Archery Summit Eola Amity Chardonnay 2016
-
Suckling
James -
Enthusiast
Wine -
Spectator
Wine
Product Details
Your Rating
Somm Note
Winemaker Notes
A zesty, refreshing expression of Chardonnay, with bright fruit flavors laid against touches of spice and chalky minerality. The wine opens with notes of fresh lemon and lime, with secondary citrus characteristics of lemon peel and tangerine. Hints of ripe green apple, warm honeysuckle, and white peppercorn lead to a pleasant finish with plenty of natural, lively acidity.
Professional Ratings
-
James Suckling
Quite complex and buttery on the nose with ripe peaches and toasted almonds. Bready nuances, too. The palate has plenty of flesh at the core with a strong line of fresh lemon and grapefruit flavor, backed by attractive acidity.
-
Wine Enthusiast
This rich and fruity wine is irresistible in its flavors of apple, orange, tangerine and apricot. It's juicy and plump, fresh and full bodied, with a touch of toast from 30% new French oak fermentation.
-
Wine Spectator
Refined and well-knit, with snappy pear and lemon zest flavors accented by spice and cinnamon notes. Drink now. 721 cases made.
Other Vintages
2019-
Enthusiast
Wine -
Spectator
Wine
-
Suckling
James -
Spirits
Wine & -
Spectator
Wine
-
Spectator
Wine -
Spirits
Wine &
In 1993, Archery Summit set its sights on creating wines of real purpose in the Willamette Valley. Since, the Dundee Hills winery has helped establish the region as the cradle of cooler-climate American wine. Winemaker Ian Burch and his team achieve bar-raising wines by way of earned instincts—the familiarity gained from many shared vintages, tending sites they know personally.
As responsible stewards of the land, Archery Summit engages in minimal-impact agriculture. Sustainability is a dynamic and vital part of growing wine, a practice that ensures both the industry’s future and the overall health of the trade. They practice sustainability wherever possible, from responsible farming in the vineyard to energy-sensitive approaches in the cellar.
Many of the vineyard sites are LIVE (Low Input Viticulture & Enology) certified, meaning they adhere to an internationally-acclaimed set of sustainability standards. These guidelines are site-specific and look to strengthen the well-being of the vineyard through minimal spraying, careful clone selection, heightened biodiversity, and more. Archery Summit endeavors to ensure that the soils and biodiversity of each site are as healthy and vibrant as they were when they found them.
One of the most popular and versatile white wine grapes, Chardonnay offers a wide range of flavors and styles depending on where it is grown and how it is made. While it tends to flourish in most environments, Chardonnay from its Burgundian homeland produces some of the most remarkable and longest lived examples. California produces both oaky, buttery styles and leaner, European-inspired wines. Somm Secret—The Burgundian subregion of Chablis, while typically using older oak barrels, produces a bright style similar to the unoaked style. Anyone who doesn't like oaky Chardonnay would likely enjoy Chablis.
Running north to south, adjacent to the Willamette River, the Eola-Amity Hills AVA has shallow and well-drained soils created from ancient lava flows (called Jory), marine sediments, rocks and alluvial deposits. These soils force vine roots to dig deep, producing small grapes with great concentration.
Like in the McMinnville sub-AVA, cold Pacific air streams in via the Van Duzer Corridor and assists the maintenance of higher acidity in its grapes. This great concentration, combined with marked acidity, give the Eola-Amity Hills wines—namely Pinot noir—their distinct character. While the region covers 40,000 acres, no more than 1,400 acres are covered in vine.