Archery Summit Dundee Hills Pinot Noir 2021
Grape Varietals & Region: 100% Pinot Noir. The Dundee Hills American Viticultural Area (AVA) was established in 2005, but the appellation’s promise was recognized much earlier. The first post-Prohibition commercial wine grapes planted here date back to 1965, located just down the road from Archery Summit. Of the Willamette Valley’s seven subappellations, this one has the oldest vines and most prestige. Pioneering producers have long been attracted to the AVA’s soils, climate, elevation, and orientation. Commonly referred to as the Red Hills because of its iron-rich Jory soils, this rolling appellation runs north to south, parallel to the Willamette River, allowing for an optimal ripening schedule.
Taste Profile: A medley of graphite, spice and crushed red strawberries waft from the glass. Further digging reveals even more to the nose of this Pinot Noir, in the flickering form of oak spice and caramelized fruits. On the palate, there’s opulent fruit and signature Dundee Hills spices like allspice, cardamom and sandalwood. The palate is loaded, with fresh strawberry jam and an underlying earthiness taking the lead. Structurally, there are soft oak tannins that give way to an exquisitely long and balanced finish.
Winemaking Process: The fruit for this wine comes from all five of our estate vineyards. The grapes were hand-harvested, sorted, and fermented in a combination of stainless steel, concrete, and wooden open top fermentors with 41% whole clusters in the tanks. After a 4-5 day cold soak, the tanks were pumped over twice a day until about two thirds of the way through fermentation, then a combination of pump over and punch down was performed once or twice a day decided upon by the winemaking team upon tasting every morning. The wine was pressed and aged in 38% new oak barrels until racking and blending in, followed by barrel ageing for about 8 months