JancisRobinson.com
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By Richard Hemming, MW
(Patricia Green, Old Vine Pinot Noir Ribbon Ridge Red) Subscribe to see review text.
9/26/2017, (See more on JancisRobinson.com...)
View From the Cellar
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By John Gilman
(Pinot Noir “Estate Vineyard” Old Vine- Patricia Green Cellars (Ribbon Ridge)) Login and sign up and see review text.
Jul/Aug 2017, Issue #70, Visiting a Few Excellent Wineries In the Willamette Valley And Other Recently-Tasted Oregon Wines, (See more on View From the Cellar...)
Decanter
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By William Kelley
(Patricia Green, Estate Old Vine Pinot Noir, Willamette Valley, Ribbon Ridge, Oregon, USA, Red) Login and subscribe to see review text.
Oregon Pinot Noir, (See more on Decanter...)
Full Pull
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By Paul Zitarelli
(Patricia Green Cellars Pinot Noir Estate Old Vines) Hello friends. One of the heartbreaking stories of 2017 in northwest wine circles was the death of Patricia Green (see here for a lovely In Memoriam from Oregon Wine Press). On behalf of our list members, I’d like to offer condolences to Patty’s family, friends, and the entire team at Patricia Green Cellars. I’d also like to offer thanks and gratitude. Patty’s wines have graced my own table and the tables of our list members many times over. They’ve taken the edges off rough days, inspired laughter and conversation, and offered countless sensual and intellectual pleasures. What defines a life well-lived if not that? Today we’re bringing it back to where it all began for Full Pull and Patty Green. Way back in June 2011, our first Patty offer contained the 2009 vintage of the winery’s Estate Old Vines Pinot. I’m pleased that we can come full circle and offer our list members another chance to experience Patty Green’s characterful winemaking applied to some of the estate’s oldest vines:A few logistics notes to start. We special-ordered a fairly large parcel of this out of Oregon (enough to push our TPU price a good ways below this wine’s $42 release), because for all intents and purposes, Patty’s entire lineup of 2015s is sold out in Washington. Further to that point, there are only four or five 2015 Pinots (out of something like 25 in the entire lineup) still available at the winery. I suspect that’s partly from a rush to secure the last few vintages Patty worked on, and then Josh Raynolds’ recent set of Vinous reviews lavished praise on Patty’s ‘15s, which I’m certain has increased sales pressure further. If our order requests exceed what we pre-purchased, I’ll certainly inquire after more wine, but chances are this is all we’re going to get. Here’s Raynolds touching introduction: Jim Anderson walked me through the best collection of wines that I’ve ever tasted from this highly reliable producer since I started visiting and tasting here in 2005. Production here has been increasing steadily over the years (just take a look at how many wines are reviewed here) and he told me that they'll soon begin building a new winery as "this one wasn't built to handle what's going on in terms of size (barrels are stacked high and wide) and construction materials. I've always been a fan of the bang for the buck that's delivered here. Anderson said that it was never the intent here to make collector wines or vinous objects of desire. "It's kind of cool that it's happened, at least with some of the wines, but that really happened on its own. It's cool that it happened but it wasn’t some kind of business plan or goal." On a sadder, make that a profoundly sad note, Patty Green, the winery's namesake and Jim's wine-growing partner since 1993, passed away in late October, 2017, at the age of 62. She launched her much-heralded wine-growing career in 1986 as a harvest worker at the old Hillcrest Winery, in Roseburg. She quickly moved up to the position of winemaker there in 1987 and stayed on until 1989 before moving to Adelsheim, where she worked until joining the brand-new Torii Mor Winery when it launched in 1993. It's there that she met and began working closely with Anderson and the two of them departed in 2000 to start their own winery, this one, in Newberg at what was once Autumn Wind Vineyard. In the ensuing years Patricia Green Cellars has become one of America's most reliable sources for elegant, detailed and user-friendly Pinot Noir in America. Anderson is emphatic when he says that "nothing is changing because we want to preserve Patty's legacy" but all of this has clearly hit him and their team like a ton of bricks. Anybody who knew her would understand because, while Patty was only a little over five feet all in terms of personality and exuberance, she was a real character and in some ways larger than life. She was enthusiastic, unaffected and welcoming to a fault, with a huge smile and a loud, cackling laugh and the tendency to use it, often, as in really often. But her passion for and attention to winemaking, from vine to bottling, was deeply serious. A passionate gourmand and wine lover, Patty was as comfortable at The Dundee Bistro or at Tina's (where I shared a memorable dinner with her many years ago) as she was at one of her favorite stomping grounds, Dundee’s legendary watering hole, Lumpy's. She was a sweetheart, with enormous talent and realized success as among those who helped to put Oregon Pinot Noir on the map. She was a much-loved fixture in the Willamette Valley and it's awfully hard to accept that she's really gone. What I’ve always loved about Patty and Jim’s philosophy is that they hold most variables constant so those that change (vintage, vineyard) shine through transparently. A few examples of constants: 1) fruit age: they limit their purchased fruit to vines that are at least 20 years old; 2) clonal selection: they source almost exclusively Pommard and Wadenswil; 3) cooperage: they use exclusively Cadus French oak. That makes a tasting across Patty’s multiple single-vineyard wines deeply exciting, because the differences (which are obvious) can only come from one place: terroir. This particular terroir is here, right next to the winery and adjacent to the vineyards of Beaux Freres. The Old Vines bottling comes from the oldest vines on the property, planted mostly in 1986 and 1987. Much of Ribbon Ridge, including this vineyard, sits on a series of uplifted, marine sedimentary soils. In other words, this is former ocean bottom, for, oh, about 35 million years. It’s terrific soil for growing Pinot Noir, and this is a knockout, offering rich (14.0% listed alc), succulent, brambly red fruit paired to loads of forest floor and rose petal notes. It’s such a seamless palate, it goes down so easily, that you’d be forgiven for missing the underlying complexity and the sneaky polished tannins on the back end. This is the kind of Pinot with the stuffing and structure and complexity to age for years. Vinous: Copyrighted material withheld.
Full Pull Patty Green, 2/9/2018, (See more on Full Pull...)
By Josh Raynolds
(Patricia Green Cellars Pinot Noir Estate Vineyard Old Vine Oregon Red) Login and sign up and see review text.Oregon Pushes the Quality Needle for Pinot (Jan 2018), 1/18/2018, (See more on Vinous...)