Antica Terra Botanica 2010
Antica Terra Botanica 2010
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Antica Terra Botanica 2010

Antica Terra
$320.00

Grape: Pinot Noir
Vintage: 2010
Type: Red

This library release of the Botanica Pinot Noir comes from select parcels in the Eola-Amity Hills, chosen for their fleshy, fruit-driven profile. Winemaker Maggie Harrison isolates these barrels during a rigorous cellar audit, looking for components that contrast with the estate's more mineral cuvées. The winemaking utilizes spontaneous native fermentation and a high proportion of whole clusters to build structural complexity. It then underwent a lengthy aging process in neutral and low-toast French oak barriques.

It pours a light garnet color with amber reflections at the rim, releasing complex aromas of dried cherry, black tea, and leather. The medium-bodied palate has softened over sixteen years, showing a silky, integrated texture with melted, fine-grained tannins. Savory flavors of red plum and cranberry blend with emerging secondary notes of tobacco leaf, cedar, and damp earth. A vibrant thread of natural acidity keeps the aged profile fresh, and alive.

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