The Patland Blog

Much to Celebrate 🥂

Ever since the advent of Champagne, sparkling wine has become synonymous with celebration. We see it at birthdays, weddings, anniversaries, and more! Whenever we reach a significant milestone, the cork goes pop! 

This year our family and winery reached a lot of great milestones, and you can bet we did a lot of celebrating. To list a few things…

We finally completed the rebuild of the Main House! Henry and Olga have made the move to Napa full time and have been loving their new home. It’s quite different than the original structure, which many of you may remember. This new build has a lot of their unique style and personality. It’s truly gorgeous and we couldn’t be more thrilled!

If that wasn’t enough, we just signed the paperwork on rebuilding the back cottage. Some of you may recall this is where Henry kept his car collection. We expect the stables will be stocked again soon!

Another exciting bit of news is that we recently signed up with Vintage Wine Marketing as our exclusive California broker! Now don’t get too excited. This doesn’t mean you’re going to start seeing us at your local Trader Joe’s. However, you might want to start keeping an eye out at your favorite steakhouses and specialty wine shops. 

VWM was founded by Steve and Faith Ventrello in 2002, and since then they’ve been instrumental in building up some great brands. To name a few you might know, Frank Family, Patz & Hall, Del Dotto, Smith-Madrone, and the list goes on! We’re so happy to have found a home with them, and look forward to sharing Patland wine with even more wine-lovers like you! 

Lastly, we had the return of the Patland Release Party! We were joined by friends, family and club members on Saturday, November 5th at The Caves at Soda Canyon. 

Music was pumping through the caves all day long. Chef Munther was dishing out the goods. The wine bars were perfectly stocked. Brix the wine dog greeted everyone personally. Some very exciting cars made an appearance! It was a great day, and just so nice to be reunited. We can’t wait for the next one! 

You can bet bottles of Patland bubbly were popped at every one of these occasions! Some of you were even there for them. Remember getting handed a coupe upon your arrival at the Release Party?! We’re always happy for the opportunity to toast with you.

So the next time you reach a great milestone, we hope you’ll let us join you for the celebration. Pop the cork on a bottle of Patland, not just to celebrate the accomplishment, but all the effort that went into reaching it. Cheers!

SHOP SPARKLING WINE

Just in Time for the Holidays!

We all know wine is meant to go with food, and there's no better time of year to celebrate that than around the holidays! Thanksgiving is rolling around the corner and soon our homes will be full with the smell of pies baking and turkeys cooking. Better yet, the dining table will be surrounded by beloved family and friends. Such a joyous time of year!

So with all these festivities coming up, we wanted to share a few of our favorite Patland food and wine pairings. We decided to break it down by course, so here goes!

Course 1 - 2017 Chardonnay

The weather may be chilly, but inside we've got crackling wood fires and, in some cases, gas furnaces. Either way, we're staying warm and cozy inside, so there's no problem enjoying a chilled white at the start of the meal. We're recommending our 2017 Chardonnay. Balanced in every way, and perfect with those holiday classics! We're looking at you mashed sweet potatoes. 👀

Course 2 - 2021 Rosé

Ok, now let's kick that color up a notch! Mother always said a colorful dish is a healthy dish. (Although let's not read too far into that around the holidays 😉) A classic pairing--in our humble opinion--is our 2021 Rosé with cranberry sauce. Just trust us on this one. Between the colors and flavors, it just works. 

Course 3 - 2019 Pinot Noir

So here's the wine we're highlighting this month--the 2019 Pinot Noir. Sort of an anomaly of our wine portfolio... No one ever expected us to make a Pinot Noir. Our founder, Henry Patland, is a die-hard Cab-lover, and Pinot is really on the other end of the spectrum. Still, our winemaker, Jay Buoncristiani, was able to make a bold-style, complex Pinot Noir that Henry actually really enjoyed! Ever since, this has been a wine a somewhat regular guest in our portfolio. 

Here's the great news for you, though. While our Cabernet can frequently benefit from a few years in the cellar, our Pinot is so approachable right out the gate! This makes it the perfect red for your Thanksgiving dinner. Use it to lift up those entrees. (We all know turkey needs a little help!) It's actually surprisingly good with stuffing, or even savory bread pudding! 

Course 4 - 2016 Port

No holiday meal is complete without the dessert course! Luckily, we have a beautiful dessert wine to offer, and that is our Port-style "D'Oro". It's an ideal pairing for any chocolate or fruit inspired dessert, but don't right off a nice pumpkin or pecan pie either. It just might surprise you!

