Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Jeb Dunnuck
The 2018 Chardonnay Kistler Vineyard Cuvee Cathleen comes from slightly younger vines (planted in the 1990s) and is on the east side of this windy vineyard and gets more afternoon sun. This cuvée is always a riper, more opulent wine compared to the straight Kistler Vineyard release, and the 2018 is no exception, yielding incredible notes of Meyer lemon, nectarines, honeysuckle, grilled bread, and liquid rock-like minerality. One of those wines that offers incredible richness yet not a hint of heaviness, it's full-bodied, has a stacked mid-palate, gorgeous acidity, and a monster of a finish. Give bottles 2-4 years of bottle age, count yourself lucky, and enjoy over the following 15-20 years.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2018 Chardonnay Cuvée Cathleen opens slowly on the nose, with toast, iodine and flint to begin, segueing to aromas of apple pie, quince paste, honeycomb, hazelnuts, pastry and loads upon loads of floral nuances. Medium-bodied, it explodes in the mouth, uber silky and packing in more flavor than seems possible, which lingers and is then refreshed by tangy acidity and rocky minerality, finishing extraordinarily long with continually developing flavors. Unbelievable!
Rating: 97(+) -
Wine Spectator
Sculpted and refined, with a silky texture to the well-structured white fruit and spice flavors that are supported by rich acidity. Shows light creaminess midpalate, with a lingering plushness on the toasty finish. Drink now through 2027.
One of the most popular and versatile white wine grapes, Chardonnay offers a wide range of flavors and styles depending on where it is grown and how it is made. While it tends to flourish in most environments, Chardonnay from its Burgundian homeland produces some of the most remarkable and longest lived examples. California produces both oaky, buttery styles and leaner, European-inspired wines. Somm Secret—The Burgundian subregion of Chablis, while typically using older oak barrels, produces a bright style similar to the unoaked style. Anyone who doesn't like oaky Chardonnay would likely enjoy Chablis.
Perhaps the most historically significant appellation in Sonoma County, the Sonoma Valley is home to both Buena Vista winery, California's oldest commercial winery, and Gundlach Bundschu winery, California's oldest family-run winery.
It is also one of the more geologically and climactically diverse districts. The valley includes and overlaps four distinct Sonoma County sub-appellations, including Carneros, Moon Mountain District, Sonoma Mountain and Bennett Valley. With mountains, benchlands, plains, abundant sunshine and the cooling effects of the nearby Pacific, this appellation can successfully produce a wide range of grape varieties. Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, Cabernet Sauvignon, Gewürztraminer, and most notably, Zinfandel all thrive here. Ancient Zinfandel vines over 100 years old produce small crops of concentrated, spicy fruit, which in turn make some of the Valley's most unique wines. These can also be made as “field blends” (wines made from a mix of grape varieties grown in the same vineyard) along with Petite Sirah, Carignan and Alicante Bouschet.