Kistler Sonoma Mountain Chardonnay 2022

All of the Kistler chardonnays are all made from a house isolated and propagated proprietary California heritage clone with its genesis originally out of a grand Cru Burgundy vineyard. Nothing to dismiss to be sure and its Sonoma Mountain host features east facing slopes with red volcanic and fine-grained chalky soils. The combination of basaltic and chardonnay is really quite unique to and for California – this means something unnamed, unspoken and beautifully mysterious as it pertains to Kistler. This perhaps comes across like Bourgogne from say vintage 2005, warm, fulsome, creamy and in the end punched by piques of seasoning, spice and trenchant caramelization. Wholly singular, expensive and for good reason, inclusive of inflation but also because research, experimentation, acumen and work ethic count for something. A lot actually and if you have the coin then this is California chardonnay you can’t afford to miss. Drink 2024-2030. Tasted October 2024. Score – 94. (Michael Godel, winealign.com)