Kistler Vineyards, Chardonnay, Sonoma Mountain, California, 2023

Overview of the Wine
Founded in 1978, Kistler Vineyards is a small, family-owned and operated winery specializing in the production of Burgundian style Chardonnay and limited amounts of Pinot Noir. Grapes are estate grown and purchased from vineyards in Sonoma County. In 1992, Kistler Vineyards moved all production to its Vine Hill Road Vineyard in the Russian River Valley.

One heritage Californian selection of Chardonnay planted across fifteen vineyards, from Carneros to Sonoma Valley, to the Russian River Valley and Sonoma Coast. From those sites we produce eleven vineyard designate Chardonnays. We are wholly dedicated to the ideal of wines of site. It’s an unparalleled approach in the new world.

Winemaker
Jason Kesner

Grape / Blend
Chardonnay

Origin
Sonoma Mountain, California

Winemaker's Tasting Notes
Forty-year old dry farmed vines grow in deep red volcanic soils

Bottled since 1986. Just shy of 1800 feet in elevation, in a small bowl on the western edge of the Mayacama mountains lies the original Kistler planting. Forty-year old dry farmed vines grow in deep red volcanic soils, producing a wine with an intense sense of its mountain heritage. The Kistler Vineyard Chardonnay has delicate and bright lifted stone fruit and faintly floral like tones, like its McCrea cousin, yet also a firmer nature with a stronger core and added layers of texture.

93 Points - Vinous
The 2023 Chardonnay Sonoma Mountain is one of the most distinctive wines in the Kistler range. It emerges from parcels at McCrea with reddish soils (parcels with whiter soils are used for the vineyard-designate). A wine of total class and sophistication, the 2023 is immediately seductive. Dried flowers, mint, chamomile, herbs, white pepper, citrus peels and subtle earthy understones all take shape in the glass. The 2023 is especially fine. It approaches the quality of the vineyard-designates, making it something of a hidden gem in this broad portfolio.  

Product size: 750ml