2015 Kesner Chardonnay Rockbreak Vineyard 750 ml

Kistler Rockstar Winemaker’s Rare Sonoma Coast Chardonnay

Only 500 bottles of this incredibly rare, single-vineyard Chardonnay were made by Jason Kesner — the former Hudson Vineyards manager and current winemaker for Kistler. With fruit from Steve Matthiasson’s Rockbreak Vineyard aged in Kistler barrels, we secured half of the entire production (250 bottles) of one of the most rare and extraordinary Chardonnays you’ll find from the Sonoma Coast — one that has even earned a place on Thomas Keller’s coveted French Laundry wine list.

The light bulb went on for Jason Kesner in 2002. Not content to watch as all the fruit he hand-tended for Hudson was carted away to be bottled by others, Kesner pushed through an endless night to hand-press a single barrel of Chardonnay for himself. The next year, he kept three barrels for himself.

When his friend Steve Matthiasson showed Kesner a cobblestone-strewn field of adobe loam he intended to plant to Chardonnay, Jason got in on the ground floor. “Rockbreak” was born, with hardy vines producing exceptional fruit tended by Matthiasson, one of the most sought-after viticultural consultants in California, and then taken to the next level by the tireless Kesner when he’s not shepherding Kistler wines into excellence. There’s a lot of effort and wisdom captured in a bottle of this 2015 Kesner “Rockbreak” Chardonnay, but all you’ll taste is elegance.