2021 Kistler, Chardonnay, Sonoma Mountain, California, USA
Critics reviews
The 2021 Chardonnay Kistler Vineyard is a wine of grace and class. Time in the glass brings out hints of ginger, dried flowers and spice that lend an exotic flair. I would cellar this for a year or two, as the wine's structural elements are front and center at this stage. There's gorgeous aromatic presence that begins to emerge over time.
Drink 2024 - 2031
Antonio Galloni, Vinous.com (June 2023)
The 2021 Chardonnay Kistler Vineyard is scented of warm peaches, pie crust and spice with singular touches of white pepper and chamomile tea. The medium-bodied palate is incredibly powerful, featuring a satiny, mouth-coating texture balanced by vibrant acidity, a concentrated core of peachy fruit and an epically long, flavorful finish.
Drink 2025 - 2040
Erin Brooks, Wine Advocate (August 2023)
A fantastic chardonnay with super phenolic tension and purity of fruit with sliced apple and spiced pear. Reductive and tight. It’s full-bodied, but so reserved and structured with great phenolic tension that is polished and endless. Needs time to open and show you its greatness. Try after 2026.
James Suckling, JamesSuckling.com (April 2023)
About this WINE
Kistler Vineyard
“If the Kistler Winery could be magically transported to the middle of Burgundy’s Cote d’Or, it would quickly gain a reputation as glorious as any producer of Burgundy grand crus.” – Robert Parker, The Wine Advocate
Kistler Vineyard is a cult Californian winemaker famous for its full-blown, yet elegant chardonnay style.
Founded in 1978, the vineyards owned and farmed by the Kistler family stretch from western Sonoma County to just north of the San Francisco bay. Kistler wines have a reputation for being meticulously formulated in order to produce wonderful mineral wines of intense focus, and natural balance. The notoriously exclusive Kistler wines have always been highly sought after, but over the last ten years many wine enthusiasts claim that the vineyard has been coming into its own – producing wines of harmony and distinction, as well as power.
Chardonnay
Chardonnay is often seen as the king of white wine grapes and one of the most widely planted in the world It is suited to a wide variety of soils, though it excels in soils with a high limestone content as found in Champagne, Chablis, and the Côte D`Or.
Burgundy is Chardonnay's spiritual home and the best White Burgundies are dry, rich, honeyed wines with marvellous poise, elegance and balance. They are unquestionably the finest dry white wines in the world. Chardonnay plays a crucial role in the Champagne blend, providing structure and finesse, and is the sole grape in Blanc de Blancs.
It is quantitatively important in California and Australia, is widely planted in Chile and South Africa, and is the second most widely planted grape in New Zealand. In warm climates Chardonnay has a tendency to develop very high sugar levels during the final stages of ripening and this can occur at the expense of acidity. Late picking is a common problem and can result in blowsy and flabby wines that lack structure and definition.
Recently in the New World, we have seen a move towards more elegant, better- balanced and less oak-driven Chardonnays, and this is to be welcomed.
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Description
The 2021 Chardonnay Kistler Vineyard is a wine of grace and class. Time in the glass brings out hints of ginger, dried flowers and spice that lend an exotic flair. I would cellar this for a year or two, as the wine's structural elements are front and center at this stage. There's gorgeous aromatic presence that begins to emerge over time.
Drink 2024 - 2031
Antonio Galloni, Vinous.com (June 2023)
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