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.
Andrus produces microscopic quantities of two "reserve" bottlings. The medium-to-dark ruby-colored Arcus Estate Pinot Noir (1000 bottles) has elegant red fruit and perfumed aromatics as well as a silky, medium-to-full-bodied mouthful of graceful red and black fruits and flowers. Tel. (503) 864-4300.