Trying the Archival 001 and 002 wines from Vindependence Day

WINE TALK
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Hey everyone – I received my Archival cabernets from Bobby Moy and Mike Meisner the other day and after some bottle rest I popped one of each to check them out. Anybody else give these a rip yet? For those who haven’t you need to check these wines out!
Caveat: I am not a certified somm, so what follows are just my humble notes as I loved both of these and wanted to share my impressions…if any of the tech data is wrong i’m sure Bobby or Mike will chime in and correct me. :slight_smile:

Archival 001: Liftoff
100% Napa Cabernet all Haymaker Vineyard fruit from Howell Mountain coming in at 14.5% abv.
Definitely an old school Napa cab. At PnP it was cherry cola and cigar box on the nose. On the palate there was lots of fruit and good structure throughout with tastes of dark chocolate covered dark cherries, a touch of plum and white pepper and smooth tannins on the finish. Day 2 the nose was more cigar leaf, peppercorn, and cinnamon and the palate showed red raspberry and some black cherry compote.

Archival 002: Odyssey
100% Rutherford juice from a cult winemaker in the region and comes in at 14.9% abv.
At first open this showed a nose of ripe fruit, bitter red cherry, and some light floral notes. On the palate it showed super bright red fruits, much brighter than the Liftoff 001, w both bright red and dark cherries and cassis. On Day 2 the Odyssey added a sliced bell pepper to the same bright fruit nose and the palate had morphed to a black cherry cola and displayed a more layered structure but still with a dense core that will surely unravel with some patient cellaring. This wine shows some beautiful elegance.

Both wines are drinking wonderfully rn but show the characteristics of wines that will continue to evolve and improve for a while in bottle. If you missed out on this offer from Archival on Vindepence Day reach out to Bobby and Mike!

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Thank you for sharing! I’ve opened both recently and shared with a few friends. I know I’m biased, but they are absolutely rockin’.

We have some great stuff coming down the line.

Entry no. 003, the Pinot that was just dropped, should be a pretty easy one for the sleuths around here to figure out.

There’s a big, friendly, muscular Merlot after that.

And then…

CALDWELL.

Very excited for that one. We got full approval to label it with the vineyard designate and @Bobby_Moy blended this one with JFC himself. It’s a blockbuster.

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Jason, appreciate the review of the wines! It’s been a lot of fun for me to work with my friends, combing through their cellars to find barrels that would fit for Archival. None of these wines are “declassified” barrels that didn’t make the cut for their own final blends. It’s merely that they only want to bottle what they believe they can sell. The first eight wines are in bottle and ready for your glass. Just released Entry 004 “The Griffin” Merlot. Really happy with the lineup we have for you all. Look for a new release every two weeks.

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Are 01 and 02 still available for the release price and deal?

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Yes, we still have both available, along with the Pinot and the Merlot. The Rutherford is running low, so that will probably be first to go. All can be found https://www.archivalwine.com/shop/ here and you can use the 50PIECE coupon to get $50 off the first order of $200+

I opened and tasted through 004 through 008 last night and they are all rockin’. The Merlot is young but open for business and tasting REALLY good.

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As a previous buyer, I thought I might get emails regarding new releases but haven’t received any?

Also, just went to add some Merlot to my previous order and couldn’t find anywhere to build a case to qualify for free shipping. I know you were working on that. If I pay for shipping now, will the wine be held and the shipping be refunded when I reach a full case?

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@Andrew_Demaree I’ve only emailed on the first three - did you get the Valkyrie Pinot offer? I am working up the Merlot today so expect that to land soon :clinking_glasses:

Re the “build a case” functionality, that’s a longer answer. We have been waiting to get the wine to wineshipping for fulfillment, and as of Friday it’s all over there, so today they’re checking in all eight first releases. Without boring you with a lot of coding talk, the short answer is I’m working on that feature and would be happy to refund/credit any shipping costs assuming you have multiple orders on hold that we’ll bundle into one shipment. Just email me mike@archivalwine.com (I know you did already today) and I’ll sort you out.

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Thanks for the quick response. No, I did not get an email about the Pinot release.

I appreciate the long answer on the option to build a case and will just keep track of things and reach out again when I get there to ask for a refund of shipping costs. Thanks for keeping at it.

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I’m always happy to see you chiming in @Andrew_Demaree. It’s been a goal to get a “build a case” option and Mike has been working on it for two months as time provides (he does have a day job), but we will get there. We are going to push that Pinot email out again as only about half has sold. The Merlot is wonderful. Look for that email shortly.

I hope you and the fam are well. Come and see me next time you are in Napa.

