2014 Antica Terra "Aurata" Willamette Valley Chardonnay

“Wow. This is so unique that it is hard to comprehend at first. The nose opens with jasmine and sliced pears before straw, dried kiwi fruit, dried papaya, lemon drizzle cake, butterscotch, orange skin and yellow mangoes. The palate is full-bodied with dried and yellow fruit galore. There's no shortage of fine acidity. A polyphenolic texture and a long, seriously spicy finish that ends with a touch of perfectly intentioned oxidation. Already delicious but this will only get better.” (12/2017)

“"The whole conversation is to hold your fruit at bay," says Maggie Harrison of Chardonnay. "It's a monster. It wants to give. People have gotten really afraid of it. It’s true if you have lots of sun it can get overblown, monolithic and tiring. There’s a culture of cropping high and picking early. Picking on acid, that whole thing, I don't get it. It's fruit, it's flavor. I decided to make Chardonnay the way I make everything else: hang it until it’s golden with brown seeds and the flavor in the berry is amazing. Then full malolactic fermentation and aging in barrel sur lie for 18 months before we even think about finishing it. I think we forget that the thing that’s so beguiling about the wines we love, there’s a profundity, a depth of character and articulation of flavor you can’t get to before pulling out the baby prematurely. You can decide in advance what you want the wine to be—in bonzai, you decide the form and prune it that way—and it can take that perfect form and serve a purpose. But those wines never feel fully formed to me. You can’t get there if you’re not meeting the fruit where it is. It’s just paying attention, being present, tasting things. Good construction lasts a long time whether it’s a shoe, a building or a wine. I don’t think you can have all the parts that lead to good construction without simply responding to the fruit in that moment." (EB)” (04/2020)

“Limpid yellow. A hugely perfumed nose evokes fresh melon, Meyer lemon, pear nectar and white flowers, and a smoky mineral nuance and a suggestion of saffron build as the wine stretches out. Deeply concentrated and penetrating on the palate, offering intense citrus and orchard fruit flavors and suggestions of chamomile, sweet butter and iodine. Shows uncanny vivacity for its heft and betrays no rough edges. A repeating mineral element adds energizing lift and cut to the wonderfully long, juicy finish, which leaves behind a suave floral note and a touch of toasted brioche. (JR)” (12/2017)