2019 Antica Terra Pinot Noir Antikythera

The 2019 Pinot Noir Antikythera is wild, spicy and exotic with a complex blend of dusty dried flowers, crushed fall leaves, autumnal spices, blood orange and wild strawberries. This model of purity is lifted and finessed yet deeply textural, mixing saline minerals and tart wild berry fruits, all guided by brilliant acidity. The Antikythera is tremendously long and dramatic, with a tactile edge to its sour, tart blackberry and licorice notes. Crunchy tannins linger, yet the 2019 maintains impossible freshness as over a minute goes by, and the Antikythera still resonates on the palate. This is next-level Pinot Noir and a wine of meditation. Of note, Antica Terra declassified 40% of their fruit in 2019.

Pale ruby with a touch of garnet. Both dried and fresh, waxy peony petals, ripe-cherry fruit, forest floor and toasted flax seeds and brown spice on the nose. Deep and earthy on the palate with a beautiful balance of bright acidity and firm tannin. (SCJ)

The 2019 Pinot Noir Antikythera is a blockbuster wine packed with pure dark fruits of blackberry compote, coniferous herbs, fresh leather, and turned soil. The palate is structured and precise, with an iron-rich mineral feel along with crystalline red cherry, dried flowers, and pine. It continues to unfold in the glass, and there is no question it should be included with some of the best the vintage has to offer. Drink 2024-2038. 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. Antica Terra did not produce any red wine in 2020.