2022 Antica Terra - Aequorin Chardonnay (750ml)

Antica Terra was established in 2005 by three friends, Scott Adelson, John Mavredakis, and Michael Kramer, who purchased an eleven acre vineyard on a prehistoric seabed in the Eola-Amity Hills. They recruited Maggie Harrison, formerly assistant winemaker at Sine Qua Non in California, and after a single visit to the property she decided to move to Oregon and take on the estate as winemaker. The vineyard, first planted in 1989, sits on sandstone interspersed with fossilized oyster shells with almost no topsoil, forcing the vines to struggle and produce small, intensely concentrated fruit.

Aequorin is one of Antica Terra's rare solo bottlings, made only in select vintages when a single expression of Chardonnay demands its own bottle rather than joining the broader blend. Harrison practices a meticulous, non-formulaic style of winemaking, sorting fruit berry by berry and making vintage specific decisions rather than following a fixed formula, and the estate now farms biodynamically across its expanded holdings in the Eola-Amity Hills. This patient, site driven approach means the wine is bottled only when Harrison judges it ready.

The 2022 Aequorin offers mineral saturated aromas of sea spray, acacia flower, pomelo oil, and iodine. The palate is seamless and full bodied, with concentrated fruit and brisk acidity giving it real tension, finishing with a weightless, almost stony elegance. It pairs beautifully with raw oysters, grilled halibut, or a simple roast chicken.