Archery Summit

One of the hallmarks of Archery Summit is meticulous vineyard management. Once when visiting for an article I was taking pictures a few steps into the vineyard rows. A guy in a truck stopped, and while looking me straight in the eye, called the winemaker to report that there was “some guy in the vineyard.” Today’s vineyard manager, Leigh Bartholomew, might not be quite so controlling of people, but she is considered one of the best with grapes in the Willamette Valley.

The power of the fruit she grows can be seen in the 2004 Archery Summit Estate wine. Though the nose is somewhat closed at this stage, the emerging black cherry core has a sense of depth that is accentuated by a dusty, earthy wrap. With time in the glass, notes of tobacco, espresso, and a touch of cedar emerge. In the mouth the wine has an immediate sense of density and depth. Though the flavors are not broadly complex at this stage — this wine seems a shy youth at the moment — there is distinct power to the dark cherry, dark chocolate, cola, and tobacco-tinged tastes on the tongue. Acidity is well in balance and, as seems the case with all the 2004 wines from Archery Summit, the tannins are present, but in check.

This is perhaps the most brooding and darkest charactered of the winery’s 2004 releases (perhaps due, in part, to the 22% whole clusters and 14 months French oak aging). At this stage cellaring is called for to help encourage integration and the development of what seems the inherent fruit of the wine. A weighty wine, worth waiting for!

Reviewed August 3, 2007 by Cole Danehower.