Kistler Vineyards: Latest Chardonnay and Pinot Noir releases tasted

Legendary California winemaker Steve Kistler co-founded his eponymous winery in Sonoma in 1978 and quickly gathered a cult following for his rich, intense, voluptuous and oaky Chardonnays made using Burgundian techniques.

They influenced an entire generation of California winemakers, but the stylistic signature of these wines has evolved considerably since then.

Scroll down for Elin McCoy’s Kistler 2017s tasting notes and scores

It was on a late September visit to the no-nonsense winery just north of Sebastopol that I realised how much the wines have evolved over the past decade years towards a slimmer, fresher, more energetic profile; the style that’s now in fashion.

Outside, the sun shone on Kistler’s rolling Vine Hill Vineyard, whose grapes go into one of the winery’s 11 single vineyard Chardonnays. Inside the laboratory, winemaker Jason Kesner poured the latest releases, all from the 2017 vintage, which was a year marked by deadly wildfires.

It’s also when he became chief winemaker, after Steve Kistler stepped down to focus on his Occidental Pinot Noir brand.

From the beginning, Kistler had focused on single vineyards. He helped start California’s wine conversation about the importance of terroir.

Today, Kistler Vineyards’ Chardonnay sites stretch from western Sonoma to Carneros and represent some of the very best vineyards in the region.

The two single vineyard Pinot Noirs, which are less well known, are located in Russian River Valley.

Founded: 1978, first vintage 1979

Winemaker: Jason Kesner

Wines: 11 single vineyard Chardonnays, 2 single vineyard Pinot Noirs

Winery location: Russian River Valley, Sonoma

Vineyard locations: Russian River Valley, Carneros, Sonoma Valley

Production: 25,000 to 35,000 cases; mostly Chardonnay

What makes comparing the Chardonnays from a single vintage so fascinating is that almost all use the same heritage Old Wente clone and identical winemaking regimes. This includes:

• Barrel fermentation with native yeast;
• 11 months ageing with the same proportion of new oak;
• And no fining or filtering

Subtle differences in the wines, therefore, boil down to terroir.

A changing style of Chardonnay

Kesner, who calls Kistler ‘a genius’, says that the team harvests five days earlier than in the past and picks at night pick to retain more acidity.

The estate has also reduced the amount of new oak to 38%, all of which helps to emphasise the wines’ separate personalities, which really shine in 2017.

The style shift began in 2008, when Kistler found himself increasingly drawn to wines with more restraint and finesse.

That was also the year Bill Price, owner of Durell Vineyards and co-founder of private equity firm TPG, bought a stake in the winery, and Kistler brought in Kesner.

All the wines on show were stunning, but the star to me is the focused, very mineral Kistler Vineyard 2017 from the original dry-farmed site in the Mayacamas mountains.

Pinot Noir

The winery’s Pinot Noirs, which never had the quite the same high praise, have shifted, too. Where they used to be about colour and extraction, they now exude lift, their textures more silky than velvety.

‘We spare no expense to obtain perfection,’ says Kesner. ‘The key is picking on the perfect day.’

There will be more to come with the first crop from three new vineyards expected in 2020.

Tasting notes for Kistler Vineyards 2017 wines

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