Back Where We Belong
In 2024, founding winemaker James Hall repurchased Patz & Hall, returning the winery to independent hands after eight years of corporate ownership. For those who’ve followed our journey since the beginning, it felt like coming home.
With James back at the helm, we’ve refocused on what matters most: strengthening our grower partnerships, stewarding our cellar practices, and crafting wines that reflect both place and time. Today, Patz & Hall remains true to its roots, while opening the door to a future of bold thinking and renewed intention.
The Founding Years
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.
Built on Relationships
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 Charlie Chenoweth—became the cornerstones of the winery’s success.
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
A New Era for Patz & Hall
As James Hall guides the winery into this next chapter—with winemaker James McCeney by his side—we remain deeply rooted in the ideals that launched our very first vintage: honor the vineyard, trust the craft, and let the wines speak for themselves.
James Hall
Founder and Owner
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
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.
Three Decades…and Counting
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 Chenoweth, Gary Pisoni and Joe and Steve Dutton 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.
James McCeney
Director of Winemaking
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.
Carrying the Legacy Forward
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.
Today, James McCeney oversees Patz & Hall’s winemaking in close consultation with James Hall.
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 2026.
