2023 Kistler Sonoma Mountain Chardonnay

The wines from 2022, the second of three consecutive cooler vintages for Kistler, offer a distinct character of freshness and a perfect sense of being just ripe throughout. The growing season could very well be described as being verdant. Good rains that moved them away from but not entirely out of the drought in the winter led to a cool wet spring and a mild summer with wetting rains across both seasons. Naturally low crops and a clement tone to the late summer weather led to good concentration and acid retention in the fruit. The winery avoided the pronounced Labor Day heat wave, finishing the last of our picks as it settled in thereby capturing the fresh nature of the vintage.

An iconic wine from one of the most legendary producers in California. Meticulous detail goes into the farming and winemaking. Fruit is from some of the most highly regarded vineyards in the region, many of which are farmed entirely by Kistler themselves. Current winemaker, Jason Kesner, “apprenticed” with Steve Kistler for 8 years before being handed the reins fully in 2017.

Our two vineyards perched in the hills above the Sonoma valley, one in the Mayacama range to the west and one on Sonoma Mountain to the east both produce elegant, lifted wines that speak to the elevated nature of the plantings and the remarkable, well drained volcanic soils present at both sites. An intense sense of the mountain heritage of the delicate stone fruit that is lifted, like its McCrea cousin, yet firmer, and with a stronger core and added layers of richness.
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.