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About Kistler Vineyards
Steve Kistler's rich, Burgundy-style Chardonnays and Pinot Noirs, from a series of ideally situated vineyards all around Sonoma County, have long been favorites among collectors and restaurant clients. The best bottlings have proven to be excellent mid-term agers and are among the richest and most complex Chardonnays made anywhere—the key is low-tech, hands-off winemaking that makes the most of the particular vineyard site plus what each vintage has to offer.
2006 Kistler Vineyards Chardonnay Kistler Vineyard Sonoma Coast
Producer: Kistler Vineyards
Style: White Wine
Grape Type: Chardonnay
Origin: California
Region: Sonoma
Appellation: Russian River Valley
94 Points | International Wine Cellar , May/June 2009
($80) Deep, hazy yellow. Brooding aromas of peach pit, pear skin, lees and minerals gain brightness with air, picking up livelier lime and lemongrass character. Densely packed orchard and pit fruit flavors are complicated by iodine, smoky lees and flowers. This has the texture and chewiness of a red wine. The finish strongly repeats the mineral element and lingers with impressive clarity and tanginess. For such a rich wine there's really surprising finesse too. The yield here was less than one ton per acre, Kistler told me.
