The story of Patz & Hall is a compelling one. Founded back in 1988 when up and coming winemaker James Hall met Sales Manager Donald Patz while working together at Flora Springs winery. Together with their wives Heather and Anne, that created a brand that ignited a trend of terroir driven, limited production, single-vineyard Chardonnays and Pinot Noirs from across Napa, Sonoma, Mendocino and Monterey. They cultivated long-term, meaningful relationships with exceptional grape growers across the northern Californian coastline. Whoever was growing the most exciting, top quality fruit, Patz & Hall were in on it, always pushing quality over quantity. After decades of success in building a name for themselves at home and abroad, Chateau Ste Michelle Wine Estates came knocking and purchased Patz & Hall from the original founders in 2016. James stayed on overseeing the winemaking and the wines remained as excellent as always. However, in a somewhat unusual twist in the tail, James Hall purchased the winery back from Chateau Ste Michelle's corporate ownership in 2024, taking back full control of the brand he has dedicated 37 years of his life to. I've been lucky enough to walk many vineyards with James in the past few years, and have seen first hand his incredible depth of knowledge and perhaps most importantly the personal relationships he's built with growers across the region. He's warmly welcomed by all who know him and the mutual respect between him and the wine community at large is palpable. Driving with him out in Green Valley he knows each and every turn in the road, waves at oncoming, beat-up vineyard trucks, knowing seemingly everyone we meet. He points out otherwise inconspicuous blocks of vines as we pass with a tale about a wine he made from that block in some long ago vintage. It's truly fascinating to work with a guy whose passion for what he does has never dwindled in almost four decades. Like his own passion and drive, his wines are no less energized and fresh either. The entire lineup of wines is characterful, precise, and distinctive. The Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir is the workhorse of the line up but not to be underestimated. This is a wine that James is very proud of each and every vintage. It's a patchwork of many of the very finest vineyards across the Sonoma Coast including many of the vineyards that produce much more expensive bottlings. It's also a wine that really tells the story of James' deep knowledge and connection to so many people and places across the region. The 2021 is absolutely stunning right now, probably the best edition of this bottling tasted in the past decade. Everything is in perfect balance, seamlessly interwoven. Highly aromatic with ripe red berry fruits, sassafras, Asian spice and dry leaf litter. The palate is plush with dark cherry, black raspberry, more exotic spices. Ripe and soft on the palate but with excellent freshness and vibrancy that keeps if resonating long on the palate. An absolute benchmark wine for the region and vintage. Congratulations to James on another thrilling instalment in his long and enthralling journey! Cheers!

Opening with a rich and alluring nose, ripe with dark cherry, plum skin and some cedary oak in the very back. As the wine sits in the glass, the cherry intensifies and intensifies becoming incredibly ripe and lush. There's a plushness to this whole wine, a kind of bowling bumpers softening every edge in the best of ways. The palate has a very pleasant amount of richness and the oak has made even the crunchier fruit creamy on the palate, but there is also enough acidity to pull it all together. Dark cherry, cranberry zest and pomegranate pith and cocoa dustings all wrap up into a tasty little package. Absolutely delicious.