In stock

JS 95 JD 94 RPWA 93+ WSM 92
WE 90 WS 92

Grape Variety
Pinot Noir

Winemaker’s Notes:
“This vineyard sits high on a rock strewn, windswept hill directly overlooking the Petaluma Gap, the coastal mountain feature that feeds the cool Pacific air into the Russian River basin. Usually the last vineyard we pick each year, and often the most tannic of our wines, the 2017 offering has a softer, less tannic and more resolved composition. Intense aromas of black cherry, citrus peel, dark cocoa along with hints of mushroom-forest floor intermingle and intertwine. Gap’s Crown Vineyard is a very long-lived wine that rewards patient cellaring for many years to come.”

• 95 James Suckling

  “A base of supple and attractive, fresh red cherries, married to a neatly integrated dose of toasty French oak, delivering a pinot that offers immediately appealing, drinkable style. The palate is utterly convincing in its balance and depth. There’s plenty on offer here. Drink now or hold.” (11/2018)

• 94 Jeb Dunnuck

  “The 2015 Pinot Noir Gap’s Crown offers a more vibrant, crisp, tight style. Black cherries, currants, graphite, crushed rocks, and hints of charcoal all emerge from the glass. Deep, nicely concentrated, with integrated acidity, it has building tannin and notable structure as well as sensational purity of fruit. Give bottles a year and enjoy over the following decade. (6/2018)

• 93+ Robert Parker's Wine Advocate (E. Brooks)

  Medium ruby-purple colored, the 2015 Pinot Noir Gap’s Crown Vineyard opens with notes of garrigue, forest floor and lavender over a core of warm cranberries and red currants. The concentrated, medium to full-bodied palate has a firm backbone of finely grained tannins supporting layers of red fruits and earth-inspired flavors, while the long mineral-laced finish offers great tension. (1st March 2017)

• 92 Wine & Spirits Magazine

  The team at Patz & Hall has been bottling a Gap’s Crown Pinot Noir since 2007, soon after the vines, planted in 2002, began to bear fruit, and well before Bill Price purchased the vineyard in 2013. Located in the wind-and-fog corridor of the Petaluma Gap, this vineyard rises up on a hillside heading toward Sonoma Mountain. Patz & Hall works with two blocks, where the soil is clay mixed with gravel and volcanic rock. Between the barrage of wind and the heavy clay, the wine presents itself with deep-set tannins, and though it’s challenging to approach when first opened, it’s clear that the dark red fruit and earthy intensity has plenty of stamina to sort itself out. With a day of air, the clarity of the fruit matches the energy of the tannins, predicting a long life ahead.” (12/2017)

• 90 Wine Enthusiast

  “Layered tannin wraps around smoky oak and big flavors of marshmallow in this full-bodied densely concentrated wine from the well-known site. Black cherry.. and cola combine to form a juicy core of succulence beneath the power.” (August 2020)

• 92 Wine Spectator