Taylar Hart

9.5

The aroma on this particular bottle made me deliriously happy. Maybe it was the new glassware but I felt like this was so much more alive than the last bottle of the same. I love that the bubble size isn’t insanely small so it’s refreshing without burning, and then I always feel like there’s a bit of a wildflower/grassy element to these that feels soft and drinkable. — 4 years ago

David Kline

9.1

Chunky blonde monkey! This tangy orangutan is riddled with bits of grits! It had a big blonde head and was like an orange freshly peeled with pith, fossilized, and amber singing of grapefruit days and juniper nights; black pepper and cedar chiming in with rosemary and chive. Really slaps your tongue with the Gin-ny Juniper...Secondary notes of grapefruit, orange, lemon seed, coriander and grapefruit pith chatter and whoop as your face is lovingly eaten. The gibberish and screeching grows to a crescendo as the juniper raises its cedar cudgel covered in lichen and wild yeast, cinnamon and clove and just a bay leaf or two, and warmly drums your taut torso while your consciousness clouds like the thick detritus of its last sips. Your limbs pull away with ease as the troop joins the rhythmic frenzy. ‘Why are you hitting yourself?’ their warm starlit eyes suggest with just a little mischief. You know why. — 5 years ago

Lindsay Green-Barber

9.3

Cherry robitussin — 6 years ago

with Sherman

Matthew Steilen

9.3

This is wine from Steilen country.

Layers of fruit. Cantaloupe, banana, apple, honey. Petrol, lichen, forest floor. Funky, old. Yes!! — 6 years ago

Lori Mike

9.0

Pours pineapple in color. ON THE NOSE: roasted nuts, butterscotch and toast with a hint of citrus. ON THE PALATE: the bubbles create a wonderful creaminess on your tongue followed by citrus, green apple, toasted bread and yeast. The finish as just a hint of sweetness. Tiny bubbles last a long time in glass — 8 years ago

Adriana Fabbro

9.3

Anderson Valley in a glass: vineyards shrouded in coastal fog, redwood groves, overgrown apple orchards (wildflowers, moss, lichen, tall grass, mushrooms, etc). Tension and purity. Pretty cranberry, spice and citrus on the finish. Third time I’ve had this wine and it still proves to be one of the best (balanced, complete, memorable) Pinots I’ve had all year. 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻 — 5 years ago

William Paley

9.7

Gothic and elemental, for rumination. Smells of lichen and rainfall. — 5 years ago

Isaac Pirolo

9.7

It’s usually a good sign when the winemaker can articulate what the wine is about like this: “Ceras is Botanica’s counterpoint. Its color is more purple than red. It is more about minerals and herbs than fruit and flowers. It is a focused and elegant distillation of rock rather than an opulent cascade of fruit. It is an expression of the geology that lays beneath our land, the tart blue fruits of the coast range and the tender herbs that one finds amongst the trees and mushrooms of the Northwest forest.”

Her 2013 Ceras is yet another example of Maggie Harrison’s sorcery over the vines at Antica Terra. The focus and intensity of flavor is off the charts, yet it maintains an almost ethereal weightlessness, only emphasizing the layer of silk that separates you from the wine. The pungent rock is so on point and distinctive it instantly reminded me of the scent of lichen growing on rocks, which I experienced in Colorado when I was 7 or 8 years old. This sets the stage for the level of complexity exhibited. The fruit has both an extraordinarily high level of purity and yet the woven tapestry of herbs and spices and even fruit blending are impossible not to notice. The key being that nothing is forced.

The nuance of complexity only being noticed when desired is nearly an impossible feat. I can’t help but recall James Conaway quoting Andy Beckstoffer in his recently released book: Napa at Last Light: America’s Eden in an Age of Calamity. “If a wine was a model with a chipped tooth, you’d have to give her something to compensate with. If she needs better shoulders, better breasts, give her some. But her real charm is in how she carries the defect.”

After reading his book, I can tell you I’m definitely not certain whether you can accept his quotes verbatim. One thing is certain, though, Maggie Harrison’s Antica Terra wines carry the defect like no other. — 6 years ago

Emilia Greene

9.0

Very tasty! Butterscotch, basil, tangerine notes/flavors - buttery/creamy tasting. — 8 years ago

Helen Keplinger

Owner/Winemaker Keplinger Wines

9.0

Dried porcini, crushed stones, dried lichen on fallen trees, old case of flowers , dried leaves. Collected tannins and lovely texture — 9 years ago

Jeffrey Raskin

9.0

Bottle two at home with wifey! — 5 years ago

David Kline

9.1

A feast of perfect amber teetering between translucence and opacity, well built like a manor whose dissolution laces with cobwebs, diagonally climbing vines and lichen. Spartan tastes of pineapple, lime, clementine and apricot appear as disembodied as faint memories and spirits swept like spindrift into blue skies above brine. Lime pith and lemon oils stir in grapefruit eddies. Just a glimpse of bitter lime and guava sail the far horizon. — 5 years ago

Willie Carter

8.9

Light pineapple color in the glass with thin edges. Beautiful nose of peaches, pears, and Granny Smith apples. White Pinot, always interesting stuff. Some treat it as a fashionable fad but luckily this ain’t that. Definitely a fun wine but also a serious one. Crisp, ultra refreshing acidity and weight. The palate follows the nose with more citrus fruit. Lemon peel, bright pears, fresh cut lawn, and more apples. The finish has plenty of tang but is a bit short for me. All in all, a fun and refreshing pour. — 6 years ago

Sarah Dumas

9.0

Fruit forward but dry enough. Very unique — 6 years ago

Arecibo Message

10

Nuttier, with cooked peach, rather than the previous lichen and cold white peach. Still love it. — 8 years ago

with jo

Tom Inners

9.1

It's All-Star time. A second label from the Lichen crew that washes down good with some North Mississippi All Stars playing loud. — 9 years ago

Morgan Harris

Head Sommelier Aureole New York

10

What a wine to end 2014 with. There's no way to do justice to how masterful this wine is, but I'm going to try some words anyway: sesame, marzipan, iodine, campfire, shaving cream, membrillo, apple sauce, vanilla extract, lichen, powdered stone, clover honey, candied honeysuckle, salted caramel, duck fat, and on and on and on and on....Su-fucking-purlative. A skyscraper and a massive root system of a wine at the same time. I'm in awe. As close to perfect as you can get. — 9 years ago