Patz & Hall
Chardonnay & Pinot Noir
Sonoma Coast, California
Last night was the launch of the Patz & Hall Winery page on Twitter Taste Live. They divided the country in two and had bloggers on both coasts do a tasting of two of their soon to be released wines. I was really pleased to see how seamlessly the upgraded TTL is working, and we had an enjoyable time tasting the wines.2008 Sonoma Coast Chardonnay
I'll be the first to tell you I'm not really into oaked Chardonnay. I really prefer mimimum oak characteristics, and will go for 100% stainless steel any day. That said, I'm all for striking balance too, and I did enjoy this Chardonnay.
Appearance: Clear, medium+ intensity, straw yellow.
Nose: Clean, top notes of vanilla, yeast, biscuit; citrus, orange, yellow apple, oak, and honey - the alcohol was pretty strong after first opening the bottle.
Palate: Dry, full bodied, medium acidity, medium+ alcohol, medium-long finish; butter, vanilla, yeast, citrus, orange, banana, some tropical fruit, and a creamy mouthfeel.
This release was aged in 40% new French oak for 10 months in addition to being on the lees with weekly stirring. After yeast cells "expire" they will autolyse (go boom) and continue imparting creamy, biscuit characteristics to wine if not filtered out. Creamier than I'd choose on my own, but not a total oak bomb either. This wine also underwent 100% Malolactic Fermentation (MLF) which helps to smooth out the acidity in the wine, converting malic acid to lactic acid. Think of the acidity of a green apple versus the acidity of milk.
General consensus was that the other bloggers tasting really enjoyed the Chardonnay. Some raved about the racy acidity, though I think that perhaps it was perspective moving their palates from what they'd normally think of California Chardonnay with the huge oak and butter notes. Since my taste is approaching from the opposite end, it didn't seem too zingy to me. As always perception makes wine tasting with groups like this a lot of fun!
With the second wine I felt almost as though all the bottles of Oregon Pinot sitting on the counter had turned to glare angrily at me - somehow able to tell that I was enjoying the California wine. Probably not the case though.2007 Jenkins Ranch Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir
Appearance: Clear, medium+ intensity (for Pinot Noir at least!), garnet color to clear rim.
Nose: Clean, top notes of violet, spice, smoke, cinnamon; red cherry, cranberry (the literature says "pomegranate"), soft licorice, slightly dried fruit, floral, alcohol is noticeable but not overwhelming or out of balance with fruit; cranberry is definitely dominant.
Palate: Dry, medium to medium-full body, medium acidity, medium alcohol, medium finish and gentle tannins. Sweet cherry, red fruit, strawberry, plum, ripe fruit, vanilla, cranberry-but not tart like you'd expect from the nose-and soft oak.
In Oregon, 2007 is snubbed by many - though people are starting to realize that the 2007 vintage is starting to show really nicely after some time in the bottle. Hopefully those people who skipped right to '08 will leave more for the rest of us. That's neither here nor there though as in Sonoma it was predictably beautiful in 2007. Slightly smaller than expected harvest for many, but that definitely didn't hurt quality. This Pinot included, I think it had a very fruity personality. Again, not a huge amount of acid, and this one as well went through 100% MLF with 40% in new French oak. I would easily drink this Pinot, though I think I'd be hard pressed not to find one in my backyard that I liked just as much if not more.
Both wines were enjoyable, and I want to thank the folks at Patz & Hall for hosting and tasting along with us. Looking forward to the next Taste Live event. You can check notes on Twitter by searching for the #TTL and/or #patzhallwines hashtags.
Cheers!
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