The 2012 Pinot Noir Hyde Vineyard is 10% whole clusters and 14.2% moves to an almost 100% Calera selection of clonal material, which Patz & Hall had been moving to in the Hyde Vineyard. The wine has a deep ruby/purple color, a big, sweet kiss of root beer, black currants, pen ink and spring-garden notes. The wine exhibits excellent ripeness, a full-bodied mouthfeel, beautiful richness, purity and well-integrated new oak (about 60% new French oak barrels were used). This wine has at least 10-15 years of life left in it. - Robert M. Parker, Jr.

One of the producer’s longest-standing vineyard sources, this Hyde is gorgeously savory and lightly textured, while offering plenty of depth and complexity on the palate. Aromatically, it presents inviting orange zest, cherry and cranberry, elements that follow in taste, finished off by a flash of white pepper. Fresh and fruity, this wine also provides smooth, yet sizable tannins.

An elegant, pure and airy nose features cool aromas of dried flowers, spice, sandalwood and an array of red berry fruit nuances. I very much like the mouth feel of the medium weight flavors that offer a caressing texture on the mid-palate that carries over to the delicious, intense and balanced finale. This beauty should repay moderately extended cellaring yet be approachable after only 3 to 5 years if desired. 2020+

Big and bold and absolutely brimming with ripe, cherry-like fruit that is accompanied step for step by flamboyant oak, this full-throated working goes for it all and hits the mark smartly in terms of fleshy richness and sheer generosity. It is not a wine we would choose as a foil to more delicate foods, and it may be anathema to those who believe that balance is defined first and last by tooth-tingling acid, but it will shine as a partner to flavorful, meatier fare, and it is built with an eye to at least a few years of aging.