Antica Terra Botanica 2015
Antica Terra Botanica 2015
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Antica Terra Botanica 2015

Antica Terra
$280.00

Grape: Pinot Noir
Vintage: 2015
Type: Red

Produced during a dry and historically warm vintage in the Willamette Valley, this red wine focuses on texture and fruit generosity. Winemaker Maggie Harrison manages a strict cellar audit to choose barrels that show an expansive mouthfeel over a linear line. The hand-harvested fruit is fermented using wild yeasts, utilizing whole clusters to provide a balanced phenolic framework against the ripe fruit. It ages in neutral and low-toast French oak barriques before bottling.

It shows a deep ruby hue, opening with expressive aromatics of ripe dark plum, wild strawberry, and subtle baking spices. A medium-to-full body shows a lovely tension, balancing a rich, layered mouthfeel with a firm line of chalky tannins. Clean flavors of red cherry and pomegranate blend with secondary notes of tea leaf and forest floor. A vertical wave of coastal acidity cuts right through mid-palate volume. It finishes long and dry, leaving a persistent mineral impression.

Maggie Harrison is a first-generation winemaker, having grown up in the Midwest. With an educational background in International Relations and Conflict Resolution, she fell in love with wine while working in restaurants and set out to follow that passion and create wine. She went on to land the position of assistant winemaker to Manfred Krankl at Sine Qua Non, where she remained for eight years. She is currently the co-owner and winemaker for Antica Terra, producing Pinot Noir and Chardonnay since 2005, and is also responsible for the Syrah at Lillian Winery in Santa Barbara. Initially, it had been her goal to only produce a singular wine, but during blind tastings for blending, she felt the various components would not necessarily complement one another and would overpower or detract from the other. Rather than force them to homogenize, each of the wines bottled today chases the individual and opposing personalities each possesses. Her wines are impeccably expressive and worth seeking out if you can get your hands on them.

I have always found with these wines that I am never compelled to overly coax the wine in tasting. They are distinctive, singular wines that, when given the time to allow the wine to come to you, make the transcendence to art.

- Audrey Frick (9/17/2023) © 2024 Jeb Dunnuck