TN: 2003 Archery Summit Arcus Estate

Popped, poured and paired with Salmon grilled with black pepper, salt, EVOO and a splash of lemon. Deep Ruby red in color. Aromas of Red Currant, Black Cherry and Chocolate. The red fruit comes through plushly upon the palate within a full bodied structure. During the first hour the fruit was quite forward and fresh. After about 1 hour in glass the tannins began to rise up and take prominence, with the fruit subsiding. Long finish. Seems to be entering an awkward phase now, not as impressive as this wine showed a year ago.

03 was a hot, uneven vintage in OR. Wouldn’t be suprised if this bottle was peaking . . .

i have a single 03 Red hills. I wonder if I shouldnt open this soon??

Dave;

It is quite typical for AS to put a drinking window on Arcus at 10-15 years while their drinking window for Red Hills is typically 5-7 or 7-10 in exceptional vintages. So for the 03 Red Hills, I’d say “drink up”. In fact, while I do have a couple of the 03 Arcus left, I believe I have finished all my 03 RHs.

Thanks for the notes, Sean. Arcus has always been my favorite of the AS wines, though I stopped buying after 2000. Loved the red/black fruit balance. I think I still have one each of the big 3 releases from 99 - though as I type I’m wondering if we had Estate a month or so ago.

Which is why it’s showing up as a .76 on my drinkability report in CT. looks like I know what I am drinking this weekend.

Please post a note, if you do drink it this weekend. In '03, I prefered the Red Hills over the Arcus. I think that I’ve still got 2 bottles of the '03 Red Hills.

I did hit the Red Hills estate this weekend.

Very Dark and brooding Pinot. This is a pinot for cab lovers, my wife thought it was a cab. The tannins were nice but the wine just seemed to be rough around the edges, like a step brother thats always getting into trouble. This is not what I had come to expect from AS. I still rate this a high quality wine, but very uncharacteristic for this AVA and price point. (2 views)

I was disappointed that it wasn’t anywhere as nice as an 03 D Drouine Louise that I had last weekend. I decanted in a magnum decanter for about 2 hrs before serving, unfortunately i didnt have a chance to taste upon opening.

We primed the evening with am 04 D.Drouhin Arthur Chardonnay that was a nice example of a chard even if it had a lil age on it. We paired the pinot with A grilled New York strip with parmesan mashed taters and parsnips and sauteed mushrooms.

Dave;

Tell me about the Louise! I have six of those still in the unopened box from the winery.

Thanks!

What can I say, but Louise is now one of my loves. managed to snag 3 03’s and 3 04’s before i had to stop my DD wineclub.

Veronique is a wonderful winemaker and it shows in the Louise. This is the cream of the crop and the first bottle I opened since my acquisitions several years ago. Not many speak of DD as a premiere OR Pinot house, but I think its because their entry level wine is okay. My tasting notes are below from CT.

DD was one of our first loves and the Louise is the pinnacle of the DD portfolio. What a soft subtle very sexy pinot that is tasting very well right now, but definitely let it age a bit longer. Beautiful clear Pinot of Ruby Red. Silky tannins and subtle cherry tones that danced in my mouth. just a beautiful example of a Willamette valley

Pinot

-dave

Not that I have so much experience, but I’ve never heard or experienced that. Typically, the tannins fade–or so I thought. Have you noticed it with other wines?

That’s because they prefer pinots that remind them of cabernet.

Dave;

Thanks for the notes on the Louise. From reading your notes, I think I’ll let mine continue to rest a while.

I enjoy DDO’s wines and think she does an excellent job. Shame you had to drop out of the wine club!

What happened to these guys? I feel like they fell off the face of the earth. I rarely see or hear about them anymore. I’m fairly sure the wines are available. Just curious…

Which guys, Alex? Archery Summit or DDO?

If it’s Archery Summit they’re still there. Just take Archery Summit Rd. from HWY 99 in Dundee and look for the biggest building. The other thing is, after Gary Andrus was forced to sell the place, they don’t promote themselves as much or as well. If there was one thing Gary could do, it was call attention to himself and his wineries. Not easy when you’re about 5’5" tall, but he was truly larger than life and the Willamette Valley wine industry misses him. Plus, they’re no longer the novelty they once were. Way too many other people are charging $65 and up for Willamette Valley pinot noir these days for AS to be unique like they were 13 years ago when I first moved here.

If it’s DDO . . . well, the “cool kids” drive right by and turn left so they can go kiss Grace Evenstad’s ring. I’m guessing now, but it’s an educated guess, and I suspect that DDO doesn’t feel quite the need to promote themselves as they might if they didn’t have the well-established parentage and the firmly-entrenched relationship with Dreyfus Ashby, both of which help their wines sell. People would buy the name Drouhin even if the wines weren’t any good. They’re good, so they sell even better - promotion or not.

Bob, interesting story about Gary Andrus. In defense of the newer occupants, there are some very tasty AS pinots (not that I’m in any way an 03 fan). Worth the $? It should be pointed out that the Arcus, with a bit of bottle age and integration, can be outstanding.

Completely agree about DDO. One might question the QPR depending on the vintage, but darn tasty Pinot. During my visit last summer it seemed like a lot more people were making the right turn. I plan to skip that left turn for the forseeable future.

RT

Gary could literally dominate a room with 200 people in it. I got to see it first hand more than once and I think he gave new meaning to the term “raconteur”. He was simultaneously charming, off-putting, entertaining and profane.

Did I like the way he made pinot noir? No. His influence from Dominique Laurent notwithstanding, and I’ve been assured by Todd Hamina, who ought to know, that there never was any 200% new oak regimen. I keep hearing that the wines are more to my taste these days but I’m not willing to pay the price when there are so many attractive alternatives that are way less expensive.

Gary’s departure from AS (and death) have left a gaping hole in Oregon, in terms of someone who knew how to generate hype and enthusiasm.

The other issue with Archery Summit (IMHO - but it was why I dropped off of their list), after Gary was forced out, they changed winemakers, changed vineyard managers, and stopped selling off fruit. And with all of the changes, they didn’t reduce (what were already the highest in Oregon) prices at all. With dramatic personel and production changes, you can’t expect people to shell out the same $75 to $135 for top end wines. So suddenly it was like a brand new winery, with at least a slight quality drop off, but the prices were sky high and nobody was really hyping the place like Gary.

The winery pricing has always surprised me, especially since, if you like the wines – and there are some good ones, as Richard mentions – they are typically available at lower price in the secondary market.

Thanks for posting. A bit disconcerting for me, however, as the note is significantly different than I remember from tasting at the winery several years ago.