Patricia Green Cellars Pinot noir Four Winds 08

See all in-stock Oregon 2008 vintage Pinot noirs

Our favorite of the 2008 PGC wines, it's also Jim Anderson's favorite. (Patty's business partner and co-winemaker.)

A heady perfume of violets and berry precedes concentrated and balanced fresh raspberry and blackberry flavors. The sweet fruit is accented by a wild, brambly note - like walking by a wild blackberry thicket on a warm day - just a hint of blackberry leaves and underbrush. Cedar and smoke accents weave through the full bodied, richly textured wine. The flavors linger - fresh berry, earth, and mineral notes, finishing with silky tannins and a vibrant acidity. - Jean

Jim describes the wine: "This is not only the best bottling of Four Winds we have ever done (by a long shot) it is one of the best wines of the vintage. It is simply incredible in every way.

From the electric black/purple pigmentation to the wild berry/smoke/earth/licorice aromatics to the sheer intensity and concentration of flavors to the massive texture supported by firm tannins this wine is a rock star.

There is a lot to love about this wine because there is a lot of stuffing packed into this wine. This is a dynamo. We waited patiently for these vines to show the benefit of some vine age and we think we are beginning to see the fruition of that patience. Didn’t hurt that this came in at slightly over 1 ton to the acre either. Stock up if you have been a fan in the past or jump on the bandwagon if you haven’t been a disciple in the past. 320 cases bottled."

Previous Vintage Tasting Notes

2007 Vintage Tasting Notes

Patricia Green Cellars Pinot Noir Four Winds Vineyard 07

From the Winery: This vineyard site had been in our hands since 1997. In 2007 we decided that the combination of the political pressures on being a farming employer and the financial skittishness of farming economics was incentive enough to turn the management of this site over to Andy Humphrey of Ana Vineyards.

Of all the sites we have worked with over the past 10 years none has gone under as big an evolution as Four Winds. Located well west of McMinnville in the Coast Range foothills this is one of the most westerly situated vineyards in all of Yamhill County.

This is no doubt why the nature of the vineyard has undergone such a dramatic change over time. While it is in the bounds of this new appellation the preponderance of vineyards in the appellation cluster around Highway 18, east and south of this site. This makes it unique and provides little in the way of comparison since when it was initially planted it was the sole vineyard out this direction.

This has always been one of our most popular wines…east of the Mississippi River. For whatever reason the East Coasters have always appreciated the sauvage nature of this bottling. This particular wine has stood out in the cellar for its unique combination of gaminess, forest floor, licorice and black fruits and for some reason that certain expression of Pinot has appealed to people living in the EST time zone.

While vine age seems to be adding more pure fruit to the overall equation there remains that distinct Four Windsiness to this wine that captivates certain palates. The 2007 does have a lot of pure fruit to it but it done against the drapery of this funkiness that some of you will absolutely love and some of you will be put off by. It is just one of those wines. If your home zip code starts with anything lower than a 6 you are likely to be a candidate to love this wine. 380 cases bottled.

2005 Vintage Tasting Notes

A vineyard with a terroir that always produces a unique Pinot noir. For 2005, it's dense and dark, mingling boysenberry and blackberry fruit flavors with hints of a brambliness and hints of licorice, game and barnyard.

This vineyard proved in 2004 why this is not an easy business to be in. We farm this site as we have since 1997. In 2004 the Pinot Noir crop was wiped out relatively early on in the spring. For months we knew that we were not going to get fruit from the site but we were still going to have to farm as if we did so that the vines would be clean and healthy for the next vintage. Running up 5 figure costs for something for which there will be no return is neither great for business nor very much fun. However, we were rewarded with a nice, clean and beautiful crop in 2005.

This is a site in the Coast Range foothills west of McMinnville. It is quite isolated and can be tricky and persnickety farming. It was easy to curse it in 2004 but we have such nice wine from it in 2005 that it is easy to forgive.

