Last night PURPLE and I headed to Sigels on Greenville in Dallas to attend a tasting of Patz & Hall Wines. We met up with WineDrinkerOfTexas who was already on site doing reconnaissance work in preparation for our assault. Donald Patz was in attendance. What a pleasure to meet him. He was a very nice guy that made the effort to visit with each attendee and sign bottles for purchasers. A very pleasant fellow.

All wines were tasted in “El Crappo” glasses provided by Sigels and mostly poured from the bottles with no decanting. Here are the wines tasted in the order of the tasting along with my brief comments.

2002 Patz & Hall Napa Valley Chardonnay (88-89 WIML)
Clear, light yellow color in the glass. Bright fruit flavors on the nose, mostly green apples and lemon. Buttery palate with just an earthy bite on the finish. Good balance overall. Youthful but ready to drink anytime. Score it 88-89 WIML points.

2002 Patz & Hall Woolsey Road Chardonnay (89 WIML)
Clear, light to medium yellow color in the glass. Nose reminds me of the 2001 Patz & Hall Dutton Ranch Chardonnay consisting of pear, apricot and vanilla but the comparison stops there. The fruit carries through from the nose to the palate but the creaminess of the Dutton is not there. Much more of an acidic bite than the Dutton. This should settle down some in about a year. Re-taste again at the end of 2004. Score it a solid 89 WIML points

2000 Patz & Hall Hyde Vineyard Chardonnay (88 WIML)
Clear yellow color in the glass. Nose of citrus fruits that carry through to the palate. Crisp acidity was not what I was expecting from this 2000 vintage. An odd earthiness on the finish. My least favorite of the three for the evening. Score it a generous 88 WIML points.

2000 Patz & Hall Hyde Vineyard Pinot Noir (87 WIML)
Slightly opaque garnet color in the glass. Nose of cherry an strawberry. Cherries on the palate with some herbs thrown in. Definite lighter mouthfeel than I would have expected from this Pinot Noir. I think Parker rated this thing 90 points but I just don’t see it. Score it 87 WIML points.

2001 Patz & Hall Russian River Pinot Noir (88 WIML)
Good garnet to ruby color in the glass. This wine definitely had the most Brett on the nose. Fight your way past that to pick up dark fruits such as plum and black berries. Cherries and plums on the palate. Decent effort but I wouldn’t go any more than 88 WIML points.

2001 Patz & Hall Alder Springs Pinot Noir (89 WIML)
Dark garnet to purple color in the glass. Big, dark, brooding nose of dark fruits. Black cherries on the palate. Definitely the meaty Pinot Noir of the bunch. Score it 89 WIML points.

Overall the wines were good. None of them were ground shaking and made me want to whip out my wallet to purchase. They were just solid, well made wines that I wouldn’t mind drinking again in the future in a better setting.

wiml... SUPER notes. Thanks.
I particularly liked the 'El Crappo' reference!

Agree. Joe has gotten pretty good on these notes. I believe he has heard the rumours or RP taking retirement. Truthfully, excellant job and scoring is in line with my evaluations of the wines. We departed views on the Napa Chardonnay. I just absolutely did not like it at all. (Sorry Purple).

"El Crappo" is a new technical wine term.

I think they were made by Kerr or some other canning manufacturer.

Winetex... Maybe 'El Crappo' brand glasses are made specifically for drinking Plonk!

At least these were glass !

Beats some of the tastings that I have attended where you are basically given a paper pill cup and expected to have a pleasurable experience.

Man, those pill cups make swirling almost impossible and what a mess!