Winemaking Update
Ian Burch, Winemaker

Harvest is done and dusted. Well, sort of. We have four tanks left that still require some work. We’ll drain the wine and send the rest of the contents to the press. It feels like the finale to what has been a spectacular vintage.

Mother Nature was very kind to us in the end. Overall, there was a perfect balance—a lower crop yield in one vineyard, a heavier return in another. There’s a definite theme of concentration this year. Some of our wines are so densely packed with fruit and character that it almost seems like you could eat the wine with a spoon. These wines are teeming with freshly pressed jam notes with hints of spice.

We ferment our fruit individually, not just by site or vineyard but by specific block. Our winemaking team works hard to coax out some undeniably incredible characteristics from these generous and highly distinctive vineyard parcels. And now, the fruit is all in and leaves are starting to yellow. The fog is softly rolling in every morning and the quiet caves are full of peaceful wines sleeping in tank and barrel.

If you ask me, this is the best time to visit wine country. There’s a palpable sense of accomplishment, the tasting rooms are less crowded, and all the winemaking and hospitality staff are high off the still-lingering harvest energy. There’s nothing better than sitting on our outdoor patio or curled up on a chair in our comfy A-list lounge in the middle of our cave system while soaking up the harvest buzz.

For this club release, we’re debuting a new wine. We’re calling it Archer’s Paradox. When I began making this wine in 2018, I quickly realized that Archery Summit has always used judicious amounts of whole clusters in their fermentations. Archer’s Paradox sets sail to that very philosophy. It’s made entirely of whole cluster fruit, meaning the berries remain intact with the stems, fermenting as a whole. The results are truly unique and utterly ageable.

There’s a harmony that exists between the rusty orange soil we grow our Pinot Noir in and the soul of the fruit, enhanced by the subtle, stemmy notes of the whole cluster philosophy. There’s paradox abound: soft yet firm, satiny yet serious. It’s been a joy to watch all of this come together slowly in the wine. While not obvious right away, the wine was a way of blossoming over time; even a decade on. It’s a vast, complex experience in the glass and bursting with personality.

Here’s to another successful and bountiful harvest! Come by the winery to absorb the post-harvest buzz.