Kistler Vineyards
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Kistler Vineyards is a family owned winery located in Northern California's famous wine producing region of Sonoma County. It was family-founded in 1978, and continues to be family owned and operated today. Kistler's winemaking is supervised by Steve Kistler, vineyard founder, and Mark Bixler, vineyard chemist. Perhaps Kistler's most famous wine is its Dutton Ranch Chardonnay. Made with grapes from the notorious Dutton ranch, this celebrated Chardonnay is fashioned after the white wine made from the Chardonnay grapes of the Burgundy region of France. Many other varieties of Chardonnay are produced by the vineyard as well. In addition to Chardonnay, Kistler Vineyards also produces varietals of Pinot Noir. Like the Chardonnay, the Pinot Noir is modeled after the red wines of the Burgundy region of France, which are also made with Pinot Noir grapes. Kistler's Pinot Noir and Chardonnay have been touted as being remarkably similar to their counterparts among the famous Burgundy wines.
A small vineyard whose production only recently topped 25,000 cases per year, prices for a bottle of wine from the vineyard traditionally range from $60-$90 per bottle. While not as expensive as other wines from Northern California, Kistler wines have slowly worked become acknowledged within the wine industry. The 1999 vintage of the Cuvee Cathleen Chardonnay was given a 100 by the Wine Advocate, and received more national publicity with a brief cameo appearance in the critically acclaimed comedy Sideways, which satirically explored the world of wine-tasting.
