2023 Durrell VY Sonoma Valley
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Tasting notes
The 2023 Chardonnay Durell Vineyard has slowly unfurling scents of white fruit, honey, freshly baked bread, roasted almonds and dried jasmine flowers. The full-bodied palate is concentrated and satiny, though its flavors are youthfully coiled at this early stage. It’s balanced by linear acidity and has a long, savory finish. It gains amplitude and expression as it airs in the glass and will reward several years in the cellar.
Critic scores
Jeb Dunnuck
Antonio Galloni, Vinous
More reviews and scores
From the Sonoma Valley, the 2023 Chardonnay Durell Vineyard is focused and bright, with notes of lime candies, green pear, and flinty stones. The palate is full and elegant and floats on the palate, with a long, elegant feel and a tapered finish with delicate incense. The midpalate shows the depth of this site, but it’s a more floating wine in this vintage. Drink 2025-2035. Located in the Russian River Valley, Kistler is led today by winemaker Jason Kesner, who continues the long tradition of working from a singular clone of Chardonnay with Burgundian lineage that Steve Kistler, now of Occidental Wines, began in the 1980s. The wines for this report were tasted at the winery this spring.
The 2023 Chardonnay Durell Vineyard is a dense, potent wine. Apricot, dried pear, chamomile dried herbs and tangerine peel stain the palate. A hint of truffle adds an exotic flair to this wonderfully creamy, deep Chardonnay. The Durrell is marked by a distinct phenolic character that is the result of tiny berries. What a beauty.
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.
Product details
White