Steve Kistler and Mark Bixler believed that remarkable and charactered Chardonnays of site could in fact be grown and produced in California. It was a notion ahead of its time. For the last forty years we’ve been pursuing that notion without compromise. Bill Price, longtime owner of Durell Vineyards purchased an interest in Kistler Vineyards from Steve in 2008. Jason Kesner joined Steve in the cellar in 2008 in order to begin to lay the groundwork for the next forty years. Steve retired from Kistler Vineyards at the end of 2017.
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.
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.
All of our Chardonnays are fermented in our subterranean barrel chais, where the native yeast and various biological patinas rule the ecology. Hand stacked french cooperage that we purchase as wood and have air dry aged in St. Romain where it is crafted into barrels three years later, houses all of the wines.
There’s no leeway for even a single barrel being a quarter inch out of line in our fermentation rooms. They have to be perfectly in line, every one, to set the tone and expectation for every move we make in the cellar.
We guide our fermentations with as little intervention as possible. Our entire process is designed to enhance the characters of the individual sites, relative to one another, to peel back further layers as opposed to leaving our mark on the wine. Our fermentations are conducted solely with native yeasts, at moderately cool temperatures and with little to no machination of the fruit.
A gentle touch defines our approach to Pinot Noir. We watch, and take notes, and guide more than we overtly act, or intervene. We've worked all year in the vineyard for this fruit. At the winery we simply usher it through its fermentations and into barrel as delicately as we can.
We farm the majority of our acreage ourselves. But we wouldn’t be where we are without our growers and the nature of our relationships with them goes back to our beginnings in the late 70’s.
We don’t buy fruit in the traditional sense, instead we plant in partnership with our growers, selecting the best soils, and working very closely together on the establishment and raising of those vines with our heritage clones. The youngest relationship amongst our growers dates to 1994 when we began bottling both our Hudson and Hyde bottlings from the Carneros region.
They may have vines already in the ground, but it takes generations of working with a site to truly understand its best and highest potential. If there is one thing you have to take from the old world it’s most certainly that. In our winemaker Jason’s words: “We’ll be tasting at the winery and I’ll ponder aloud how great some of these sites will be in a hundred years. Some of our people will look at me like I’m crazy but isn’t that what we’re doing now, learning things that will be built upon for the making of the wines then?”.
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Franz Prager, co-founder of the Vinea Wachau, had already earned a reputation for his wines when Toni Bodenstein married into the family. Bodenstein’s passion for biodiversity and old terraces, coupled with brilliant winemaking, places Prager in the highest echelon of Austrian producers.
Smaragd is a designation of ripeness for dry wines used exclusively by members of the Vinea Wachau. The wines must have minimum alcohol of 12.5%. The grapes are hand-harvested, typically in October and November, and are sent directly to press where they spontaneously ferment in stainless-steel tanks.
Zwerithaler is a sub-site of Buschenberg and sits to the east of Weißenkirchen. The name Zwerithaler, meaning "nestled between the valleys," is a near monopole of Weingut Prager. It has a complex soil of paragneiss with alternating layers of dark and calcareous rock. Zwerithaler Kammergut is a 0.34-hectare parcel planted before WWI. The wine from these ungrafted, 100-year-old vines was bottled separately by Prager for the first time in 2015.
Light greenish yellow, silver reflections. Fine savory, delicate nuances of anise, tobacco notes, delicate yellow fruit, a touch of mango and honey blossom. Full-bodied, juicy white apple fruit, well-integrated, silky acidity structure, finesse and long persistence, saline finish, lingers for minutes, Veltliner at its best.
-Falstaff 99 Points
"The aromas of this old-vine gruner veltliner leap out and shake you to the core. Full-bodied and full of weighty and balanced layers of papayas, mangoes, nectarines, chives, white tea and oranges. Fantastic concentration, giving so much pleasure already, but it will keep blossoming if you give it time. From vines planted in 1907. Sustainable. Drink or hold."
-James Suckling 98 Points
Laurent-Perrier Grand Siecle No. 26 is a blend of 58% Chardonnay, 42% Pinot Noir
white gold in color with delicate and persistent bubbles, Grand Siecle No. 26 offers a very complex nose which mixes honeysuckle, lemon, clementine and fresh butter aromas, followed by notes of hazelnut and a touch of honey. The feel in the mouth is very delicate and fresh with candied lemon and fresh hazelnut aromas. The palate is silky and mineral with notes of honeysuckle, flaked almonds and clementine.
It pairs with high quality produce and refined dishes, including shellfish, noble fish and white meats such as Thai style langoustine tartare and fine roasted poultry.
Vintage in Champagne is usually synonymous with excellence for Prestige Cuvées. Contrarily, Laurent‑Perrier believes that only the art of assemblage can offer what nature can never provide, that is, the perfect year.
The expression of the perfect year is that of a great champagne wine that has long ageing potential and over time develops depth, intensity and aromatic complexity yet retains its freshness and vibrancy.
Since 1959, Grand Siècle has been revealed only 26 times in bottle format and 23 times in magnum.
The « Grand Siècle » (Great Century) is the name given to one of the most prosperous periods (17th century) in the history of France known for the capacity of man, through his works, to create what nature cannot. Louis XIVth, known as the « Sun King », by creating the « Château de Versailles » and its gardens, was the architect of this model of harmony, balance and perfection.
The symmetry and perspective of the « Jardins à la française », the capacity to grow Mediterranean fruits (especially Oranges inside the « Orangerie ») in such a Northern climate, creating the Grand Canal, the fountains and ponds with no nearby rivers are many illustrations of this ability of man to sublimate natural elements. The name of Grand Siècle was chosen for Laurent‑Perrier’s Prestige Cuvée based on this common vision to reach a perfection that Nature, on its own, cannot provide.
Review:
This is really something. Electric on the palate. The aromas are so complex with sliced fresh and dried ginger, subtle pie crust, tarte tatin and hints of nutmeg with some salted caramel. Toasted bread, too. Always subtle. The palate is full- to medium-bodied yet hemmed-in with a freshness and balance that draws you back. Savory and vibrant. It's full of energy. Spectacular. Fascinating. Symphonic blend of 2012, 2008 and 2007. 65% of the 2012, 25% of the 2008 and 10% of the 2007. Eight grand cru. Chardonnay 58% and 42% pinot noir. Disgorged February 2023. 10 years on the lees. 7g/L dosage.
-James Suckling 100 Points