Gary Andrus, the managing director of this estate, is an accomplished winemaker and a certified bon vivant. A former Olympic downhill skier, Andrus is known primarily for his Cabernet and Chardonnay-producing Pine Ridge Estate in California. He is, however, a devoted lover of Pinot Noir, traveling to Burgundy frequently to taste and purchase wines for his cellar. His tastes seem to have been shaped by his frequent travels to France because his wines are quite Burgundian in nature - graceful, complex and with darker fruit than many of his neighbors. There is no doubt that he is crafting some of Oregon's finest wines.
It is obvious, as one visits Archery Summit's new state-of-the-art winery, that Andrus and his business partners spared no expense in building a dream workplace. From the moment grapes arrive at harvest they are only moved via gravity. No pumping of wines is ever necessary. The facility is so large in fact that other wineries are using it to craft their wines at the same time as Andrus makes Archery Summit's many cuvees. Long tunnels have been dug into the hillside to provide plenty of storage space for their barrel-aging regime.
The Arcus is feminine, floral and delicate when compared to the more masculine, brawny and powerful medium-to-dark ruby-colored Red Hills Estate Pinot Noir (1000 bottles). Revealing intense blackberries and cassis aromatically, this medium-to-full-bodied and oily-textured wine is jam-packed with chewy dark fruits and judicious quantities of new oak. Its long finish ends on strong tannin and notes of kirsch. Both of these wines should be drunk between 1999-2004. Tel. (503) 864-4300.