2016 Kistler Chardonnay Cuvée Cathleen
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Tasting notes
The 2016 Chardonnay Kistler Vineyard Cuvée Cathleen is laced with a whole range of floral and citrus notes. Today, I find the Cuvée nicely lifted, but also a bit diffuse and hard to read, with less of the precision that is typical. Perhaps bottle age will help things come together more fully. We will see.
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Jeb Dunnuck
Antonio Galloni, Vinous
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I suspect one of the greatest Chardonnays to come out of California, the 2016 Chardonnay Kistler Vineyard Cuvée Cathleen comes from a single block of broken shale soils and vines planted in 1993. They first made this cuvée in 2000. The tightest, most backward, and insanely pure in the lineup, with a liqueur of rocks like minerality, this incredible Chardonnay offers full-bodied richness, loads of apple and orchard fruits, complex floral and spice characteristics, vibrant and massive concentration. Despite being a rich, layered wine, it stays beautifully precise and focused on the palate, with a salty, marine-like character developing with time in the glass. It needs 2-3 years of bottle age and will cruise for a decade. There’s been a distinct style change at Kistler, with winemaker Jason Kesner purposely pulling back on the harvest dates and making a classic, age-worthy style of both Chardonnay and Pinot Noir. He’s done this without sacrificing depth, concentration, or richness, and these latest 2016s are truly brilliant wines.
The 2016 Chardonnay Cuvee Cathleen is quite reticent at this youthful stage, slowly revealing notes of lemon meringue pie, lime cordial, spiced pears and apple tart with touches of chalk dust, marzipan, brioche and acacia honey. Full-bodied, rich and decadent in the mouth, it has oodles of freshness lifting the tightly packed flavors with a very long, wonderfully layered finish.
About the producer
Kistler’s Chardonnays are some of the world’s most sought-after. This cult Californian producer crafts small volumes of exceptional, rich and generous, yet mineral and precise wines. With almost the entire production sold directly to their mailing list, the wines are also incredibly hard to find.