Kistler -’ Pinot Noir, Sonoma County, USA (2022)

TASTING NOTES

A rich, deep and profound wine with concentrated fruit. A precise energy throughout its deep red and blue berry fruited core, subtle mineral undertones and lifted delicate variety aromatics.

Kistler owns or leases just under 60 acres of prime Pinot Noir vineyards in the Russian River and Sonoma Coast appellations. Here, site diversity combined with cool coastal influences allow for a complex array of flavour profiles available to craft the appellation-focused bottlings. The Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir is typically sourced from the youngest vineyards, those that will eventually prove themselves to be worthy of a single vineyard bottling.

Steve Kistler and Mark Bixler believed that ‘remarkable and charactered Chardonnays of site could in fact be grown and produced in California’. This was a notion ahead of its time. And it was on this premise that they established Kistler in 1978. Today, Kistler is undeniably one of the world’s great chardonnay and pinot noir producers.

Two heritage selections of pinot noir, originating from a Grand Cru vineyard in Burgundy, provide the outstanding fruit for their pinot wines. There are two vineyard designated pinot noirs along with two, multi-vineyard wines from Russian River Valley and Sonoma Coast.

Since the very beginning, they’ve been farmers first. The majority of the land they farm themselves, but the winery wouldn’t be what it is today without their growers and the nature of their relationships. Kistler doesn’t buy fruit in the traditional sense. Instead, they collaborate with their growers, selecting the best soils for the young vines, working closely together to raise these heritage clones. The youngest of these partnerships’ dates back to 1994, but most go back to the late 1970’s. Jason Kesner, Winemaker and President managed Hudson Vineyard and worked with Steve for 8 years before Steve invited him to join Kistler in 2008.