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Credit to Compine Wine for supplying food.

Credit to Eyeconik Media for photography.

Sauvignon Blanc with Felix Patland

 

Here at Patland Estate Vineyards, we've always prided ourselves on making unique and balanced wines. Yes, of course we want our wines to be a true representation of Napa Valley, but we also want them to be special!

Whenever we can, we add our own twist. With our Sauvignon Blanc, the twist is often in the aging. This wine goes into four different aging vessels, including Stainless Steel, Neutral Oak, New French Oak, and Concrete Eggs!

Every one of these vessels contributes something different to the wine. The stainless steel allows the wine to maintain bright, fresh aromatics. The concrete egg adds minerality and a fuller mid-palate. Lastly, the oak adds color, as well as a subtle butterscotch creaminess on the finish. 

The real beauty of this wine, though, is in its balance. Too many of any of those characteristics could easily be a bad thing in a Sauvignon Blanc, but under the tempered hands of our Winemaker (Jay Buoncristiani) and Assistant Winemaker (Felix Patland), this wine hits the mark every time. 

It's refreshing and crisp, full of lemon zest and kiwi flavors. It's the perfect thing to sip on by the pool, and food friendly too! Favorite salad or seafood dish? Try it with this. You won't regret it. 

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2018 Cabernet Sauvignon with Henry Patland

The 2018 vintage is truly exciting! Napa Valley has long been home to world-class Cabernets, but what's truly incredible is how consistently the region churns out quality wine. Even lesser vintages tend to have a lot to offer, and that makes it difficult to spot the truly GREAT vintages! Well, 2018 is looking to be one of those. 

The key word with our 2018 Cabernet Sauvignon, and we'd imagine many from the area, is ACID! The 2018 growing season was long and cool. Hardly any heat spikes and the nights stayed particularly cold, allowing for the natural acidity in the berries to persist on the vine. 

Sometimes a cooler growing season can mean a lack of ripening and developing flavor, but because it was also a long season, that wasn't an issue here. Flavors developed beautifully! Rainier cherry, cranberry, purple plum, blueberry, the list goes on! All of these beautiful flavors are lifted and high toned, making for an amazing drinking experience! The wine dances across your palate with poise and finesse. Hardly any pyrazine character—that under-ripe, "green" character. The wine is just beautiful and elegant.

Also worth noting, this vintage has an unusually high percentage of Malbec (8%) blended into it, and the plush blue fruit character that our Malbec is know for is ABSOLUTELY present in this wine. It just goes to add one more level of dimension. 

Now we'd be remiss to talk about a Cabernet and not mention tannin structure. Well, it's certainly present, but it takes a backseat. It's well-integrated and fine grain, showing a sturdy backbone to the wine. At the same time, this is not a wine that needs to rely on tannin for its longevity. Rather, the combination of its tannin and acidity is what will likely make this among the most long-lived Cabernets we've ever produced. 

At the winery, we always say, "Buy two. One to drink this week, and another to hold." This is one you might need a case of, because you're going to want to keep revisiting this wine for many years to come. It will have quite the story to tell...

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Port with Michael Patland

Back in 2013, Henry and Olga Patland traveled to Portugal on a family vacation. It was their first immerisve experience in the country. While the food and daily excursions left a distinct imprint on their memory, it was the wine they were truly impressed by! Having grown up in San Francisco, and traveled frequently to the Napa Valley as youngsters, they had only experienced the cloying sweetness of late harvest Zinfandels. Suffice to say it wasn't their taste.

When they began touring Portugal and the famed Duoro region--after which our wine was named D'oro--they fell in love with the sophisticated, balanced style of dessert wine the region is known for. As soon as they returned to California, they got together with their winemaker and decided to create a Patland Port!

We frequently enjoy this wine at the end of a meal, alone on a cold winter day, or even with a cigar in the backyard. Best of all, that sweet indulgence it offers is perfect when it comes to the holiday of love. Uncork a bottle with your sweetheart this Valentine's Day, or cellar it until your 50th anniversary. It'll stand the test of time. 

SHOP PORT

2018 Malbec with Jay Buoncristiani

If you were to ask us what our flagship wine is, our official answer would be Cabernet Sauvignon. Those in the know, however, might think Malbec...

When we began producing wine in 2007, we were laser focused on Cabernet Sauvignon and Syrah. We were lucky enough to be getting phenomenal fruit from the highly acclaimed Stagecoach Vineyard. And yet, we also had our own little vineyard. Sitting high atop the mountains, adorning our family's estate, was the Terra Del Cuore vineyard. When we asked our winemaker what we should be growing there, he said Malbec...?

