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CASE PRICE = $49.99 per bottle (add 12+ quantity to your basket)

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Notes from the Winemaker:

The Kistler plantings on Sonoma Mountain, situated on a hillside bench perfectly suited for growing world class Chardonnay, are interlaced with the rare combination of red volcanic and fine grained chalky soils.  These are east facing terraced vineyards, shadowed from the afternoon sun by giant redwoods.  This is a remarkable marriage of site and orientation to the cooler trendings of the valley below. The vineyards are planted to California Heritage clones that we have selected for specifically over the last 30 years to ripen to our balanced wine standards. They are some of the oldest Chardonnay vineyards in Sonoma County. When coupled with the selections in the vineyard the textbook growing conditions afford a wine that is decidedly Sonoma Mountain in character.  Annually some of our earliest vineyard pickings each year, this is a wine driven by a grounded, focused mineral core yet lifted by striking ethereal tones of vibrant light fruit raised at elevation.

Winemaking:
100% Chardonnay
Whole cluster pressed
100% malolactic fermentation in barrel
40% new 3 year air dried French oak barrels, 60% one year old barrels
Aged Sur Lie 11 months
Bottled without filtration or fining on Nov 11, 2010.

Tasting Notes:  
Green-tinged pale yellow. Complex aroma of tangerine, powdered stone and green citrus. Tightly wound and bracing throughout, dominated by its chalky mineral side. Precise and intense with uncommon energy that lifts it from the glass. Penetrating finish coats the palette with flavors of lime blossom and chalk in the tradition of great Chablis.

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