2014 Antica Terra Rosé Angelicall

"This is the most experimental wine we make," says Maggie Harrison. "I came to Oregon in 2006 and made rosé the same way we did at Sine Qua Non. But I kept failing. They are working with thick-skinned varieties. But with Pinot Noir in a marginal climate, you just can't get there. So, in 2008, I had to rebuild the process and think about it differently. I basically borrowed the winemaking techniques of the white wines of northern Italy. The wine ends up being on the skins an average of six days. This isn’t because more is better. It’s because I can get the thin-skinned grapes to have that same depth of character and all the parts that allow it to live with its perceived peers. I’m a little bit obsessed with rosé. But only from about four or five producers. Because there are really only that many people making rosé in the world with the same degree of intention as they make red and white wines. If you just lean in and do the most beautiful thing you can, there’s a wine to be made of some color of pink that registers rosé. In some ways, it is the clearest sight line through what the character of that vintage was. We grab the rosé at its apex: dry extract, tannins, all the things that dovetail into the aromatics and ground it. It’s not about color. It’s about the taste, the architectural quality of the tannins." The 2014 Angelicall rosé is an incredible wine, unique and difficult to define, but very Rayas-like with its elegantly degraded fruit character. Its scents of red berries, tangerine, grapefruit peel, dried flowers, earth, amaro, spices and herbs are delicate and layered. "It's so feral," says Harrison. Indeed, it does have the wild but beautiful qualities of the best Grenache wines in a "rosé" package, with its light weight, savory intensity, delicate texture and long, refreshing finish. Stunning.