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Wine Description
The Story
We currently produce four vineyard designated Pinot Noirs. Each of these wines is crafted from the same clonal material; two small clustered low yielding clones that were imported from a Grand Cru vineyard in Burgundy which we began propagating over 20 years ago.
Our goal in crafting our Pinot Noirs is to capture the elusive Pinot character expressed in each of our exceptional coastal sites. We strive to produce elegant, harmonious wines which are impressive for their purity, balance, and lingering perfume. From these sites there is a progression of color and length of character as we move towards the coast.
This ridge-top vineyard looks to the coast in one direction and the Russian River Valley in the other. The Vineyard sits on layers of sandstone, granular sediments and some petrified wood and has been the source of the Kistler Vineyard Pinot Noir since 2006. A concentrated wine, with impressive energy to its red and black fruit flavors and subtle earth tones.
Vintage 2006
Rain, rain go away
The 2006 harvest finished in early November and will go down as a “grower’s year” as Napa Valley faced a variety of challenges from New Year flooding to spring’s continued wet weather that delayed budbreak. By early June, the sun came out and vines began to bloom and set fruit. In mid-July a record-setting 10-day heat wave struck, but canopies had not yet been thinned and young clusters were shaded from the hot sun. August’s cooler weather continued throughout harvest, allowing for moderately paced and deliberate ripening and a long harvest period. Rain came in the first week of October, but the white varieties were in and the black varieties were not damaged.