Maggie Harrison is the head of winemaking at Antica Terra, in Oregon’s Willamette Valley; Lillian, on California’s Central Coast; and the Glories, a bi-regional lovechild of the two. She is also the founder and creative director of Yes Society, offering exclusive access to the rarest wines in the world; and Beauty School, an interdisciplinary experience agency. 

Having never set foot in a winery, Maggie Harrison, through dumb luck and an embarrassing show of tenacity, became the first assistant winemaker at Elaine and Manfred Krankl’s Sine Qua Non. She apprenticed for eight harvests and in 2004, struck out on her own starting a small syrah project called Lillian. She was happily living in Santa Barbara, a place she never intended to leave, when she was invited to become the winemaker and steward of Antica Terra, a tiny, rocky parcel in Oregon's Willamette Valley. She emphatically refused. But when she was asked if she would simply take a look at the vineyard and offer her opinion about the qualities of the site, she reluctantly agreed. Twenty-six seconds after arriving among the oaks, fossils, and stunted vines she found herself hunched beneath one of the oaks, phone in hand, explaining to her husband that they would be moving to Oregon. 

Today, what was once a five-acre parcel has become a 188-acre estate inclusive of native white oak woodlands, seasonal waterways, biodynamic vineyards and gardens, with hosted experiences and a culinary program that honors the distinction of this landscape and its particular gifts. 

Harrison's ideas and explorations of beauty, and what it means to learn about, experience, understand the language of wine through this lens gave rise to both Yes Society and Beauty School, and will be explored in a forthcoming book from Harrison & Leigh Patterson.

PARTICIPATING EVENTS:

Jeremiah Tower & Friends Lunch

Wine Seminar: Benchmarks of Meursault