2016 Kistler Chardonnay Durell Vineyard
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Tasting notes
The 2016 Chardonnay Durell Vineyard offers lovely brightness and a distinctly citrus-driven and floral profile to match its airy, weightless personality. A wine of total grace and finesse, the Durell is positively brilliant and refined today.
Critic scores
Jeb Dunnuck
Antonio Galloni, Vinous
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Sensational notes of apple blossom, white flowers, and tart pineapple emerge from the 2016 Chardonnay Durrell. It’s medium-bodied, fresh and lively, with an incredible sense of balance and purity. As with all these releases from Kistler, it’s a complete, layered, age-worthy effort that needs short-term cellaring. 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.
Slightly closed at this youthful stage, the 2016 Chardonnay Durell Vineyard slowly unfurls to reveal pineapple, pink grapefruit and lemon curd scents with underlying notions of baking bread, chopped almonds, chalk dust and allspice. Medium to full-bodied, the palate is beautifully poised between intense tropical and citrus flavors and fantastic tension, featuring a long, silken-textured 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.