Alcohol: 14.2%
Grape(s): Pinot Noir
Localization: Sonoma County, California, USA
Tasting Notes: Sixteen small, independent family-owned vineyard sites come together in this gorgeous display of Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir. This blend displays classic coastal traits of fresh red fruits, cherry, mulled strawberry, cranberry, and cassis. Cinnamon, clove, anise, and coriander accompany subtle notes of forest floor and pink flowers. The palate is full and finishes with good purity, supported by refined tannins and fresh acidity. This offering is a lovely expression capturing the elegance and purity that are hallmarks of Pinot Noir at its best.
Top 100 Wines of the Year, Wine Spectator
96 points Decanter: Delightful, extra-juicy red and black fruits give graciously and generously, with a mouth-filling texture and soft, silky tannins. The coolness of the Sonoma Coast takes the salty sea air and places it squarely on the grapes to give this wine a lovely saline finish. The great structural envelope will protect this wine for the future. It will last and last.
Notes: James Hall blends this wine from 18 vineyards, mostly in the Sonoma Coast and Russian River Valley. He lets the fermentation start slowly, with ambient yeasts, then finishes it with cultured yeasts, aging the wine in French oak barrels (45 percent new) and bottling it unfiltered. The wine is beefy and youthfully tannic, even as the color is transparent in the glass. Behind the tannins, there’s a tight, cool, and saline pinot with plush black-cherry flavors.
The Domain: Patz and Hall Wine Company was founded in 1988 by Donald Patz, James Hall, Anne Moses, and Heather Patz, and is dedicated to the production of hand-crafted wines. The four are long-time Napa Valley residents and wine industry professionals, with a wide variety of experiences. Patz and Hall produce Chardonnay and Pinot Noir wines from selected vineyard sources in Napa, Sonoma, Mendocino and Monterey counties. The Patz and Hall method is to work closely with each of their growers to achieve a unique expression of the vineyard site and deliver wines that reflect both the site and their vision for great wine.
“To craft our Patz & Hall Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir, we source grapes from a selection of California’s most renowned wine-growing families. The Dutton family provides us with fruit from several of their small vineyard sites. Charlie Chenoweth, Lee Martinelli and Steve Hill also contribute superb quality fruit to this complex blend of vineyard sites and clones. The blend also features a core of fruit from Mark Sanchietti’s Two Dryers Vineyard and Bill Price’s Gap’s Crown Vineyard, one of the Sonoma Coast’s great winegrowing sites.
Eighteen small, independently family-owned vineyard sites come together in this gorgeous display of Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir. This is an approachable Pinot Noir with fine-grained tannins, freshness and purity. Intense aromas of Bing cherry, strawberry, carnation flowers, and licorice notes pour from the glass. Though nicely dense and full on the palate, the wine avoids heaviness with fresh acidity and bright red fruit flavors that resolve on a long, detailed finish. This 2017 offering has the essential elegance and purity that defines great Pinot Noir.” - Jeff Hall