This has always been the singularly most individual wine in the cellar. This vineyard site has as distinct a flavor profile as any New World Pinot Noir we have tasted. There is always some tannin to it but less so than most wines from this appellation. As the vineyard has aged, it is 12 years old now, the whole package has become more refined and less rustic leading up to this wine which has a distinctly more suave element to it than any previous bottling of Four Winds. If you have liked this wine in the past you will think it is dynamite now. - the winery

2003 Vintage Tasting Notes(There was no 2004 Vintage)

Distinctive aroma and flavors of game and forest floor distinguish this wine. Concentrated blackberry and cherry fruits and luxurious texture dominate the flavors. Limited supply of 2003 vintage, and there was no 2004 vintage of this wine. Sold out except for a bit for Wine Club members.

In contrast to the raucous Goldschmidt, the (Jean recommends) Patricia Green Cellars Pinot noir Four Winds Vineyard is a sophisticated, nuanced wine that rewards the serious Pinot noir lover. The scent includes a subtle toasted hazelnut quality, with a viscous texture enhancing notes of violets. Hints of white pepper and red plum form the body of the flavor, with a fascinating long finish with lots of different hints of herbs and spice. Very lovely wine that will reward the lover of complexity.

2003 notes From the winery: "If this has been a wine you have made a point of getting to know you should really take this opportunity to get reacquainted for a couple of reasons. This first is that the vineyard turned 10 in 2003 and that has led to the wine showing more fruit, more complexity and more completeness than ever before. The second is that due to weather related conditions far beyond our control in 2004 there is no Pinot Noir from the vineyard in the vintage (however, in a not so subtle reminder from Mother Nature that we are really just farmers, the Chardonnay from 2004 was unaffected by the weather and came in with a bumper crop of ripe, healthy fruit!).

The Coast Range foothills setting leads to maritime influences beyond those of probably every other vineyard in Yamhill County. This leads to grape-growing on the edge. To make great wine you have to live out on the edge a bit. Sometimes you lose that battle.

In 2003 though, quality-wise at least, we were big winners. While going from 10.6 tons in 2002 to 6.2 tons in 2003 was a shocker (or so we thought at the time) considering there is over 5 acres of Pinot Noir we were thrilled with the ripeness and purity of fruit we received.

Oh, there is still the distinctive Four Winds quality bubbling around in the wine offering the edge of game and forest floor that makes this wine stand apart from our other Pinots. In 2003 though all this takes a big back seat to the concentrated blackberry and cherry fruits and luxurious texture. The wine is really quite remarkable.

Given that there is no Pinot Noir from 2004 you would think we would really need to raise the price a lot on this wine to defer our farming costs and make our bankers happy. Apparently we are too stupid to do that. Same price as before. 360 cases this year. Remember, none next year.

2001 Vintage Tasting Notes

From the winemakers: "When you get to this wine you know we are as all about terroir as we can be. Gone are the sweet, high-toned mid-palates and perfumy cherry noses. This site is set toward the Coast Range in western McMinnville and it is a different experience altogether. Four Winds is an isolated vineyard that Jon Steinhart and Julie Donnelly planted back in 1994. We have been fortunate to work with the site since its first harvest in 1997.

We have farmed this vineyard to capture the qualities that set this site apart not only geographically but also within the context of our cellar. Being closer to the Coast Range and at an elevation of over 700 feet this site has a good deal more maritime influence than any of our other sites as well as a good deal more weather. These factors along with the mix of Nokia and Jory soil and the blend of Pommard and various Dijon clones all contribute to making this vineyard's wine quite distinct.

The immediate distinction is in the nose. This wine has that certain gaminess, that gout de terroir, that barnyardy quality that the occasional Pinot Noir can get. If you like rock 'em, sock 'em West Coast Pinot Noir fruit bombs this is probably not your thing. If, however, you like the off-beat villages of Burgundy such as Fiixn, Auxey-Duresses and Pernand-Vergelesses than this might be up your alley.

On the palate the sauvage nature of the aromatics gives way to ripe blackberries, bramble, peppery spice and toast from 36% new oak. The mouth feel is very round with loads of plushness and just a hint of tannin on the finish. This is an interesting little vineyard whose wines have gained in complexity each year we have made them. 345 cases this year."

Avalon says: exceptional value- amazing for the price, wonderful earthy sauvage quality.