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Kistler
Kistler 2019 Cuvee Catheleen Chardonnay, Sonoma Valley
$ 249.99
Kistler Cuvee Cathleen Chardonnay - rare new release.
97+ Points Robert Parker: "The 2019 Chardonnay Cuvée Cathleen takes time to open up to delicate wafts of white lilac, Meyer lemon, quince peel and sea spray, with hints of beeswax and almonds. The palate offers incredible tension between surprisingly generous fruits and tangy, salty lift. Its expansive, honey-laced flavors linger for an extraordinarily long finish. Wow! It deserves another 2-3 years in bottle at least.":
..the single-vineyard wines all represent much smaller quantities of wine. There have been several noticeable changes in the Kistler wines over the last few years, as they are certainly picking the Pinot Noir at an earlier date and going for less extraction, more fragrance and delicacy. The Chardonnays are still powerful wines but they have backed off the new oak to about 40%. (About 10 years ago, it was around 60%.) Other than that they are still potent and rich Chardonnays that are meant to be drunk in their first 4-6 years of life. It is my experience that aging Kistler wine has not been generally as successful as I would have hoped.."
Kistler 2019 Hyde Vineyard Chardonnay, Carneros
$ 179.99
Kistler Hyde Vineyard Chardonnay - rare new release.
98+ Points Robert Parker: "In classic Hyde style, the 2019 Chardonnay Hyde Vineyard begins with smoky graphite tones that take some time to open to saline, shell, white peaches and floral perfume. The palate is satiny and fragrant with a shimmering mineral character, tangy lift and an incredibly long, ethereal finish. This 2019 offers incredible class and personality, and its energy and nuance suggest it will blossom in bottle for 10 or more years."
...Kistler Vineyards remains one of the absolute benchmark producers of great Sonoma Chardonnay and Pinot Noir, sitting right up there with the highest quality examples of these grapes from throughout the world. While the wines come from as wide a range of top terroirs as Sonoma can provide, interestingly nearly all of the Chardonnays are produced from a proprietary selection of Wente clones taken from a Larry Hyde block in the early 1980s. The exception is the Kistler Vineyard, which contains some original Martin Ray Mount Eden clonal material. This can be found in the straight Kistler Vineyard Chardonnay bottling, as opposed to the Cuvee Cathleen, which is mainly Wente selection. All the vineyard-designate Chardonnays are produced in precisely the same manner, meaning the differences between them are almost exclusively down to the differences in terroir. And as readers will see from my notes, the differences are striking."
Kistler 2019 Kistler Vineyard Chardonnay, Sonoma Valley
$ 209.99
Kistler Kistler Vineyard Chardonnay - rare new release.
96+ Points Robert Parker: "The 2019 Chardonnay Kistler Vineyard opens with youthful, smoky graphite and toast, offering crushed almonds and white blossoms with some time in the glass. The palate surprises with its depth of ripe, fragrant fruits and textural, expansive character balanced by mineral tones and bright acidity. It finishes long and lifted. All that intensity and lift will allow it to evolve over the next 3-5 years in bottle and hold in the cellar for 10+ years."
...the single-vineyard wines all represent much smaller quantities of wine. There have been several noticeable changes in the Kistler wines over the last few years, as they are certainly picking the Pinot Noir at an earlier date and going for less extraction, more fragrance and delicacy. The Chardonnays are still powerful wines but they have backed off the new oak to about 40%. (About 10 years ago, it was around 60%.) Other than that they are still potent and rich Chardonnays that are meant to be drunk in their first 4-6 years of life. It is my experience that aging Kistler wine has not been generally as successful as I would have hoped.."
Kistler 2019 McCrea Vineyard Chardonnay, Sonoma Mountain
$ 169.00
95 Points
Kistler McCrea Vineyard Chardonnay - rare new release.
The Chardonnay McCrea Vineyard offers up gorgeous notions of ripe peaches, honeyed toast, grapefruit and orange blossoms with touches of ginger and marzipan. Medium to full-bodied, it has a lovely satiny texture and tons of stone fruit and savory layers with a good, long spice-laced finish...
...Kistler Vineyards remains one of the absolute benchmark producers of great Sonoma Chardonnay and Pinot Noir, sitting right up there with the highest quality examples of these grapes from throughout the world. While the wines come from as wide a range of top terroirs as Sonoma can provide, interestingly nearly all of the Chardonnays are produced from a proprietary selection of Wente clones taken from a Larry Hyde block in the early 1980s. All the vineyard-designate Chardonnays are produced in precisely the same manner, meaning the differences between them are almost exclusively down to the differences in terroir. And as readers will see from my notes, the differences are striking."
Kistler 2019 Silver Belt Vineyard Cuvee Natalie Pinot Noir, Russian River Valley MAGNUM (1.5L)
$ 425.00
Very Limited Kistler Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir. *This is a rare MAGNUM (1.5L)*
96 points Parker: "The 2019 Pinot Noir Cuvée Natalie Silver Belt Vineyard strikes a fine balance of broody red fruits with spice and mineral tones. The nose offers gregarious cranberry sauce, rhubarb, nori and blood orange, with accents of purple flowers. The palate is vivacious and layered, silky and lifted with a very long, spicy finish. It's open-knit and accessible although its generous fruits and classy new oak will show best with another 2-3 years in bottle."
Kistler 2019 Trenton Roadhouse Chardonnay, Sonoma Coast
$ 199.99
Limited single-vineyard Kistler Chardonnay now available.
