Arché - Worth a Journey from Dallas-Fort Worth for Some of the Best Wine in Texas

by Andrew Chalk 

Type “Arche Winery” into the Google search box in your browser and the first entry that pops up in the list is:

and that 100% authentic is what you get. Plus, the winemaking is some of the best in the state, often with challenging varieties. 

One unmissable here is the 2024 Chardonnay. Grown on the estate, just a short drone flight from the Oklahoma state line on a bluff above an imposing U-bend in the Red River. It is made in the New World style of barrel fermentation and aging in French oak with prescriptive amounts of lees-stirring and two-thirds malolactic fermentation. It produces a nose of expressive and exotic Meyer lemon, mango, and vanilla. A weighty mouthfeel of wine that is still vibrant due to the careful preservation of acidity in the face of the softening influence of malolactic fermentation. The fruit, and that French oak vanillin, are something I can go on sipping forever. 

For grins, kidnap half a dozen expat Californians (there are a lot of them in Texas nowadays) and blind taste them on this in a flight with four respectable Napa or Sonoma chardonnays. It will not embarrass you. 

Or take it to dinner with friends to serve with the fish or poultry course, announcing what you have bought using its nom de guerre ‘a chardonnay’, omitting any reference to Texas. Then watch them. after a few minutes, twisting the bottle on the table to read the label ‘Texas! I didn’t know Chardonnay grew in Texas!’ they will exclaim.         

Just as impressive is the 2023 Roussanne, also an estate wine, appellated Montague County and only 84 cases produced. Best thought of as a Roussanne (a northern Rhône grape) vinified as if it were a New World Chardonnay. That is, aged in French oak, a fair amount of it new. The nose is redolent of peaches, tea, honey, and vanilla. The palate echoes those components with a bite of acid and a phenolic backbone providing complexity. Arché produces this style consistently and has won at least one platinum medal at the San Diego wine fair for its work. The only other Texas producer targeting this style that I know of is McPherson Cellars with their Reserve Roussanne bottlings. It really elevates Roussanne above the level of a blending grape and this wine is one that I will take as a gift for French winemakers I visit this summer. It is that good.

The winemaker behind these and other successes from Arché is Grayson Davis, son of Howard and Amy Davies, the founders of the winery. He is as accomplished with red wines as white with estate 2023 Mourvèdre, 2023 Syrah Reserve, and 2024 Syrah Reserve all excelling.

The first time I visited Arché, some 15 years ago, the tasting room resembled one of those sheds you buy at Home Depot. How times have changed. It is now a modern hospitality structure with floor to ceiling windows, a shaded patio, and aesthetically pleasing wooden panels in the ceiling. They periodically have live music and cookups and snack food is always available. 

Worth a visit. Order the wines at the winery or via the web site.

The tasting room patio at Arché