Our History Fancy Title

Patz & Hall was founded in 1988 by four talented individuals: Donald Patz, James Hall, Anne Moses and Heather Patz.

The seeds for Patz & Hall were planted in the 1980s when assistant winemaker James Hall and national sales manager Donald Patz struck up a close friendship while working together at Flora Springs Winery and Vineyards. The two discovered a mutual enthusiasm for a rich and compelling style of wine made by applying traditional winemaking techniques to fruit from elite, small vineyards. Inspired to combine their winemaking and sales talents, James and Donald joined with partners Anne Moses and Heather Patz, to establish Patz & Hall.

Together, they turned Patz & Hall into one of California’s most highly regarded wineries with a celebrated portfolio of single-vineyard wines. To achieve their goal of making exceptional limited-production wines from Chardonnay and Pinot Noir, the four founders each focused their specialized knowledge and expertise on different areas of the winery’s operations. This integrated approach, along with a commitment to developing close personal relationships with many of California’s finest growers—people like Larry Hyde, Lee Hudson and the Martinelli and Pisoni families—became the cornerstones of the winery’s success.

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Patz & Hall was founded in 1988 by four talented individuals: Donald Patz, James Hall, Anne Moses and Heather Patz.

The seeds for Patz & Hall were planted in the 1980s when assistant winemaker James Hall and national sales manager Donald Patz struck up a close friendship while working together at Flora Springs Winery and Vineyards. The two discovered a mutual enthusiasm for a rich and compelling style of wine made by applying traditional winemaking techniques to fruit from elite, small vineyards. Inspired to combine their winemaking and sales talents, James and Donald joined with partners Anne Moses and Heather Patz, to establish Patz & Hall.

Together, they turned Patz & Hall into one of California’s most highly regarded wineries with a celebrated portfolio of single-vineyard wines. To achieve their goal of making exceptional limited-production wines from Chardonnay and Pinot Noir, the four founders each focused their specialized knowledge and expertise on different areas of the winery’s operations. This integrated approach, along with a commitment to developing close personal relationships with many of California’s finest growers—people like Larry Hyde, Lee Hudson and the Martinelli and Pisoni families—became the cornerstones of the winery’s success.

next chapter

Patz & Hall was founded in 1988 by four talented individuals: Donald Patz, James Hall, Anne Moses and Heather Patz.

The seeds for Patz & Hall were planted in the 1980s when assistant winemaker James Hall and national sales manager Donald Patz struck up a close friendship while working together at Flora Springs Winery and Vineyards. The two discovered a mutual enthusiasm for a rich and compelling style of wine made by applying traditional winemaking techniques to fruit from elite, small vineyards. Inspired to combine their winemaking and sales talents, James and Donald joined with partners Anne Moses and Heather Patz, to establish Patz & Hall.

Together, they turned Patz & Hall into one of California’s most highly regarded wineries with a celebrated portfolio of single-vineyard wines. To achieve their goal of making exceptional limited-production wines from Chardonnay and Pinot Noir, the four founders each focused their specialized knowledge and expertise on different areas of the winery’s operations. This integrated approach, along with a commitment to developing close personal relationships with many of California’s finest growers—people like Larry Hyde, Lee Hudson and the Martinelli and Pisoni families—became the cornerstones of the winery’s success.

H1 Needs better seo

Four people are standing indoors, holding champagne glasses and smiling at the camera. They are in a well-lit space with a decorative plate on the wall in the background. The individuals are casually dressed. Two are wearing red tops and two are wearing white tops with one person also in blue.
Fig 1, caption design
Four people are standing indoors, holding champagne glasses and smiling at the camera. They are in a well-lit space with a decorative plate on the wall in the background. The individuals are casually dressed. Two are wearing red tops and two are wearing white tops with one person also in blue.
Fig 1, caption design
Two people stand next to a large metal container as a machine pours black grapes into it. The man on the right rests his arm on the edge, while the woman stands to his left. Both are smiling and dressed casually. The backdrop includes a corrugated metal building and machinery.
Fig 1, caption design

James and I first visited France and Burgundy in 1986, and we were impressed by the talented and dedicated vignerons and winemakers who crafted rich and powerful Chardonnays and Pinot Noirs. That made us look to cooler growing sites with distinct terroir in Napa Valley for Chardonnay and Sonoma Coast for Pinot Noir—to create a collection of Chardonnays and Pinot Noir that reflected the great wine regions of California.

