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Kistler Vineyards is a wine producer in northern California's Sonoma County. Its considerable reputation is thanks largely to its robust, buttery Chardonnay wines, which have established Kistler as a cult winery since the 1980s.
The company was founded in 1978 by Steve Kistler and remains a family-owned and operated winery. It is a relatively small producer, making just 35,000 cases annually, much of which is sold through its significant mailing list. Kistler's focus is the Burgundy varieties, making 10 vineyard-designated Chardonnay wines and four designated Pinot Noir wines.
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.
Two heritage selections of Pinot Noir inform all of our Pinot Noirs. Originally hailing from a Grand Cru vineyard in Burgundy, we’ve been propagating these two selections for the last twenty-five years. They, like our Chardonnay clone are very low yielding, resulting in wines with
| Varietal | Chardonnay |
|---|---|
| Vintage | 2004 |
| Rating | RP94-96 |
| Bottle Size | 750 ml |
| Bottle Quantity | 1 |
| Country | USA |
| Region | California |
| Location | North Coast |
| Producer | Kistler |
| Color | White |
| Wine Type | Table |
| Rating | RP94 - 2004 Kistler Vine Hill Road Vineyard Chardonnay - 96 pts! Hints of ripe pears, lemon butter, tangerines, and crushed rocks emerge from the 2004 Chardonnay Vine Hill Vineyard, an elegant yet authoritatively flavored effort with a striking minerality, zesty acidity, and a spectacular finish. The good news is that there are 2,700 cases of this cuvee. For Steve Kistler and his longtime assistant, Mark Bixler, 2004 was a very small crop, even smaller than the modest production of 2003. This is a reference point winery for New World Chardonnay, although their viticultural and winemaking techniques are decidedly Burgundian. Interestingly, during the last year I have had an opportunity to taste some ten year old Kistler Chardonnays, and they have aged well in the bottle. While a decade is not long when compared with some long-lived white Burgundies, by the standards of most California Chardonnays, which are generally best consumed during their first 1-3 years of life, the Kistler techniques of whole cluster pressing, slow malolactic fermentation, aging on their lees in high quality French oak, and bottling without fining or filtration appear to be producing longer lived Chardonnays. Kistler has enjoyed a run of terrific vintages in the new century. Moreover, they seem to be ratcheting up their performance in terms of the quality and complexity of their Pinot Noirs. |
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| Varietal | Chardonnay |
|---|---|
| Vintage | 2004 |
| Rating | RP94-96 |
| Bottle Size | 750 ml |
| Bottle Quantity | 1 |
| Country | USA |
| Region | California |
| Location | North Coast |
| Producer | Kistler |
| Color | White |
| Wine Type | Table |
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