By Fred Delkin

Gary Andrus seems finally to have met his match in New Zealand after creating successful winery enterprises in Napa and Oregon. 

Andrus’ Gypsy Dancer property on the South Island was placed in 
receivership last month by the Bank of New Zealand. Andrus began his 
vintner odyssey by founding Napa’s Pine Ridge winery in 1978. He came to
Oregon in 1993 to create the spectacular Archery Summit property in the  Dundee Hills. Andrus sold his shares of both Pine Ridge and Archery 
Summit in 2001, then purchased vineyards in both Oregon and New 
Zealand to start the Gypsy Dancer label.

Andrus, 57, became an oenology devotee after earning an organic chemistry
degree from Brigham Young University, where he also performed as a 
tackle on the BYU grid squad.

He earned his winemaking chops with post graduate studies at Oregon State
and the University of Montpelier in France. His interest in Pinot Noir 
brought him to Oregon and led to an investment in what was then a 
state-of-the-art Archery Summit vineyards and winery in the Dundee Hills. That facility’s underground tunnelled cellars are the equal of any in Europe.

A divorce settlement claimed both Pine Ridge and Archery Summit 
properties, but Andrus came back to his favorite varietal with the purchase 
of the small Lion Valley Vineyards southeast of Hillsboro to create the 
Gypsy Dancer label. This property and a New Zealand acquisition in the same year of 2002 gave Andrus an opportunity to vinify Pinot Noir in two
regions ideal for this finicky grape.

At last report, he was living with his new wife in New Zealand and 
attempting to find new investors to bail out his Kiwi facility, which was 
financially hammered by successive years of cold, wet weather that 
markedly retarded harvests.

Random sips...whatever will the world’s fine dining sommeliers do if the 
current success of screw caps continues to inspire wineries to switch from 
the time-honored cork closure. There’s just no glamor to twisting off the cap
as compared to ceremoniously pulling the cork...shame on the Oregon Beer
& Wine Distributors Association for comping thousands of dollars worth of Hawaiian sojourns for several legislators, a rather blatant way to purchase 
legislative influence, wouldn’t you say? 

© 2006 Fred Delkin