The Archer vineyard is a great site located in the rolling hills of Russian River, just south of Healdsburg. A wine for richer dishes or the cellar. The Loxton wines are made to showcase the varietal and vineyard site in which the grapes are grown. The vineyard is gently sloped for optimal sun exposure in this cool climate. Chris Loxton seeks to make wines of balance; the goal being to have fruit driven wines of complexity and depth of character without being heavy or unbalanced. The approach is deliberately low tech and non-interventionist in the belief that the ultimate wine character is determined in the vineyard for each given year, and that manipulation of the wine tends to decrease its given uniqueness.
"Chris founded Loxton Cellars in 1996 to specialize in the limited production of ultra-premium Syrah wines. Being Australian by birth, a country where the dominant red wine grape is Syrah (or Shiraz as Australians would say) and with both my father and grandfather growing Syrah, along with other Rhone varieties, Syrah was a natural focus. With California becoming an adopted home, it was a natural extension to also produce limited quantities of California’s “native” grape, Zinfandel. Indeed, both are favorite wines to drink."
Winemaking philosophy from the website and with Chris Loxton’s own words: “The Loxton wines are made to showcase the varietal and vineyard site in which the grapes are grown. I seek to make wines of balance; the goal being to have fruit driven wines of complexity and depth of character without being heavy or unbalanced. The approach is deliberately low tech and non-interventionist in the belief that the ultimate wine character is determined in the vineyard for each given year, and that manipulation of the wine tends to decrease its given uniqueness.Strict attention is given in the vineyard, with vineyard location being of prime importance and the ability to work with the grower and have input on grape quality also being a factor. I work closely with each of the vineyard owners to obtain the highest possible grape quality and then work towards ensuring that from vineyard to bottle, the wine will reflect the very best of these individual vineyard sites. It is also important to pick at optimum ripeness, neither under- nor over- ripe.
Winemaking is directed towards extracting, then protecting, those characters that make the wine unique (includes gentle handling of grapes and wine, neither fining nor filtering where possible) without overcoming them with the winemaker’s choices (excessive extraction and oak).”
Varietal: Syrah
Vintage: 2006
Aroma: A floral aspect reminiscent of violets.
Body: This wine shows uncommon richness and concentration, excellent soft tannins.
Cases produced: 198
