Patricia Green Cellars

Patricia Green Cellars Patricia Green Cellars is located along Ribbon Ridge Road, in the heart of a long, narrow ridge where a few of Oregon's best wineries are located. Her winery is next to Beaux Freres - her estate vineyard is contiguous with theirs. Down the road a bit is Brick House, Penner Ash is across the valley, and the famous Shea Vineyard is across the valley and up onto the next ridge. Among her neighbors, Patty's style is unique. She's a bit hippie, a bit hip, down-to-earth, and world wise. She and business partner Jim Anderson have grown a poorly managed winery and vineyard purchased in 1999 into an institution among Oregon wine collectors. Patty's wines have a definite style, and some people don't like it. Her wines tend to be rich, dark in color (several of the most well known Oregon winemakers have asked her advice on getting color in their Pinots) with a broad palate of fruit, berry, spice, earthy, and even barnyard flavors, all of which are considered de rigueur in France, but are perhaps a bit more authentic than some American wine buyers like. If you like only the smoothest, most fruity Pinots (like many from California) her wines might be a bit more than you want. But if you like a range of flavors from licorice to loganberry to Chinese Five Spice, to black cherry and the scent of fresh turned earth, you'll find her wines a most rewarding experience. Patricia Green Cellars makes small amounts of wine, much of which is sold as futures. One of our Favorite Wines of the 2004 Vintage 2004 Vintage Tasting Notes by Jim and Patty reprinted here with permission 2004 Estate Vineyard, Etzel Block: The Estate Vineyard is broken up into 17 different blocks based upon age of vine, clonal material, elevation, aspect, etc. All the blocks have been given a name for various reasons (Pheasant, Lakeview, etc.) and this is named after the owner and winemaker, Mike Etzel, of our next door neighbor Beaux Freres. This block runs along the gully of blackberries, poison oak and a small stream that we share with them. The so-called Etzel Block (really, a tip of the hat to someone who we think of as talented, neighborly and crazed) was planted in 1986 and is the second oldest block of grapes on the property. The hill slopes toward the northwest in this block making for fruit that ripens much differently than from anywhere else in the vineyard. In our continuing effort to produce wines that show the site they were grown in we have bottled this captivating Pinot. We were able to use a whole cluster fermentation again (the only one we were able to pull off in 2004) on this block to further enhance the refined qualities this block offers. This technique, especially with older vines, enhances the aromatics, texture and density of the wine making it at once fuller and more structured but also more precise, defined and elegant. Aside from displaying the sweetness and smokiness from the oak the wine has great aromatics of blackberries, raspberries, tar, tobacco and exotic spices. The wine is concentrated and full with tremendous length. This is a superb wine that will rank up with the Notorious for our top wine of the vintage. 165 cases bottled. 2004 Croft Vineyard: If there was a positive aspect to the utter lack of fruit in our vineyards in 2004 it was, in the effort to hunt down quality replacement fruit, the addition of Croft Vineyard Pinot Noir to our repertoire. We have gotten Sauvignon Blanc from here the previous 2 vintages but it was not until we were looking at our beleagured tonnages before we inquired about what they might have to offer us. Luckily we were in the door early and we were offered a section of 18 year-old Wadensvil and one of 15-year old Pommard. Over the past few vintages this Eola Hills based site has been steadily working toward improving the management of the site and what we received in 2004 shows that this commitment to quality has produced results. To be honest, surprising and stunning results. The Pommard clone brings the intense boysenberry/blackberry juicy fruit that we find in the Eola Hills and the Wadensvil provides a backbone of tannin and acidity that add dimension, class and complexity to the explosive fruit profile. The wine not only stands up to the 39% new oak it completely overwhelms it. This deeply purple wine has a tremendous amount of stuffing that makes is boisterously appealing for the short term but the pure intensity is checked by great natural acidity which will make it something worth sticking in the cellar. Croft Vineyard will become a staple of our cellar over the next several years and we believe you will see some fantastic bottlings on this wine. It may be new to you now but we are pretty sure it is something you will want to get to know. 2004 Notorious: 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. 2004 Oregon Pinot Noir: Oddly enough, with all of the wines we are producing this one may have become the flagship wine. While we believe fervently in Pinot Noirs ability to produce wines that are inherently tied to the land that the grapes were grown in we also believe in producing an excellent village style Pinot Noir that shows off the sexiness of the grape and provides an introduction to the winemaking style we employ all at the lowest price we can do without completely turning the keys over to the bankers! The base of the wine comes from Bradley Vineyard in the southern part of the state roughly between Roseburg and Reedsport. This 30-year-old vineyard provides a base of structure, acidity and brightness of fruit upon which the rest of the wine is built. The rest of the wine is made up from fruit from Quail Hill Vineyard (Pommard), Hawks View Vineyard (multiple clones), Arbre Vert (Dijon 115), Anden (Dijon 114 and 115) and just a touch of Croft Vineyard (Wadensvil) and our Estate Vineyard (Pommard). The range of quality vineyards used, the diversity of clonal material, the judicious use of new wood (the wine is only 8% new oak) and the quality of the vintage all combine to make this one pretty jazzy bottle of wine. It has great depth of color, sweet red cherry aromatics, good richness and depth of mouthfeel and a spicy finish. In short this is really good wine for the money. The goal we set out with in this wine is to show the vintage and the house style of Pinot. The 2004 vintage is based on wonderfully floral aromatics, purity of red fruit and spicy finishes. We looked to bring all these out in this eminently drinkable yet decently structured Pinot Noir. 1,450 cases bottled. 