Anne Moses, Founder
Four people are standing indoors, holding champagne glasses and smiling at the camera. They are in a well-lit space with a decorative plate on the wall in the background. The individuals are casually dressed. Two are wearing red tops and two are wearing white tops with one person also in blue.
Fig 1, caption design
Two people stand next to a large metal container as a machine pours black grapes into it. The man on the right rests his arm on the edge, while the woman stands to his left. Both are smiling and dressed casually. The backdrop includes a corrugated metal building and machinery.
Fig 1, caption design

Our Winemaking title

Our grapes are hand-harvested in the cool of the early morning and immediately sorted in the field.

Where should this paragraph go? In the winery, Patz & Hall applies both traditional and cutting-edge techniques, including a unique, custom barrel program, where stave wood is air dried and seasoned for three years to Patz & Hall’s specifications by the François Frères and Seguin Moreau cooperages in the heart of Burgundy. To reveal the distinct identity of the legendary sites it works with, Patz & Hall applies a consistent winemaking approach that has been refined to underscore the finesse, depth and complexity of each vineyard.

Leaves, imperfect fruit and under-ripe clusters are discarded. These hand-harvested and selected grapes are taken to the winery, where they are meticulously sorted again. The remaining fruit is immediately “whole cluster” pressed. This process produces juice containing very little tannin and preserves the delicate aromatics and full flavors of the Chardonnay fruit. While we end up with less wine this way, the quality and age-worthiness make it worth it.

Four people are standing indoors, holding champagne glasses and smiling at the camera. They are in a well-lit space with a decorative plate on the wall in the background. The individuals are casually dressed. Two are wearing red tops and two are wearing white tops with one person also in blue.
Fig 1, caption design
Two people stand next to a large metal container as a machine pours black grapes into it. The man on the right rests his arm on the edge, while the woman stands to his left. Both are smiling and dressed casually. The backdrop includes a corrugated metal building and machinery.
Fig 1, caption design

Do we split this out from winemaking? if so, need title.

Chardonnay notes H3?

After pressing, the juice, with all of the lees, is racked into 100 percent French oak barrels, where, after several days, it begins to ferment. The barrel fermentations typically progress very slowly, often finishing in early winter. This extended fermentation gives rise to wines with great depth of flavor and roundness. During this period, the wines are stirred weekly to extract the toasty, roasted aromas from the grape solids and yeast remaining in the barrel. At the same time, we top the barrels weekly to protect the wines from oxidation.

All Patz & Hall Chardonnays undergo malolactic fermentation and then develop in barrel for eleven months before being bottled without filtration. The yeast particles that remain further guard the wines from oxidation, so they continue to age favorably in bottle. Gently transferred from barrel to bottle, unfiltered wines do not undergo “bottle shock,” consequently, Patz & Hall Chardonnays are delicious upon release and continue to evolve in bottle over time.

Pinot Notes h3?

All of our Pinot Noirs are produced using “whole cluster” additions. Usually, 20 percent of the clusters go directly into specially designed fermenters with no de-stemming or crushing at all. The remaining 80 percent will be carefully de-stemmed only. In this way, we allow the intricate fruit flavors and aromas of Pinot Noir to begin developing during fermentation. To further extract color and flavor components, we use a proprietary “punch-over” device to thoroughly break up the cap two to three times per day. Then, when fermentation is complete, we empty the tank with care to capture just the free run juice. The press wine is only incorporated after James evaluates it, rejecting it if it is coarse or overtly astringent.

The new wine is racked into French oak barrels where it undergoes malolactic fermentation. Oak is an important component of the finished wine, but must not overwhelm the delicately layered symphony of flavors and aromas we work so diligently to create. The percentage of new barrels varies between 50 and 70 percent and is arrived at with great deliberation.

We love making Pinot Noir! Perhaps no other wine expresses such a range of flavors—from fresh ripe berries and cherries to intriguing earthy, meaty flavors and dozens in between, all depending on the vineyard, the grower and the clone.

