Richard Arrowood

The Climb

Training at University of California, Davis and California State University, Fresno gave Richard Arrowood the technical base for a career built in stages rather than leaps. Winemaking roles at Korbel, Italian Swiss Colony, and Rodney Strong added experience across different house styles before, in 1974, he became the first winemaker at Chateau St. Jean. That appointment marked a clear shift in responsibility: the work was no longer only about making wine, but about establishing standards in a new setting. In 1985, he founded Arrowood Winery, carrying that accumulated practice into a winery under his own name. Since 2000, he has also been founder of Amapola Creek Winery, a later chapter that sits alongside the earlier one instead of replacing it. The sequence it shows continuity in the trade: each step extends the same discipline, with the vineyard and cellar remaining the fixed point.

Today

At Arrowood Vineyards & Winery in Glen Ellen, Richard Arrowood serves as Director of Winemaking, a role that keeps him tied to the winery most closely associated with his name. The title signals continuity, but also ongoing responsibility; it is a position defined by applying long experience to present decisions. His later roles read as extensions of the same line of work rather than separate reinventions. The Glen Ellen directorship and the earlier winemaster position at Arrowood Winery both point back to the same professional logic: build one vintage, one cellar, one set of decisions at a time.

Signature

Richard Arrowood's signature wines show range site and structure. Cinq Cépages Cabernet Sauvignon, Robert Young Vineyard Chardonnay, Monte Rosso Vineyard Zinfandel, Estate Cabernet Sauvignon, and Joseph Belli Vineyards Chardonnay each point to a specific expression rather than a generic house style. Taken together, they reflect a winemaker working across varietal, vineyard, and estate designations with the same attention to detail.

In Their Words “Robert Mondavi taught me this many years ago.”