2016 Chardonnay Kistler Vineyard

The 2016 Chardonnay Kistler Vineyard, from Steve Kistler's original vineyard on Moon Mountain, shows a real sense of hillside structure in its deep, phenolic personality. There is a feeling of real textural depth and substance that runs through the KV. A whole range of citrus, floral and savory notes give the wine its distinctive character. There is just so much going on. In 2016, I have a slight preference for the KV over the Cuvée Cathleen, which emerges from a separate part of the property.

Another borderline perfect Chardonnay from this estate is the 2016 Chardonnay Kistler Vineyard, which tastes almost identical to the Cuvée Cathleen, only slightly less intense. Killer white flower, citrus blossom, orchard fruits, and salty minerality all flow to a medium to full-bodied, ultra-pure, precise, and elegant Chardonnay. With a little less minerality, yet a similar textural richness and depth, give it a year or two, count yourself lucky, and enjoy over the following decade.

The 2016 Chardonnay Kistler Vineyard opens with complex savory and earthy notes of yeast extract, baking bread, toasted almonds, crushed rocks and sandy soil with a core of warm grapefruit, preserved lemons, kumquats and nectarines plus a waft of oyster shell. Medium to full-bodied, super intense and tight-knit in the mouth, it has tons of earthy/savory layers and a long mineral and steel-laced finish.