Winemaker Notes
The difference between the older and younger blocks here is always pretty amazing to people. As the vines continue to age these older vines continue to sink deep root systems into the soft sandstone sub-soil. Our water is spring fed and very minerally in nature. That is what these older vines have tapped into and that is what they pull up and put into the fruit.
Professional Ratings
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Wine Spectator
This harmonious version is layered with expressive raspberry, orange zest and rose petal accents that take on richness and elegance on the long finish. Drink now through 2026
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Wilfred Wong of Wine.com
COMMENTARY: Most of us in the business understand that older (or at least mature vines) produce deeper and finer fruit. The 2016 Patricia Green Cellars Estate Vineyard Old Vine Pinot Noir is a case in point. TASTING NOTES: This wine packs plenty of oomph. Its aromas and flavors of black fruits as well as its strong delivery should pair it well with grilled lamb chops. (Tasted: September 25, 2018, San Francisco, CA)
Thin-skinned, finicky and temperamental, Pinot Noir is also one of the most rewarding grapes to grow and remains a labor of love for some of the greatest vignerons in Burgundy. Fairly adaptable but highly reflective of the environment in which it is grown, Pinot Noir prefers a cool climate and requires low yields to achieve high quality. Outside of France, outstanding examples come from in Oregon, California and throughout specific locations in wine-producing world. Somm Secret—André Tchelistcheff, California’s most influential post-Prohibition winemaker decidedly stayed away from the grape, claiming “God made Cabernet. The Devil made Pinot Noir.”
Ribbon Ridge is a regular span of uplifted, marine, sedimentary soils (called Willakenzie), whose highest ridge elevations twist like a ribbon. An early settler from Missouri named Colby Carter noticed this unique topography and gave the region its name in 1865—though it wasn’t declared its own AVA until 140 years later, in 2005. The AVA is enclosed by mountains on all sides between Yamhill-Carlton and the Chehalem Mountains, and is actually part of the larger Chehalem Mountains AVA. Its soils have a finer texture than its neighbors with parent materials composed of sandstone, siltstone, and mudstone. Given its presence of natural aquifers in this five square mile area, most vineyards are actually easily dry farmed!