Patton Valley was founded by Monte Pitt and Dave Chen in 1995. We met in the mid-1980s while attending business school in Chicago. In between classes, we found ourselves exploring Chicago's legendary wine shops and developing a passion for what we consider the world's finest wine: Pinot Noir. Having caught "Pinot fever" we pursued our dream of owning a vineyard and making wine. Our search led us to Oregon's Willamette Valley, where we purchased a 72-acre parcel with the ideal combination of soil, exposure and elevation. With the site for the vineyard in hand, we formed Cherry Hill, LLC, the parent company of Patton Valley Vineyard. We started with a prime vineyard site in the northern reach of Oregon's Willamette Valley, a site blessed with weathered, uniform soil, and ideal elevation and exposure. With the aid of Alan Holstein, one of Oregon's most experienced viticulturists; we designed the layout and planted the first 10-acre block in 1997 on the eastern and southeastern slopes. The vineyards were planted with a mixture of clones: approximately 80% Dijon (114, 115, 667 and 777) and 20% Pommard on three different phylloxera-resistant rootstocks (3309, 101-14 and Riparia gloire). Monte, our winemaker, learned these firsthand while working at Beaux Freres, one of Oregon's premiers Pinot Noir producers. The co-winemaker and the day-to-day manager of the vines is Jerry Murray, who oversees planting, pruning and harvesting (among other duties!). Jerry has made wine all over the world, including Oregon (Erath, Panther Creek and J.K. Carrierre), New Zealand (Martinborough, Highfield Estates) and Germany (Weingut Selbach-Oster).

website: www.pattonvalley.com