2018 Kistler, Sonoma Coast, Les Noisetiers, Chardonnay
One of Clark's favorites this particular wine is only distributed to restaurants. It is made as a blend from the Russian River, Dutton, Laguna Ridge, and Trenton vineyards. . It opens with a perfumed nose with a variety of flowers and some sharp honeysuckle. The taste is a balance of fruit and earth with some vanilla and moderate acid and a low level of oak.
From KL Wines
Few names are synonymous with California Chardonnay the way Kistler is. This winery almost single-handedly raised the bar to heights not seen before. The Les Noisetiers is a combination of three Sonoma Coast sites (Vine Hill Vineyard, Dutton Ranch, and Trenton Roadhouse) and emphasizes the area’s sandy Gold Ridge soils. The vilification draws on techniques used in Burgundy. The result is one of the most luxurious and complex white wines made in this county, possessing a minerality rare in New World Chardonnay.
2017 Kistler, Dutton Ranch, Russian River Valley, Chardonnay WS 94 RP 93+
The grapes are grown in sandy soil with rock that tends to be on the darker side of soil variations. It opens with a fruity nose with a hint of grapefruit. The taste is very smooth and velvety with a fruity buttery taste. There is some pear noted. It has somewhat higher acid content. It is tart with predominate apple taste but also some pear. The mouthfeel is smooth and pleasant and the finish is long.
Wine Spectator 94 "Pure and precise, with a lithe blend of intense white fruit and minerality, backed by juicy acidity. The vibrant finish is filled with lemongrass notes and long, powerful hints of savory herb."
Robert Parker 93+ "Scented of gunflint, toast, and petrichor to begin, the 2017 Chardonnay Dutton Ranch, grown in Goldridge soils, fleshes out slowly to savory notions of baked apple, pie-crust, spring honey, lemon curd, dried leaves, and quince peel. Medium-bodied, rounded, and textured with savory layers, it's lifted by juicy acidity and finishes long. I suspect this needs more time in bottle to flesh out and give all its got"
2017 Kistler, Stone Flat Vineyard, Sonoma Coast, Chardonnay JD 95 RP 95
Starts with balanced fruit and mineral nose with limestone predominating. I detected some apple on the nose, a tart green apple. It has a very smooth mouthfeel and on the taste is an apple and pear flavor profile and the fruit flavors are again tart. I also tasted a hint of vanilla.
95 points Jeb Dunnuck "The 2017 Chardonnay Stone Flat Vineyard comes from the Durell Vineyard as well but is from a selection of only 420a rootstock, which results in a slightly lower pH as well as slightly better yields. It’s not far off the Durell Vineyard and offers impressive caramelized citrus, white flowers, brioche, and pineapple. It’s fresh, vibrant, and ethereal, and has a great finish."
95 points Robert Parker's Wine Advocate "The Stone Flat Chardonnay is planted on the same soil as Durell—they are separated by a few feet—and picked at the same time," says winemaker Jason Kesner. "They're fermented in the same room and with the same barrel program, so the only difference between these two wines is the rootstock." The 2017 Chardonnay Stone Flat Vineyard has an uber-inviting nose with scents of honeycomb, peach cobbler, toasted hazelnut, quince, guava, and a classy framing of baking spice with underlying mineral notions. It's medium-bodied with intense, savory-laced ripe fruits knit by rocky notions and tangy acidity, finishing long and layered."
2017 Kistler, Hudson Vineyard, Carneros, Chardonnay RP 93 WS 93
Opens with a fruity nose of pear and apple with somewhat less tartness, more subdued so to speak. The taste follows with a lighter taste of apple and pear. Acid seems higher than the others to me here. Overall pleasant wine which should be food-friendly and a long smooth finish.
Robert Parker 93 "The 2017 Chardonnay Hudson Vineyard offers dried white flowers, toast, gunflint, and rocky notions to begin, opening out to baked apple, white peach, yogurt, and lemon peel. Medium-bodied, rounded and toasty in the mouth with youthfully restrained fruit, it has seamlessly woven, bright acidity and finishes very long and minerally."
Wine Spectator 93 "Well structured, featuring direct and focused white fruit flavors that offer hints of dried thyme. Finishes with vibrant minerality and rich acidity that linger on an elegant frame"
2015, Kistler, Durell Vineyard, Sonoma Coast, Chardonnay, served at dinner
Many years ago I was able to present and lecture on the 1997 vintage of Kistler wines. During that presentation, I made the comment that Steve Kistler was making the great "American Montrachet" as I still to this day feel Kistler wines come the closest to having the same taste profile of the great Montrachet vineyards in France. "Catherine Cuvee" has always been Kistler marquee top Chardonnay and it is always a triumph. But for me, the Durell vineyard wines are parallel to the "Catherine Cuvee". It is a rich powerful wine with an exceptional balance of fruit and mineral tastes and has a hint of lime and greenish coloration which seems to be present in the greatest Chardonnay's. It is the wine I most likely will drink on my death bed.
96 points Jeb Dunnuck "In the same ballpark, the 2017 Chardonnay Durell comes from a Sonoma Coast site and is a richer, fuller Chardonnay that offers lots of lemon curd, pineapple, and some orchard fruits as well as a kiss of smoky minerality. Medium-bodied, nicely textured, and beautifully balanced, the wine builds with time in the glass, displaying a beautiful mid-palate and a great finish. While it’s one of the richer wines in the lineup, it’s firmly in the new, racy, crisp style of the estate."
95 points Robert Parker's Wine Advocate "The 2015 Chardonnay Durell Vineyard opens with alluring lemon curd, green guava and ripe apricot notes with suggestions of allspice, coriander seed, almond croissant, and orange blossom. Medium to full-bodied, the palate has a seductive oiliness to the texture with loads of rich tropical fruit layers generously accented with baking spice notions, finishing very long."
My overall impression with just these wines was that Kistler Chardonnays were changing into more of a California style with more fruit-forward wines. They still retain their mineral tastes and smells but for a moment seems to get away from the Burgundian styles I had always associated with them where the mineral nose and taste predominates more. They also are going in the direction of lower alcohol and oak but that is consistent with the rest of the world, especially in Burgundy where that is exactly what they are doing today.
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