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  • Country ranking ?

    491
  • Producer ranking ?

    22
  • Decanting time

    1h
  • When to drink

    now to 2030
  • Food Pairing

    Poached Salmon with Green Sauce

The Tb points given to this wine are the world’s most valid and most up-to-date evaluation of the quality of the wine. Tastingbook points are formed by the Tastingbook algorithm which takes into account the wine ratings of the world's best-known professional wine critics, wine ratings by thousands of tastingbook’s professionals and users, the generally recognised vintage quality and reputation of the vineyard and winery. Wine needs at least five professional ratings to get the Tb score. Tastingbook.com is the world's largest wine information service which is an unbiased, non-commercial and free for everyone.

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The Story

Produced since 1986. Just shy of 1800 feet in elevation, in a small bowl on the western edge of the Mayacama mountains lies the original Kistler planting. Thirty year old vines grow dry farmed in deep red volcanic ash, producing a wine with an intense sense of the mountain heritage of the delicate stone fruit that is lifted, like its McCrea cousin, yet firmer, and with a stronger core and added layers of richness.

All of our ten vineyard designate Chardonnays are marked first and foremost by regional characteristics. Beyond that lies the personality of each of the vineyards from which they hail. All of the sites are planted to the same clone, a California heritage selection that we have been using for close to thirty years. Each wine is produced in the same fashion, with the focus being on the traditional techniques that elicit the earth driven, complex noble sulfides and resulting minerality inherent in the fruit from each site.

Each of our Chardonnay vineyards exhibits characters unique to the site, and hence unique to the wines bottled as vineyard designates. The bottling of wines of site is not a process we take lightly, as it is the main focus of our efforts.  We often take years to assess the quality and individual personality of a site prior to deciding to bottle it on its own. We have been working with many of these sites for well over twenty five years.

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Vintage 2008

The year 2008 reminded Napa Valley producers of the climate conditions their European colleagues often battle. The wild weather put the vineyards to the test and required more measures than usual to ensure an optimal harvest. Due to the exceptional weather conditions, the terroir played a significant role in shaping the character of the resulting wines. Some of the influencing factors were soil quality, vineyard-specific weather patterns, the age of vines and the farming methods used

.

After the extensive 2008 Napa Cabernet tasting, there were no great qualitative differences, however, as the wines at the tasting all represented some of the best that these top producers have to offer. Although the scores ranged between 86 and 96 points, the differences will even out through longer ageing, as the wines will reach their optimum drinkability within 10–15 years. It was wonderful to note that a great deal of the wines were characterised by a seductively succulent fruitiness, which made many of them enjoyable already – more than half of the wines have scored 90 or more points, despite their young age. Whereas the great 2007 vintage contains very refined and long-lived wines, the 2008 wines charmed tasters with their open and generous style, even though their best days are still far in the future.

 

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Latest Pro-tasting notes

<10 tasting notes

Tasting note

flavors

Vanilla, Toasty, New-oak, Nutty, Buttery and Citrus

taste

Medium-bodied and Fruity

Written Notes

Kistler Vineyard Chardonnay 2008 Huge nose filled with oaky flavors of roasted nuts, browned butter, spice, vanilla, clove, ripe citrus fruit, white flowers and hints of tropical fruit. Medium bodied with a ripe fruity attack on the citrusy side and tropical notes but with surprisingly lean mid palate that give away to a toasty finish with plenty of oak spice. Bit disjointed and feel a touch simple. Drink now-2016 89p.
  • 89p
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Information

Origin

California, California

Vintage Quality

Excellent

Value For Money

Very good

Investment potential

No Potential

Fake factory

None

Other wines from this producer

Chardonnay "Cuvée Cathleen"

Cuvée Catherine Chardonnay

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Dutton Ranch Chardonnay

Hudson Chardonnay

Hyde Vineyard Chardonnay

Kistler Vineyard Pinot Noir

McCrea Vineyard Chardonnay

Noisetieres Chardonnay

Parmelee-Hill Vineyard Stone Flat Chardonnay

Pinot Noir Cuvée Elizabeth

Russian River Valley Pinot Noir

Silver Belt Cuvée Natalie Pinot Noir

Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir

Sonoma Mountain Chardonnay

Stone Flat Chardonnay

Trenton Roadhouse Sonoma Coast Chardonnay

Vine Hill Chardonnay

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