In 2024, James Hall bought back his winery, Patz & Hall, eight years after selling it to wine conglomerate Ste. Michelle Wine Estates — a rare reversal of the California wine industry’s recent consolidation trend.
Hall had maintained ownership of the winery’s Sonoma House tasting room and stayed on to oversee production of its famous slate of single-vineyard California Chardonnay and Pinot Noir. But the buyback, he said, invited him to rethink what Patz & Hall could be.
“Our old tasting experience was very educational,” Hall said. “We realized that more and more people want to come and have a glass of wine and sit with their friends and enjoy the space. So we’ve skewed closer to something that we think people are going to love to hang out in and feel comfortable.”…