Kistler - "Stone Flat Vineyard" Chardonnay Kistler - "Stone Flat Vineyard" Chardonnay

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. The fruit comes from three AVAs within Sonoma: Sonoma Coast, Sonoma Mountain and Carneros (which overlaps with the Napa Valley AVA). The Chardonnay Les Noisetiers is a multi-vineyard blend from the Sonoma Coast made especially for restaurants. It is barrel fermented and is rich and Meursault like in style with a complex smoky aroma of ripe citrus fruit with a hint of noisette on the finish. Their Sonoma Mountain Chardonnay comes from multiple blocks of their McCrea vineyard on red volcanic soils. This results in a wine that is ripe and fruit forward meant for immediate drinking. The Kistler Pinot Noirs are both multi-vineyard blends. The Pinot Noir grapes are picked in the night and 100% destemmed. Gentle stirring is used so not to extract harsh tannins and only free run wine is put into barrel for maturation. The wines have typically 25-30% new oak depending on the vintage. Both the Sonoma Coast and Russian River Pinot Noirs are made for restaurants. The Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir is more restraint in its youth but is a complex wine with the ability to develop over 10 years in the bottle. The Russian River Pinot Noir exhibits black cherry and flint. It needs less time in bottle and will age beautifully in 5-7 years. Recent trends have seen a move away from this style, however, and Kistler is beginning to experiment with making more restrained styles of the variety.