Yes, Malbec. Jay spoke about it almost like it would be his secret weapon. More than ten vintages later, it's safe to say it is!

At first, he was only using it as a blending component in our Cabernet Sauvignon and Proprietary Red Wine. One day, he asked the family to come together to taste a few blends he'd been working on. He explained to us what the first couple were, but refused to explain the third blend. We tried it and immediately fell in love. Nearly begging to know what it was, Jay finally had pity on us and told us it was 100% Malbec from our estate.

Until then, we had not encountered that caliber of Malbec in the Napa Valley. After tasting the wine though, it was clear to us that we needed to start producing a Malbec.

Now and then a little something would sneak into the blend, maybe a little Cabernet Sauvignon or a little Stagecoach Malbec. However, the 2018 vintage is uniquely its own beast because it is almost entirely Stagecoach fruit! This bold, structured wine is the perfect symbol of what great mountain fruit can become in the Napa Valley. 

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Join Us in the Celebration!

Ever since the advent of Champagne, sparkling wine has become synonymous with celebration. We see it at birthdays, weddings, anniversaries, and more! Whenever we reach a significant milestone, the cork goes pop! 

This year our family and winery reached a lot of great milestones, and you can bet we did a lot of celebrating. To list a few things…

Just after the 2017 Atlas Fires, we purchased a burned down property on Silverado Trail. It had a 6 acre vineyard planted, and while it had good bones, it needed to be replanted. So we set to work. Our longtime Vineyard Manager, Javier Renteria, headed the project and planted brand new vines—most of which are a special, family-favorite clone of Cabernet Sauvignon. Of course, there’s a little bit of Malbec too. 

Typically it would take one more year from when we planted to have any harvestable fruit, but Javier worked his magic and we were able to bring in several tons of fruit a year ahead of schedule. We’re so excited to work this new vineyard into our Patland portfolio of wine. We hope you’ll love it!

Even more exciting, our Assistant Winemaker, Felix Patland, was married to Nina Maller in July. The occasion began with an intimate ceremony at the Carneros Resort, and was followed up several days later by a grand reception in Los Gatos. 

The reception was actually hosted at our founders’ home. Henry and Olga have lived in Los Gatos for more than 30 years. So you can imagine this wedding celebration also served as one heck of a last hurrah, because they just sold the house! Ever since they began Patland Estate Vineyards, they have longed for the day they could move to Napa and set down roots. We’re happy to see this day has finally come. 

And lastly, they will soon have a beautiful new home to live in. As many of you know, the Main House at the family’s vineyard estate, Terra Del Cuore, burned down in the 2017 fires. It’s been many years in the making, but the rebuild is finally nearing completion. 

Henry and Olga have designed their dream home, and look forward to joining the Napa community full time. 

Now it’s hard to talk about the Patland Sparkling Wine without talking about the fires. It was that devastating time that inspired us to make this wine. Our family was faced with a decision: Do we abandon the ruins of our winery and cut our losses? Or do we dig deep and choose to rebuild?

Obviously, we chose to keep going. And we’re so glad we did! Our winery has continued to reach new heights, and the journey has proven worth it. 

Ultimately, we made this wine to celebrate that element of perseverance that is within all of us. We drink it to toast our ability to endure, and rise up when the odds are against us. 

So the next time you reach a great milestone, we hope you’ll let us join you for the celebration. Pop the cork on a bottle of Patland, not just to celebrate the accomplishment, but all the effort that went into reaching it. Cheers!

SHOP SPARKLING WINE

Ranch Meets Vineyard

In 1852, Andrew Swickard, along with his wife Susannah and two children, sailed from New Orleans via Cape Horn and arrived in the Santa Clara Valley in California. Soon after, they established their ranch and began producing grain and livestock. They even raised horses for transportation in the booming city of San Francisco.

In time, the ranch would come to be known as Five Dot Ranch. Today it is owned and operated by Todd and Loretta Swickard, as well as their four children. Today the ranch operates in six different counties, including Lassen, Modoc, Plumas, Napa, Solano, and Contra Costa. From the Napa Valley to the High Sierra’s, the Five Dot Ranch cattle graze on owned and leased pastures and rangelands to ensure the cattle are receiving the finest forages and best feeds the state has to offer. 

Through holistic and thoughtful management, the Swickard family aims to produce some of the highest quality beef  in California. Professional chefs, local consumers and tourists alike agree that Five Dot Ranch beef is "where it's at!" 

