.

A round version, featuring rich cherry fruit mingling with an earthy element. Turns firm and dry on the finish, with gumcoating tannins, yet this remains persistent and long, revealing a tobacco accent. Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon and Petit Verdot. Best from 2017 through 2026.

A soft and velvety red with chocolate, cedar, dark berry, currant and new wood aromas and flavors. Full body and a fruity finish. Bordeaux blend with plenty of panache. Drink or hold.

A red with dark berry and tar aromas and flavors. Full body, chewy tannins and a long finish. Needs time to soften. A blend of mostly merlot with cabernet sauvignon, cabernet franc and petit verdot. Better in 2017.

Beautiful balance sets the stage for the cherry, black currant and spice flavors. Rich, dense and lively in structure, capped by ripe, fine-grained tannins. The aftertaste evokes dark fruit and spice. Merlot and Cabernet Franc. Drink now through 2020.

Beautiful balance sets the stage for the cherry, black currant and spice flavors. Rich, dense and lively in structure, capped by ripe, fine-grained tannins. The aftertaste evokes dark fruit and spice. Merlot and Cabernet Franc. Drink now through 2020. 799 cases made.

A rich and velvety red that's open and delicious now showing ripe and savory fruit. Full to medium body. Plenty of dark chocolate, blackberry and cherry character. Some currants too. A blend of 60% cabernet franc, 25% merlot and 15% cabernet sauvignon. Drink and enjoy.

Bright and lively, with mineral, violet, black currant and cedar aromas and flavors. Still firmly structured, this will require more time to find equilibrium. Long finish. Cabernet Franc, Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon. Best from 2016 through 2025. 1,380 cases made.

Anakota's 2014 Cabernet Sauvignon Helena Montana has turned out beautifully. Dark, sumptuous and beautifully resonant in the glass, the 2014 exudes richness. Red cherry jam, raspberry, mint and licorice abound. Flamboyant and opulent, with soft contours and good structure, the 2014 hits all the right notes.

The 2013 vintage of this robust Californian Cabernet Sauvignon Helena Montana features mocha, black fruit and smoke on the nose and palate. Pair with steak.

The 2012 Cabernet Sauvignon Helena Dakota Vineyard has turned out beautifully. Mocha, dark cherries, plums, spices, new leather and tobacco meld together in a large-scaled, voluptuous wine built on intensity, texture and volume. This is one of the more overt Knights Valley Cabernets readers will come across. The vintage has softened some of the contours, which simply adds to the wine's considerable up-front appeal. A sweet, layered finish rounds things out in style. My sense is that the 2012 will be even better once some of the baby fat drops off, but the wine is undeniably delicious today.

Bright medium ruby. Brooding aromas of black raspberry, dark chocolate and spices. Sweet, ripe and compellingly rich, offering terrific depth to the lush black raspberry and chocolate flavors. This very ripe cabernet will need time in bottle to absorb a bit of its alcohol.

Spicy nose; smooth and deep with black raspberry, plum and spice; notes of toasty oak, mocha and chocolate; long and balanced with excellent structure.

This dark, dense Cabernet Sauvignon is extraordinarily concentrated, with blackberry and black currant fruit, and super ripe suggestions of raisins. It’s very dry and tannic, but should achieve elegance and balance with 6–8 years in the cellar

The estate's 2008 Cabernet Sauvignon Helena Montana Vineyard wraps around the palate with serious depth in its purple fruit, grilled savory herbs, licorice, mint and white flowers. A rich, powerful wine, the 2008 impresses for its totally expressive, layered personality. At the same time, firm mountain tannins support the finish and add compelling vibrancy. This dark, brooding beauty is a bit of a brute today, but there is plenty of intensity and more than enough balance to make me think the wine will be delicious in another few years. Anticipated maturity: 2014-2020.

Red-ruby. Plum, spicecake, violet and flinty minerality on the nose, plus an exotic suggestion of white fruits. Concentrated, dense, ripe and dry, with a smooth texture given definition by rocky minerality. Not at all a sweet style, but broad, smoky and impressively long, finishing with fine-grained tannins.

Good full ruby. Vibrant nose offers cassis, black cherry and violet. Densely packed, rich and sweet, but more brooding, even medicinal, and showing less early definition than the Helena Dakota. Perhaps best today on the hugely tannic but very long and subtly rising finish. This big boy is stuffed with cassis and soil flavors.

(14.8% alcohol; from red gravel and clay soil): Full red-ruby color. Some superripe fruitcake, caramel and spice aromas along with crushed herbs, tobacco and iron on the nose. A bit more pliant and open-knit on entry than the Helena Montana, conveying an impression of higher pH, but still with a restrained sweetness to its deep flavors of black cherry, spices, menthol and earth. In comparison to the Helena Montana, this wine's tannins are a bit chewier, and its fuller-bodied currant, cherry and mocha flavors a bit more expressive today. These are seriously structured, ageworthy mountain Cabernets.

The deep purple-colored 2004 Cabernet Sauvignon Helena Montana reveals aromas of crushed rocks, flowers, black currants, and spicy oak. Powerful, tannic, medium to full-bodied flavors coat the mouth, but this cuvee clearly needs time in the bottle. Although it possesses beautiful purity, structure, and intensity, it will benefit from 2-3 years of cellaring, and should keep for 15-20.

The 2003 Helena Montana Cabernet Sauvignon is richer, deeper and more voluptuous than the Helena Dakota. Inky blue/purple fruit, spice, graphite and lavender are all front and center in this sexy, voluptuous Cabernet Sauvignon. Savory Knights Valley nuances underpin the fruit. Here, too, I would prefer to drink the 2003 sooner rather than later.

Exhibits a deep ruby/purple color, more structure and tannin than its sibling, along with abundant amounts of creme de cassis fruit intermixed with notions of licorice and flowers. Structured with good minerality as well as a spicy, full-bodied finish, it should be at its peak between 2007-2018+.

Anakota Helena Montana Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon (Knights Valley); Mountain grapes have yielded an intense, concentrated young Cabernet, grown on the Sonoma side of Mount St. Helena. The wine is brash, dry and astringently tannic now. But it possesses a classic elegance and refinement and a remarkable core of cassis fruit. How could it not develop, given the balance and harmony? Best 2008-2015. Cellar Selection.-S.H.

Anakota 2002 Helena Dakota Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon (Knights Valley); It's sometimes overlooked that Jess Jackson produces very small quantities of competitive wines such as this. This 100% Cabernet is a mountain wine, dens in tannins and very dry, yet intense in classically Cabernet black currant fruit. The all new French oak feels natural. As good as it is, more refinement is necessary, but Anakota is a label worth watching.-S.H.