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Thanks, Bobby. I’ll definitely be in touch whenever a Napa trip is in the works again. Next up, though, is two weeks in Italy this fall!

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After reading through the offer for the Oak Knoll Merlot, I have a strong suspicion that the source is a board favorite - someone I was hoping might make a Merlot under his own label this year. If I’m right, the wine should be a huge QPR at $33 ($29 on 6+ bottles). Can’t wait to try it. I should probably go back and buy a few more.

Thanks, Mike, for working out the shipping refund while I build a case. Makes it even easier to take a flier on these offers.

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Interesting offers, but my one nitpick is not being able to hold until cooler weather. I have not had great luck with ice packs when shipping to the Midwest.

EDIT: The option for weather hold is at the bottom of the page and not the sidebar. Disregard the above.

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Yea, that is pretty much a deal-breaker for me…

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We are holding most orders by default - wineshipping is our fullfilment partner and they have a built in guardrail that syncs with local weather, and puts any order to a state where the weather is hot (over 80 degrees I think but we can change the settings) on default hold.

I’m working on a plugin for the site to give a lot more user control over picking a date either at checkout or on the My Account page that would let you select a future ship date and consolidate all orders into one package. That’s currently on the staging side for testing…but fingers crossed I can get it rolled live soon.

So currently almost every order is on “hold” status and we are still waiting for inventory count on the first two wines, so nothing is shipping until they fully check in the wines which should (hopefully) happen today.

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Yeah. I don’t need to be able to select a specific date, but rather have something that says: “Contact for shipment” or something instead of being autocharged the ice pack fee.

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Ice packs are optional at checkout, near the bottom. There’s also a “Weather hold” option you can select there.

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Got it. Sorry! I was looking in the “YOUR ORDER” sidebar. I amended my post. Thanks for the info.

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A few updates…

First, scores are in!

We submitted the remainder of our releases to Decanter a few weeks back and they just came in. Very happy with the reviews, especially the Merlot - which is a total blockbuster imo. Crazy good stuff.

Dropping them here:

:fountain_pen: Entry no. 003:
2024 West Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir “Valkyrie”
:star: 94 points - Decanter
This is a power-packed yet utterly drinkable Pinot Noir, brimming with dark-fruited intensity. The grapes, grown with thick skins to withstand the battering of cold Pacific breezes along the West Sonoma Coast, ripened under the glare of the California sun and ocean light. Medium to full bodied, it offers the silkiest darkberry fruit profiles, plush tannins, and a cool wet-slate minerality touched by ocean-spray salinity, which brings freshness, energy, and drive, nuanced by tangerine zest. It’s no wonder this Pinot is called Valkyrie. Like the mythic warrior-maidens, it carries both strength and grace—an elemental power forged by coastal winds and ocean light, yet rendered with elegance and poise. The wine feels as if it were chosen by fate itself: bold enough to command attention, refined enough to enchant, and charged with the kind of energy that transports you, as if on horseback, straight into its own exalted hall of flavour.

https://www.archivalwine.com/archives/2024-west-sonoma-coast-pinot-noir-valkyrie/

and

:fountain_pen: Entry no. 004:
2023 Oak Knoll Merlot “The Griffin”
:star: 95 points - Decanter
“This is one heck of a Merlot. Forget the caricatures of the grape—this is full-throttle, robust, powerful, and hedonistic, the kind of wine you want to keep for yourself and share only in measured pours. The blend leans on 77% Merlot, supported by 19% Cabernet Sauvignon and 4% Cabernet Franc, aged 20 months in 60% new French oak. It’s full-bodied, with satiny dark berry fruit, cocoa-powder tannins, and layers of fig, kirsch, and deep forest underbrush that lend an otherworldly freshness to its densely packed core. The tremendous length carries through with smoked paprika and a meaty savouriness, bringing a tasteful umami richness to this Oak Knoll thoroughbred.”

https://www.archivalwine.com/archives/2023-oak-knoll-merlot-griffin/

Second - working on some updates to the site and am pretty close to having a “build a case” functionality ready that would allow you to buy a few bottles here and there, bundle them into a cae of 12, and then pick a future ship date. In the meantime I hope to have a basic “hold + ship date” ready to roll today or tomorrow. For now, most orders are defaulting to hold with our fulfillment partner due to heat but we can always work with you one a one to one basis if you want 2-day air or something like that.

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So if I purchase say 6-bottles of one of the wines today, you won’t charge me for shipping even though the “build a case” function isn’t quite ready yet? And I can add another 6-bottles at some future date?

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Curiously, from last week, the Cabs are up $2.65/btl (per case), the PN is up $.75/btl (per case), and merlot dropped $.95/btl (per case).