2021’s warm season, bathed in light, gave rise to wines, both red and white, with an unprecedented alliance of drama and precision. These are heady, expansive offerings with billowing aromatics and terrific depth at the core.

Antica Terra chardonnay Aurata

Chardonnay can be a monster. It has so much to give and, when grown in places where the sun actually shines, it can become overly tropical, flabby and dull. In an attempt to tame the beast, there is a tendency, these days, to let the vine set abundant fruit, harvest it while still green and keep the wine from wood. And while all of these things will certainly keep the wine from becoming too rich, it feels to us, like the wrong approach.

We believe that Oregon, with its marginal climate giving rise to cool growing seasons and naturally elevated acid, may be one of the few places in the world where one can actually pursue intensity. We can farm for yields that allow for wind and wing between each cluster, let the fruit hang until the skins are golden, the seeds deeply brown, press, without moving the must, for ten, sometimes eighteen hours, and let the wines develop in barrel; the slow oxygenation through the staves serving to both amplify and refine its character over time.

Aurata is pure and precise, its deep vein of acid contributing to the impression of power, density and persistence.

Antica Terra pinot noir Botanica

Botanica is an expression of the fecundity and fertility of the flora of this place. It tends towards sappy, sanguine, with a taste of wild rose, sour cherries, and blood orange. It is tempting to define it solely by its compelling texture and lush personality, but there is a structural element that is equally striking. This balance between extraordinary concentration and pronounced tension is the essence of the wine.

Antica Terra pinot noir Ceras

Ceras is all about minerality and delicacy. Chiseled and oceanic, it is an expression of the geology that lays beneath our land, the tart blue fruits of the coast range and the tender perennials and mushrooms of the Northwest forest.