Winemaker Notes
This one-time moonshiner site, deep in the Sonoma Coast hills was planted by Charlie Chenoweth to a large array of high-quality Pinot Noir selections, which add complexity and depth. The nose is filled with bright cherry, blueberry and dried orange peel notes along with a hint of pine and cedar. Textured and elegant, the layers of flavor keep revealing themselves as the wines sits in the glass. This may be one of the best Patz & Hall Pinot Noirs of the 2017 vintage.
Professional Ratings
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Wine & Spirits
Charlie Chenoweth planted this vineyard in 2007 on Goldridge soils eight miles from the Pacific. The northern exposition of the blocks James Hall uses further emphasizes the coolness of the site, the wine fermented as whole clusters and aged in French oak barrels (50 percent new), without either aspect dominating the flavor. Instead, this is delicately floral, with the kind of earthbound fruit and seductive energy pinot noir can achieve in an optimal site. Just smelling the wine may be enough for Burgundy lovers in search of quiet pleasures from the New World. This is plump and generous, as you might expect from a Russian River pinot, using that supple generosity to build a sense of grandeur. It’s a new classic from the Pacific coast.
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Wine Enthusiast
This wine is marked by big, bold flavor and grippy tannin delivering an inviting intensity that delights and confounds. Black cherry, plum and wild strawberry give it wide appeal and power, with an earthiness that melds within with ease and length.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2017 Pinot Noir Bootlegger's Hill has a pale to medium ruby-purple color with aromas of cranberries, blueberries, Bing cherries, dried leaves, charcuterie and baking spice hints. Medium-bodied with a good core of fruit, it's framed by firm, grainy tannins and juicy freshness, finishing long.
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Wine Spectator
Big and inky, with grippy tannins to the dark plum and black currant flavors. Humus accents in the midpalate, with some mocha notes on the finish.
While the Russian River Valley is a large appellation with multiple climate zones and soil types, it is best known for cool-climate varieties, with Pinot Noir as the most celebrated. The grapes benefit from a reliable late afternoon flow of Pacific Ocean fog through the Petaluma Gap and along the Russian River Valley that ensures slow and steady ripening and the preservation of grape acidity. Today many of California’s most highly regarded Pinot Noir vineyards are in the Russian River Valley, along with its sub-appellation, Green Valley.
Historically Russian River Valley Pinot Noirs had bright red fruit and delicate earthy, mineral notes. But changes in viticultural and winemaking practices have led to stylistic changes in some of the region’s wines. Adjustments to canopy management, among other techniques, have resulted in riper fruit and bolder wines as well. These show flavors of black cherry, blackberry, cola, spice and darker, loamy earth tones, accenting traditional Pinot Noir notes of strawberry, raspberry and light cherry.