The Patland family came to Napa and began Patland Estate Vineyards back in 2007. Just a few years later, they took note of Five Dot Ranch's storefront in the Oxbow Market, located in downtown Napa. They tasted several of the beef products and were quickly won-over. Henry Patland has always been a sucker for a good steak, and these paired just beautifully with the Cabernet Sauvignon the winery was producing. 

Struck with inspiration, the family decided this would be a great thing to share with fans of the winery. So for the first time, the Patland and Swickard families are partnering up to bring you the best of both wine and beef! While supplies last, you can purchase two bottles of 2018 'Select Barrel Reserve' Cabernet Sauvignon, and receive two Dry-Aged, Bone-In New York Strips for FREE! This won't last long, so we hope you can get a slice of the action. We think it's the perfect way to showcase the potential of a premium Cabernet and quality steak pairing. Please enjoy!

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Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon with Jay Buoncristiani

When Henry and Olga Patland purchased Terra Del Cuore in 2007, they quickly decided they wanted to make wine from the grapes on the estate. Keep in mind, this was before they realized they were going to start Patland Estate Vineyards. This was in the very early days, when they simply wanted to have a little bit of their own wine to share with family and friends.

The vineyard manager that had been tending the estate vines, and continues to do so today, Javier Renteria, introduced Henry and Olga to a winemaker named Jay Buoncristiani. Jay arrived with about a case of his own wine for Henry and Olga to try. 

Right away, the Patlands fell in love with Jay's wines and he was hired on the spot! We've now passed our 10th Vintage and are proud to say that Jay is still our winemaker. More than that, Jay is a member of the family.

If you watch the video above, you'll hear Jay talk about risk. A lot of people would see Jay as a risky winemaker, but as he explains, these are all calculated risks. Jay's been making wine for over twenty years, and all those harvests have left him with a wealth of experience and knowledge. Jay is able to push the boundaries and the result is consistently stellar wine. 

Perhaps the crown jewel of the Patland portfolio, is the Select Barrel Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon. Jay actually picks the very best barrels from the very best vineyard blocks to go under this label. The goal of this wine is always balance, finesse and elegance. While there's enough extraction and tannin structure to satisfy fans of behemoth-style Cabernets, the velvety texture and balanced acidity will impress even the most erudite critics. 

If you are presented with the opportunity to taste this wine, do not pass it up. If you have a few bottles in your own collection, simply know that this is a wine that will go the distance. Twenty, thirty, even forty years. The longer you wait, the more this wine will pay in dividends.

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A Wine Fit for Mom

Lillá in Fiore Rosé has many meanings to our family. We were lucky to have them all come together so neatly.

As we continued our partnership with artist Dzemal Emric, we approached him for a new painting to decorate the label of our soon-to-be-released Rosé wine. (This was back in 2011.) He brought us a beautiful piece, full with lively colors of white, pink and purple. The painting was almost electrically charged! We knew it would be the perfect way to convey the vibrant style of pink wine we would be offering.

The stars aligned when we asked him for the title of the piece. He told us, "It is called 'Lillá in Fiore', which means Lilacs on Fire, but the idea is more Lilacs in Bloom." 

Henry and Olga thought for a minute. Lilacs were an important flower to them; they symbolized the coming of Spring in their homeland of the Ukraine. Olga fondly remembered walking through her hometown of Lviv, seeing these purple flowers blossoming all around in mid-May. 

(Olga's childhood school in Lviv, Ukraine)

Henry also knew that, possibly for the same nostalgic reasons, lilacs were his mother's favorite flower. The matriarch of the Patland family, Anna Patland, could always count on receiving several bouquets full of lilacs for her mother's day. 

With a quick nod of approval, this painting was chosen for the label of the Patland Rosé. 

The family's attachment to this wine only grew after they tasted it! Winemaker Jay Buoncristiani made it in an unusual style for Napa, and it was a big departure from the Provencal style that most of our guests seemed to be familiar with. The Patland Rosé was a robust, full bodied wine. It overflows with ripe, red fruit aromas and gushes berry and vanilla on the palate. This wine quickly became a wine club favorite, and an absolute must for Olga Patland during her travels. In recent years, she and Henry have been spending more and more time in Miami, and a day at the beach is just not complete without a chilled bottle of Lillá in Fiore nearby!

As Springtime begins to show, we hope you'll pick up a bottle for yourself to try. Whether you're traveling or enjoying the sun in the comfort of your backyard, this Rosé is sure to enhance the experience!

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