2004 Balcombe Vineyard: Balcombe Vineyard is simply one of the best vineyards we work with and every year it produces wines of terrific quality that are absolutely true to the Dundee Hills. For those of you who don’t know this site is located toward the top of the Dundee Hills on Breyman Orchard Rd. It was planted in 1990 to Pommard and we have worked with the fruit every year since 1997 so we have become pretty accustom to how the grapes grow, ripen and ferment into wine. All of these aspects are very important pieces of making high quality Pinot Noir. The wines from Balcombe Vineyard in 2004 (including the Block 1B bottling and the Notorious) are all incredibly intense, lush, sexy wines that have piles of fruit, good structure and, amazingly, almost perfect balance. This bottling is the most high-toned (as usual) of the three and represents almost pure varietal character despite the largesse of the vintage. The sweet, red cherry quality that the Dundee Hills offer combine with the richness from the vintage and the inherent complexity of the site to make this wine a powerful beauty. The aromatics are spot-on Pinot Noir at its absolute most alluring. We received less than 1 ton/acre from this site in 2004 and while the wine shows that sort of concentration we chose, as we did with many Pinots, to go with more one and two year-old barrels so it is just 10% new oak, down from the usual 40-50% we give this wine.. This was is great now but will no doubt do very well over a period of years. Only 230 cases produced. 2004 Estate Vineyard: The first of the three bottlings from this site in 2004. That we have any at all is somewhat amazing. The 26 acres of Pinot Noir from this site produced a measly 15 tons of fruit! No one tries to crop their vineyard at .6 tons/acre. It is not a good recipe for success, at least not of the financial kind. However, Ribbon Ridge was decimated in 2004 and our vineyard, Beaux Freres and Brick House suffered crop set backs from previous vintages of at least 50%. The great thing about farming your own site is the control you have as a farmer, the care you can put into it, the reliance on it as a source of fruit year after year and, ultimately, the quality of wine you can make from it. The drawback is that in years such as this you are stuck doing the same type and same amount (and paying the same bills) of farming as you would when the plants have a full crop. For those of you eager to move out here and plant a vineyard you might want to start at the beginning of the paragraph and read it out loud. What we have though is another wine that continues to define the ever-improving quality of this vineyard. This hillside is certainly noted for producing some bigger, more structured style of Pinot Noir and this wine falls amply into that category. Again we favored our 1,2 and 3 year-old barrels over new ones (26%) to show the more terroir-driven aspects of the wine. The wine has exactly what you would expect from our Estate bottling: Deep dark color, a nuanced nose of fruit, bramble and stone, dense flavors and texture and a zingy, tannin-laced finish. Much like the 2002 and 2003 this is not a wine for the short-term. Imprisonment  in a dark cellar would be recommended as the word tight springs to mind at the moment. This wine will reward patience as we have discovered with our ever-improving older Estate bottlings. If you must give it a whirl now give it a nice, strong decanting and a big, strong meal to match it up against. 575 cases bottled. 2004 Four Winds Vineyard Chardonnay: Four Winds is better known for its Pinot Noir but in 2004 the Pinot Noir was completely decimated so the Chardonnay will have to carry on the family name for this vintage. Because of the Coast Range foothills’ setting for this site it is pretty cool and we always pick these grapes last. While the Pinot noir crop was ravaged the Chardonnay did quite nicely. Despite being picked last we are picking based on ripeness not just the end of the season so we are getting fully mature, interesting fruit. Still, we are not attempting to make a big, oily, oaky wine. This wine’s roots are in the Macon and village Meursaults! We used 100% neutral oak barrels to enhance the lush fruit and medium-bodied qualities of the wine. There are very nice aromatics of lemon candy and apples. We look for brightness and zippy acidity in all of our white wines, whether we are making them or drinking other peoples’ wines! Each year we feel we get closer and closer to the combination of piercing acidity coupled with intense, rich fruit that combines into a complex and atypical domestic Chardonnay. This is a big step in that direction. 330 cases produced.     Fabulous Wines From Former Tree Planter By Christina Kelly Everything about Patty Green defies appearance. The 48-year-old winemaker didn’t follow the usual path to wine country. In fact, her arrival followed a long history of working in non-traditional professions, including tree planting, sailboat crewing, work in construction and geophysical surveying. At 5-feet tall, she doesn’t look like a winemaker, although up close, her small frame contradicts a physical and inner strength often overshadowed by a beaming smile. Patty with Stella the wonder dog, her latest pet With nearly 17 years of winemaking experience, Green finally opened her own winery, Patricia Green Cellars, in the fall of 2000. This also didn’t happen the way most transactions occur in the purchase of a winery. In fact, Oregon’s wine industry almost lost Patty Green that year...........READ MORE HERE Patricia Green Cellars