Kistler was founded in 1978 by Steve Kistler in Sonoma, California. While Steve left the business to work on Occidental, his partner Bill Price bought out his shares in 2017. Kistler is known for using a single California heritage clone of Chardonnay and planting it across 11 different vineyard sites in Carneros, Sonoma Valley, Russian River Valley and Sonoma Coast. The Chardonnay Les Noisetiers is a multi-vineyard blend from the Sonoma Coast made especially for restaurants. It is barrel fermented and is rich and Meursault like in style with a complex smoky aroma of ripe citrus fruit with a hint of noisette on the finish. Their Sonoma Mountain Chardonnay comes from multiple blocks of their McCrea vineyard on red volcanic soils. This results in a wine that is ripe and fruit forward meant for immediate drinking. The Kistler Pinot Noirs are both multi-vineyard blends. The Pinot Noir grapes are picked in the night and 100% destemmed. Gentle stirring is used so not to extract harsh tannins and only free run wine is put into barrel for maturation. The wines have typically 25-30% new oak depending on the vintage. Both the Sonoma Coast and Russian River Pinot Noirs are made for restaurants. The Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir is more restraint in its youth but is a complex wine with the ability to develop over 10 years in the bottle. The Russian River Pinot Noir exhibits black cherry and flint. It needs less time in bottle and will age beautifully in 5-7 years.
