Kistler Vineyards is a family-owned

California wine California wine production has a rich viticulture history since 1680 when Spanish Jesuit missionaries planted ''Vitis vinifera'' vines native to the Mediterranean region in their established missions to produce wine for religious services. I ...

ry located in Northern

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

wine Wine is an alcoholic drink typically made from fermented grapes. Yeast consumes the sugar in the grapes and converts it to ethanol and carbon dioxide, releasing heat in the process. Different varieties of grapes and strains of yeasts are m ...

producing region of

Sonoma County Sonoma County () is a county (United States), county located in the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 United States Census, its population was 488,863. Its county seat and largest city is Santa Rosa, California, Santa Rosa. It is to the n ...

. According to ''

Food and Wine Magazine ''Food & Wine'' is an American monthly magazine published by Dotdash Meredith. It was founded in 1978 by Ariane and Michael Batterberry. It features recipes, cooking tips, travel information, restaurant reviews, chefs, wine pairings and se ...

'', their "biannual release of

Chardonnay Chardonnay (, , ) is a green-skinned grape variety used in the production of white wine. The variety originated in the Burgundy wine region of eastern French wine, France, but is now grown wherever wine is produced, from English wine, Englan ...

is one of the most sought after by wine enthusiasts" and Food and Wine Magazine's Wine Guide considers their Chardonnays the "Best of the Best" among "Star Producers"

History

Kistler was founded in 1978, and continues to be family owned and operated today. Until 2017 Kistler's winemaking was supervised by Steve Kistler, who studied creative writing at

Stanford University Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is consider ...

. Kistler also oversaw the vineyard work. Mark Bixler, who has a PhD in

Chemistry Chemistry is the science, scientific study of the properties and behavior of matter. It is a natural science that covers the Chemical element, elements that make up matter to the chemical compound, compounds made of atoms, molecules and ions ...

from the

University of California at Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant univ ...

ran the business and sales side of the winery as well as helping in the lab. In 2008, Kistler sold his majority stake in the company to the owner of Durell Vineyard, Bill Price. At that time they brought the Vineyard Manager from Hudson Vineyards in Carneros, Jason Kesner, as Steve's assistant winemaker, with the intention of a long transitional period. That plan came to fruition at the end of 2017 with Jason now overseeing all production, farming, and day-to-day business. In 2014, Kistler opened its very first tasting facility at its Trenton Roadhouse property - a 60 acre vineyard that features a 100+ year old renovated farmhouse and barn. It has been lauded as, "the best wine tasting experience in Sonoma/Napa".

Grape varieties and wine

In addition to Chardonnay, Kistler Vineyards also produces different bottlings of

Pinot noir Pinot Noir () is a red-wine grape variety of the species ''Vitis vinifera''. The name may also refer to wines created predominantly from pinot noir grapes. The name is derived from the French language, French words for ''pine'' and ''black.' ...

from different vineyards, like the nearby Occidental Station and Bodega Headlands and in prior vintages Terra de Promissio. Like the Chardonnay, the Pinot noir is modeled after the wines of the

Burgundy Burgundy (; french: link=no, Bourgogne ) is a historical territory and former administrative region and province of east-central France. The province was once home to the Dukes of Burgundy from the early 11th until the late 15th century. The c ...

region of

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

References

External links

Kistler Vineyard's Official Website
{{coord, 38, 27, 36, N, 122, 51, 37, W, region:US-CA_type:landmark, display=title 1978 establishments in California Wineries in Sonoma County, California