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Oregon and Washington Wine Experts Since 1988 |
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Antica Terra
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Read the feature: Every year, the Antica Terra Pinot noir is different. Antica Terra wines are blends of estate and purchased fruit, and the mixes change each year. The palette of purchased fruit changes - Maggie buys fruit from a handful of sources. And the quality of the estate fruit varies with each vintage.
MORE INFORMATIONRead the feature: Every year, the Antica Terra Pinot noir is different. Antica Terra wines are blends of estate and purchased fruit, and the mixes change each year. The palette of purchased fruit changes - Maggie buys fruit from a handful of sources. And the quality of the estate fruit varies with each vintage. Antica Terra's Maggie Harrison --
From Legendary Sine Qua Non to Antica Terra Pinot noir Antica Terra did not make wine in 2005. Maggie declassified the entire estate vineyard and sold the wine as bulk. In general, Maggie plans to make one or two wines from each vintage. The Antica Terra Pinot noir Willamette Valley is made in most years, while the "Botanica" is made only when the fruit meets Maggie's demanding standards. In 2006, 1100 cases of the Antica Terra Willamette Valley and less than 100 cases of Botanica were made. In the 2007 vintage, 20 cases of Botanica were made as well as 1280 cases of the Antica Terra Willamette Valley. While the 2006 vintage at Antica Terra was ideal, 2007 gave Maggie a big dose of the difficulties created by Oregon's truncated growing season. She says: "The 2007 vintage in Oregon was a challenge. It was the coldest growing season at Antica Terra in fifteen years. It took a lot of extra work in the vineyard, but we brought in fruit that I was impressed with, both before and after the rains began. The fruit we harvested after the rains started was completely different than what we harvested before. That's Oregon. Every fall, you have to decide whether to wait for that final bit of ripening and risk it raining, or to harvest a bit early and get 90% of what might be possible." Antica Terra's 2007 Willamette Valley Pinot noir is a blend of 53% Antica Terra Estate fruit, 28% Shea Vineyard (Wadenswil and Dijon 828 clones), 9% Croft Vineyard, and 9% Cherry Grove Vineyard. The unique Antica Terra terroir speaks as the main note in a chord of flavors that Maggie blended to create the wine. The Antica Terra Vineyard's terroir, according to Maggie is just like the winery's name -- "old earth". "To my palate, the Antica Terra vineyard signature has this stony, earthy, soily, mushroom quality - whether you call it peat, soil, humus, or whatever. And it's unique." Other qualities mentioned in reference to the Antica Terra terroir include umami, slate, and mineral. The Shea Vineyard Wadenswil component of the 2007 Willamette Valley Pinot noir adds black fruit (blueberry, blackberry) to the wine, and the Shea Dijon 828 provides red fruit components. Cherry Grove Vineyard fruit adds its character to the wine. Cherry Grove adds "pure cherry", says Maggie. And whole cluster fermented Pommard fruit from Cherry Grove adds "spice cupboard, asian spice, star anise, and clove" to the blend. Antica Terra was founded in 1989 with the purchase of a rugged 28 acre parcel in the Amity Hills region of the Willamette Valley. The vineyard sits on a gently sloping hillside of well drained soil, underlain by sandstone and siltstone, formed from old alluvium- la antica terra. A variety of Pinot Noir clones were densely planted in 1990, and the vineyard significantly expanded in 1999 (they planted over 10,000 vines). Founders Marc Peters and Marty Weber sold the winery and vineyard in 2005. The wines are now made by the most able and experienced Maggie Harrison, who was previously at Sin Qua Non in California for eight years. This wonderful winery's exceptional vineyard makes one of our favorite Pinot noirs. The wine is usually black, plush, huge, dark, rich, complex, and very very limited. Yields are kept low to develop concentrated flavors, as well as to hasten ripening before the fall rains. The first release of Antica Terra was in 1994 and the 96 Pinot Noir was the first commercial release. Current production is extremely limited.
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