Kistler Sonoma Mountain Chardonnay 2024
(Sonoma, California) - [VM 94]

About Kistler Chardonnay:
All Kistler Chardonnays are produced from one proprietary, heritage California selection that brings low yields, tiny berries, great concentration of both flavor and texture, and naturally low pH with high acids. Planting this one selection of Chardonnay across all vineyards realizes Kistler’s vision in 1978 to exhibit a transparency to site. Yields are 2.5 to 3 tons per acre on average in our Chardonnay plantings.

About the Wine:
In Burgundy, some wines are labeled Premier Cru without designating a specific site. Kistler applies the same scrutiny of blocks within a given locale and selections are made to heighten the precision of the single vineyard bottlings. Kistler has farmed the McCrea vineyard since the 1980s and the individual blocks represent two distinct soil profiles. While much of the vineyard has silica based, lighter soils, the Sonoma Mountain blocks reside in a redder set of volcanic, higher organic material, soils that bring more fruit forwardness and broader shoulders to the Sonoma mountain bottling.

Notes from the Winery:
The Kistler plantings on Sonoma Mountain, situated on a hillside bench perfectly suited for growing world class Chardonnay, are interlaced with the rare combination of red volcanic and fine grained chalky soils. The vineyards are planted to California Heritage clones that were selected specifically over the last 30 years to ripen to our balanced wine standards. They are some of the oldest Chardonnay vineyards in Sonoma County. When coupled with the selections in the vineyard the textbook growing conditions afford a wine that is decidedly Sonoma Mountain in character. Annually some of our earliest vineyard pickings each year, this is a wine driven by a grounded, focused mineral core yet lifted by striking ethereal tones of vibrant light fruit raised at elevation.

94 Points - Vinous:
The 2024 Chardonnay (Sonoma Valley) is really a single-vineyard wine, all from some of the more generous blocks within McCrea. A wine of dimension and class, it offers up an exciting mix of dried orchard fruit, ash, gravel, incense, dried citrus peel, sage and white pepper. The complexity here is just unreal. If there is a hidden gem in the Kistler lineup, this is it!

93 Points - Vinous (2023):
The 2023 Chardonnay Sonoma Mountain is one of the most distinctive wines in the Kistler range. It emerges from parcels at McCrea with reddish soils (parcels with whiter soils are used for the vineyard-designate). A wine of total class and sophistication, the 2023 is immediately seductive. Dried flowers, mint, chamomile, herbs, white pepper, citrus peel and subtle earthy undertones all take shape in the glass. The 2023 is especially fine. It approaches the quality of the vineyard-designates, making it something of a hidden gem in this broad portfolio. (Drink between 2025-2033)