Winemaker Maggie Harrison

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 wonderful and life-changing harvests and in 2004, struck out on her own starting a small syrah project called Lillian.

She was happily living down in Santa Barbara, a place she never intended to leave when she was invited to become the winemaker at Antica Terra. 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.