Patricia Green Cellars "Notorious" Pinot noir 07

winery: Patricia Green Cellars

Patricia Green Cellars "Notorious" Pinot noir 06 - Tanzer score - 92 points "Vivid red. Exotically scented bouquet of red and dark berries, five-spice powder, rose and suave vanillin oak. Plush raspberry and blackberry flavors are deepened by sweet cola and floral pastille notes, with supple tannins lending support. The finish strongly echoes the dark fruit and floral notes and lingers impressively. This is extremely seductive now but is balanced to age. Incidentally, the Notorious is the only Patricia Green wine that ever gets 100% new oak."

Very limited. Less than 200 cases were made.

Tasting notes from the winery:

For the first time ever we have had to take a step back in production on the Notorious bottling. After hitting a high-water mark in 2006 with over 320 cases we only bottled 160 cases of the 2007. This is not because we did not think highly of the wines from 2007.

The issue lay in the blending of wines in 2007 which proved to be more problematic than in past years. We just felt that we were experiencing difficulties blending Dundee Hill wine with Ribbon Ridge wine which are the two sources of wine for the Notorious bottling. Every time we put them together we felt that we were getting a wine that was in competition with its component parts.

We ended up having to work with blends that were exclusive to either appellation. In the end we chose a combination of 5 barrels from Balcombe Vineyard and 2 barrels from Ana Vineyard.

This is, as always, our only wine that is made in 100% new Cadus barrels. As always this wine is a textural experience beyond any of our other wines. The richness of the wine, the lavish fruit, the spice and tannin from the barrels and the rigorous selection of the absolute best stuff results in a wine that is exotic, nuanced, layered, pleasurable and nearly hedonistic in its youth. This wine is especially age-worthy and will still be a vibrant, primary wine for many, many years in the cellar.

The past three vintages have all received 92 points from The International Wine Cellar and we expect no less from this bottling. 160 cases bottled.

MORE INFORMATION

Previous Vintage tasting notes

2006 Vintage Tasting Notes

The 2006 is an extremely dark, dense wine that combines the red, lifted fruit qualities of the Dundee Hills that are set off beautifully by the minerality of the two Ribbon Ridge sites and the lush, blackberry sweetness of the Croft Vineyard barrel.

As always the wine will be a tremendous textural experience in its youth as it combines the raw power and richness of the vintage, the spice of the barrels and the winemaking technique we use to heighten the aromatics and texture of the wine. This wine promises excellent aging potential (the 2000 is just starting to drink) but has enough stuff going on that you can thoroughly enjoy it in its splendid youth.

2005 Vintage Tasting Notes

Essence of sweet red cherries, plush in nature, but also intense and firm, is the soul of this great Dundee Hill Pinot. The sweet red cherry fruit is entwined with darker blackberry fruit, a sense of mineral stoniness and a firm structural backbone that strives to be the best that Ribbon Ridge can offer.

In 2005, the wine is a blend of Balcombe 50%, Estate 25%, Eason 17% and Whistling Ridge 8%. Patty and Jim's goal with the Notorious Pinot noir has alays been to make a wine that is unique, exotic, ageable and truely incredible. With their vineyard sources improving in both age and quality, they are choosing from a much larger range of spectacular barrels in blending what is always their best Pinot noir of the vintage. -Jim

2004 Tasting Notes

Patty's selection of the best barrels from the entire vintage, it's notoriously good. Very limited.

The 2004 has the supple and expansive texture that is a hallmark of this bottling. What it really provides is incredibly dense and pure fruit. There are high toned sweet cherries from Balcombe, blackberries and licorice from Anden and Croft and a backbone of amazingly silky tannins from the barrel of the Estate Vineyard that was fermented with whole clusters. - Patty

2004 NOTES FROM THE WINERY

Our best wine keeps evolving...and expanding. From just one barrel bottled in 2000 to our new high water mark of 9 barrels in 2004. On top of that it has developed from being a product of the best of the new barrels we added lees back to from Balcombe Vineyard to a blend that now includes Balcombe (56%), Croft Vineyard (22%), Anden Vineyard (11%) and our Estate Vineyard (11%).

While we are generally believers in the power and purity of terroir this wine transcends that belief. In 2004 the blending that we did for our Oregon, Reserve and proprietary bottlings were even more complex to blend this year as not all blends showed as we anticipated. The Notorious blend was, well, a no-brainer.

This is, as always, our only wine that is made in 100% new Cadus barrels. The style, intensity and richness of this wine combine with the barrels to create a wholly unique and fascinating Pinot Noir. The Oregon bottling may be a general showcase of the vintage, the Notorious bottling is a spotlight on what we consider to be the absolute best of our best wines.

The 2004 has the supple and expansive texture that is a hallmark of this bottling. What it really provides is incredibly dense and pure fruit. There are high toned sweet cherries from Balcombe, blackberries and licorice from Anden and Croft and a backbone of amazingly silky tannins from the barrel of the Estate Vineyard that was fermented with whole clusters.

Picking our favorite bottling of Notorious would be nearly impossible as they all have such distinct personalities and flavors to them. This one, at the very least, fits into a line of truly wonderful Pinot Noirs.

2003 TASTING NOTES

composed of two barrels from Block 1B, two from Block 2B and one from Block 1A in Balcombe Vineyard. There is also one barrel of Goldschmidt Vineyard made from a blend of Coury, 115 and La Tache clones.

The wine is the pinnacle of everything good that this vintage has to offer. Great aromatics of berries, spices, minerals, smoke and sweet but subtle oak. The fruit is intensely concentrated with the ripe fleshiness of black cherries and the sappy sweetness of liqueur washing over mild spicy qualities that are bolstered by wet stones, smoke and bacon toward the round finish.

From the winery: "The 2003 vintage offered us the best ability to make this incredible wine. For the first time we broke the 100 case barrier (132 cases bottled) and we did not sacrifice anything in terms of quality. Even in the writing of this newsletter I saved the notes on this wine for last. The wine is that good. It is even worth saving the description of it until the end. So here it goes.

As some of you know we take the absolute best barrels made from a certain winemaking technique to create our top end bottling. In 2003 the wine is composed of two barrels from Block 1B, two from Block 2B and one from Block 1A in Balcombe Vineyard. There is also one barrel of Goldschmidt Vineyard made from a blend of Coury, 115 and La Tache clones. The wine is the pinnacle of everything good that this vintage has to offer.

Great aromatics of berries, spices, minerals, smoke and sweet but subtle oak. The fruit is intensely concentrated with the ripe fleshiness of black cherries and the sappy sweetness of liqueur washing over mild spicy qualities that are bolstered by wet stones, smoke and bacon toward the round finish.

The weight of the wine is palpable but it is not heavy or cloying in the least. And then there is the sheer richness and complexity of the wine. It goes on and on. We aren't in the habit of talking big about the ageability of our wines but this one shows as much promise as perhaps anything we have made."