Kistler is a single clone chardonnay house...
One heritage Californian selection of Chardonnay planted across fifteen vineyards, from Carneros to Sonoma Valley, to the Russian River Valley and Sonoma Coast. From those sites we produce eleven vineyard designate Chardonnays. We are wholly dedicated to the ideal of wines of site. It’s an unparalleled approach in the new world.
We’ve been working with and on this singular clone of Chardonnay since the mid 1980’s. Its parent material was imported from Burgundy in the early part of the 20th century. Its long history in California means that it has been selected for and by California farmers and winemakers over decades to ripen well in Californian growing conditions. We’ve gone through further selections of the clone over the years, honing in and propagating based on the characters that we find the most compelling; low yields, small berries, great concentration in the fruit and its distinct ability to retain its natural acidity during the ripening process.
...we also make a little bit of Pinot Noir.
Two heritage selections of Pinot Noir inform all of our Pinot Noirs. Originally hailing from a Grand Cru vineyard in Burgundy, we’ve been propagating these two selections for the last twenty-five years. They, like our Chardonnay clone are very low yielding, resulting in wines with a natural density and concentration of flavor, balanced by elegant natural acids and elevated aromatics.
Our approach to Pinot Noir is very similar to Chardonnay but we have two clones. For the last 25 years we’ve been working on selecting which of the two we preferred and we finally came to the conclusion that the answer was both. We’ve been planting our newer Pinot Noir Vineyards with a field mix of the two selections of late, giving deference to neither and laying the groundwork for our next generation of Pinot Noirs to be as transparent to site, and their relativity to each other, as are our Chardonnays. Both selections are marked by very low yields, small berries, great concentration and color in the fruit and a propensity to hold their natural acids during ripening.