Patz & Hall Winery

Patz & Hall Winery has been in the (wine) news quite a bit recently. The winey is owned by two couples and when one of them got divorced in 2016 they were forced to sell to Chateau St. Michelle. Thankfully, James Hall was able to buy it back earlier this year. And it would appear the wine has not suffered in the least!

Patz & Hall’s tasting room is located just 10 minutes from the square in the City of Sonoma. We chose the Sonoma House Flight which at $40/pp allowed us to taste four of their current releases.

After the Sonoma-Cutrer experience, it was AMAZING to have a “wine educator” lead our tasting. Their sparkling wines also had bubbles, there was a map of their vineyards and even a spit bucket. They were batting 1000 and a drop of wine hadn’t even touched my tongue.

My party was there for the bubbles so we tried the:

  • 2017 North Coast Brut (crisp, refreshing green apple), which my mum said was “too dry for poolside quaffing;”

  • Blanc de Blanc, which spent two months on neutral oak giving it a creamier mouth feel in addition to notes of honeydew, pear, and citrus; and the

  • Brut RosĂ©, which spent 4 or 5 years on the lees before disgorging. It had a beautiful salmon color and notes of rose, grapefruit, strawberry, and elderflower. Actually kind of extraordinary.

For our last pour we each got something different. My sister had the 2019 Jenkins Ranch Pinot Noir. She asked for zero tannins and that is what she got! I asked for something in the Chablis-style and was rewarded with the 2021 Hyde Chardonnay. It was high acid and well-structured with notes of Asian Pear (that Carneros fog influence!). The birthday girl’s pour—a 2016 Hudson Ranch Chardonnay—proved that it can age.

I’ll be brining hubby back to do a deeper dive into the still wines ;)

Sonoma ValleyRachel BakerPatz & Hallchardonnay, pinot noir, sparkling wine