Row 7, Block 41 (or something like that!)Portland Monthly Magazine rated Archery Summit’s 2006 Red Hills Estate Pinot Noir as the #1 wine in Oregon. While we are dubious of rankings, we are suckers for hype, so we found the somewhat hidden drive up the hill to the vineyard.
Eva at the top of the hill
Now, the wines: in a word- spectacular! All were unique, delicate and complex. The acclaimed 2006 Red Hills Estate lived up to it’s #1 billing, and whoever wrote the tasting notes on this wine deserves some sort of award:
“The wine opens with focused aromas of fresh Bing cherry, intriguing black currant, brown baking spices and fragrant rose petals. The palate is lively and festive with notes of Christmas cake and mincemeat, clean forest floor and ripe cherry pie…”
I’m not sure if the wine writer should get an award for an incredible palate (i.e. I love the “clean forest floor” descriptor) or for total bullshit! Either way, the wine is amazing. The staff were all very knowledgeable about the wines, Katherine worked at the famous Bonny Doon Vineyards in Santa Cruz and gave us great service.
Nice lineup!Pros: beautiful setting, view, service and intimate tasting room
Cons: expensive wines
Archery Summit
18599 NE Archery Summit Rd.
Dayton, OR, 97114
www.archerysummit.com
Next stop: Argyle Winery. Located right off Highway 99, Argyle is known as a sparkling wine producer. Argyle also has still wines, but we went for the sparkling and chose that tasting option only.
The tasting room was fairly large with a bar that ran the length of the building and had many servers. Unfortunately, a couple of the servers we encountered were new to Argyle and possibly to the wine industry as they did not have knowledge of the wines.
Fortunately, though, the wines were delicious and unique. The 2007 Brut Rose was a little sweet but crisp (I loved it but Eva didn’t as she likes a drier sparkler), and the “Black Brut” (100% Pinot Noir) was a totally new experience in sparkling wines due to the musky sweetness. Overall, we enjoyed the basic Argyle Brut ($25) the best, clean, crisp with a full mouth feel.
Pros: Good sparkling wine
Cons: inexperienced servers, location off freeway not scenic
Argyle Winery
691 Highway 99
Dundee, OR, 97115
www.argylewinery.com
Our trip ended up at Press Wine Bar located down the street. The wine bar is located inside of Farm to Fork Restaurant. Mark Bosko, Wine Director, is becoming the local expert on small producers and is carrying new wines as well as established valley favorites. The wine bar is a great place to end up the day of tastings, as they have access to the food at Farm to Fork, a fireplace and will soon have a covered outdoor area with heat lamps.
Press Wine Bar
1410 N. Highway 99
Dundee, OR, 97115
www.innatredhills.com/press_wine_bar