Four people are standing indoors, holding champagne glasses and smiling at the camera. They are in a well-lit space with a decorative plate on the wall in the background. The individuals are casually dressed. Two are wearing red tops and two are wearing white tops with one person also in blue.
Fig 1, caption design
Two people stand next to a large metal container as a machine pours black grapes into it. The man on the right rests his arm on the edge, while the woman stands to his left. Both are smiling and dressed casually. The backdrop includes a corrugated metal building and machinery.
Fig 1, caption design

James Hall

Founder and Winemaker Emeritus

Since 1988 founder and winemaker James Hall has guided the Patz & Hall winemaking program, instilling it with his own boldness, imagination and trademark perfectionism.

Combining a belief in great viticulture, traditional winemaking practices, and the judicious use of innovative techniques, James has earned a reputation for crafting dramatic benchmark Chardonnays and Pinot Noirs that balance vibrant power with vineyard-inspired depth and sophistication.

The son of an English professor, who was also a wine enthusiast, James developed an early appreciation for fine wine during travels with his family to Europe in the late 1960s. While studying liberal arts at the University of California, Santa Cruz, James met Anne Moses, and together the two began exploring their shared interest in wine. Though not a part of his curriculum, James started studying winemaking textbooks in his spare time. Inspired, he transferred to the University of California, Davis, to study viticulture and enology. Eager to experience the hands-on work of winemaking, James took his first winery job at Felton-Empire in 1981, where he was able to learn from renowned winemakers Leo McCloskey and Patrick Mahaney.

Leo was the scientist, obsessed with unraveling the mysteries of wine, Pat was the craftsman, meticulously working with the raw materials. It was a remarkable experience learning these complementary approaches.

In 1983 James joined Napa Valley’s Flora Springs Winery and Vineyards as assistant winemaker. There, he spent four years developing his expertise crafting barrel-fermented, small-lot Chardonnays. While at Flora Springs, James struck up a close friendship with sales manager Donald Patz, and the two soon discovered that they shared a similar philosophical approach to wine and winemaking. In the spring of 1988, while working as the winemaker and estate manager for Honig Winery, James teamed up with Donald and Heather Patz, and Anne Moses to make and release Patz & Hall’s inaugural Napa Valley Chardonnay.

As Patz & Hall’s winemaker for three decades, James has built lasting relationships with such renowned growers as Larry Hyde, Charlie and Bud Chenoweth, Gary Pisoni and Lee Martinelli to create an acclaimed portfolio of single-vineyard wines. At the same time, he has designed and implemented cutting-edge equipment and procedures, including a custom punch-over device, in an effort to constantly enhance quality. A master of his craft, and widely respected veteran winemaker, James is regularly asked to speak about artisan winemaking.

Four people are standing indoors, holding champagne glasses and smiling at the camera. They are in a well-lit space with a decorative plate on the wall in the background. The individuals are casually dressed. Two are wearing red tops and two are wearing white tops with one person also in blue.
Fig 1, caption design
Two people stand next to a large metal container as a machine pours black grapes into it. The man on the right rests his arm on the edge, while the woman stands to his left. Both are smiling and dressed casually. The backdrop includes a corrugated metal building and machinery.
Fig 1, caption design

James McCeney

Winemaker

James McCeney has a strong global winemaking background and was hand-selected by James Hall as his successor to take the winery to new heights.

After college, he worked harvests in Burgundy at the Hospices de Beaune, Hawke’s Bay in New Zealand and the Barossa Valley in Australia – while earning his post graduate Viticulture & Enology degree from UC Davis and pressing cuvée at Domaine Carneros. James has been making wine at Lewis Cellars for the past four years. Prior to that he gained experience at Donum, Dutton Goldfield, Patz & Hall and Acacia.

James McCeney served as Patz & Hall’s Assistant Winemaker in 2012 and 2013 and has a deep knowledge of the vineyards we work with, our growers, and our wines. McCeney was hand-selected by James Hall as his successor to take the winery to new heights.

McCeney will work closely with James Hall for the rest of the 2023 growing season and through harvest. He will fully take the reins in 2024

James McCeney is in the final stages of receiving the coveted Master of Wine (MW) title. He has already passed the tasting portion of the certification and is working on the research paper. He hopes to complete it all in 2024.

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