96 Points Robert Parker: "The 2019 Chardonnay Trenton Roadhouse is plush, open-knit and gregarious, offering immediate appeal in a portfolio of cellar-worthy 2019s. The nose is toasty and gregarious with a fragrance of golden apples, roasted almonds and beeswax. The full-bodied palate features loads of expansive fruits and savory tones streaked with graphite and finishing very long and energetic."
...Kistler Vineyards remains one of the absolute benchmark producers of great Sonoma Chardonnay and Pinot Noir, sitting right up there with the highest quality examples of these grapes from throughout the world. While the wines come from as wide a range of top terroirs as Sonoma can provide, interestingly nearly all of the Chardonnays are produced from a proprietary selection of Wente clones taken from a Larry Hyde block in the early 1980s. The exception is the Kistler Vineyard, which contains some original Martin Ray Mount Eden clonal material. This can be found in the straight Kistler Vineyard Chardonnay bottling, as opposed to the Cuvee Cathleen, which is mainly Wente selection. All the vineyard-designate Chardonnays are produced in precisely the same manner, meaning the differences between them are almost exclusively down to the differences in terroir. And as readers will see from my notes, the differences are striking."
Kistler 2019 Vine Hill Vineyard Chardonnay, Sonoma
$ 199.99
Kistler Vine Hill Vineyard Chardonnay - rare new release.
98 Points Robert Parker: "The 2019 Chardonnay Vine Hill Vineyard begins with singular touches of seaweed and candle smoke that give way to preserved citrus, white peaches, beeswax and lush jasmine perfume. The palate is dynamic, with a crescendo of honeyed fruits, gently tangy acidity and shimmery mineral character uplifting the finish. It's Vine Hill Vineyard with the volume turned up!"
...the single-vineyard wines all represent much smaller quantities of wine. There have been several noticeable changes in the Kistler wines over the last few years, as they are certainly picking the Pinot Noir at an earlier date and going for less extraction, more fragrance and delicacy. The Chardonnays are still powerful wines but they have backed off the new oak to about 40%. (About 10 years ago, it was around 60%.) Other than that they are still potent and rich Chardonnays that are meant to be drunk in their first 4-6 years of life. It is my experience that aging Kistler wine has not been generally as successful as I would have hoped.."
Kistler 2020 Sonoma Mountain Chardonnay
$ 79.99
New release!
The Kistler 2020 Sonoma Mountain Chardonnay is a special blend of wines from Kistler's vineyards.
The Kistler Sonoma Mountain Chardonnay is of the same high quality as Kistler's single vineyard chardonnays but, through blending, they are able to create a high quality wine, with a consistent flavor profile. Rich, complex smoky aroma of perfect ripe fruit with a delicious noisette note, in a pleasing, Meursault-like style. In the mouth the wine is very delicious, displaying intense, fruit flavors underpinned with toasty oak and smoky flavors. The crisp acidity in the wine highlights the delicious fruit and makes it an excellent accompaniment to a wide range of foods. It is richly textured with a long, lingering finish.
Winery Notes: The Kistler plantings on Sonoma Mountain, situated on a hillside bench perfectly suited for growing world class Chardonnay, are interlaced with the rare combination of red volcanic and fine grained chalky soils. The vineyards are planted to California Heritage clones that were selected specifically over the last 30 years to ripen to our balanced wine standards. They are some of the oldest Chardonnay vineyards in Sonoma County. When coupled with the selections in the vineyard the textbook growing conditions afford a wine that is decidedly Sonoma Mountain in character. Annually some of our earliest vineyard pickings each year, this is a wine driven by a grounded, focused mineral core yet lifted by striking ethereal tones of vibrant light fruit raised at elevation.
Occidental 2020 Pinot Noir, Freestone-Occidental (Kistler)
$ 69.99
New Occidental Pinot Noir release from Kistler. Limited.
95 Points Wine Spectator: "Offers lots of energy, with a burst of plum and blackberry fruit backed by bouncy anise and bramble accents, all carried by fresh, lively acidity. Light savory details add range on the finish, as the fruit takes an encore. A bit showy in style, but most folks won't complain about that. Drink now through 2030. From California."
previous vintage 95+ Points Robert Parker: "The Pinot Noir Freestone-Occidental comes mostly from younger vines at the Occidental property but is made with the same attention to detail as the other wines in the portfolio, using free-run juice. Its nose is an aromatic well, offering crushed blueberries, charcuterie, Earl Grey tea leaves, graphite, saline, bitter orange peel and potpourri aromas. In the mouth, it explodes with lush fruits that give way after their initial rush to bitter, citrusy, minerally accents. It has a fine grain, seamless freshness and long, layered finish. It's enjoyable now but will age well over the next five to eight-plus years."
previous vintage 94 Points Antionio Galloni (Vinous): "The Pinot Noir Freestone Occidental is a truly remarkable wine. Maybe that is the vintage, or the added complexity the vines are acquiring with time, but the Freestone Occidental makes me incredibly curious to taste the rest of the 2018s. Bright, focused and beautifully sculpted, the 2018 is a wine of total elegance and finesse. Moreover, it captures the savory, energetic, saline style that is so typical of this part of the Sonoma Coast."
Occidental is Steve Kistler's new Pinot Noir project, which is starting essentially as a spin-out from Kistler Vineyards. Steve Kistler remains CEO of Kistler Vineyards and very much in charge of day to day operations. At the same time, Kistler understandably wanted to manage a small project of his own with an eye towards his two younger daughters who will one day run Occidental.
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