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Kistler Pinot Noir Cuvée Catherine Kistler Vineyard(2003)

Kistler Chardonnay is made using traditional French techniques, with the winemaker himself performing the cellar work on the wines. Kistler Chardonnay has a distinct character. It is completely barrel-fermented using indigenous and cultured yeasts, is aged in 50% new French oak barrels unracked and in contact with all its fermentation lees, has undergone a malolactic fermentation, receives minimal handling and processing, and is bottled unfiltered and, generally, unfined after 11-18 months of barrel age.

Our low-yielding (pruned and thinned to yield about two tons per read more...
Allen Meadows
Burghound
Issue 23, 3rd Quarter, 2006
88/100
September 2007
The most aromatically complex of this group with its attractive mix of red and black fruit aromas, oak nuances and hints of spice that introduce round, sweet and delicious flavors that possess somewhat better balance despite the presence of ample extraction, it doesn't compromise the sense of harmony. While this won't win any awards for elegance or finesse, this too is interesting in a rustic, robust sort of way.
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Stephen Tanzer
International Wine Cellar
Issue 126, May/June 2006
93(+?)
September 2007
($90; all from a single vineyard planted in shallow soil on rolling hillsides; this wine will be labeled Occidental Station beginning with the 2004 release) Deep ruby-red. Pungent aromas of black raspberry and pepper; less fruity today than the Kistler Vineyard example. Then denser and thicker in the mouth, if not quite as sharply delineated as the Kistler Vineyard bottling. Offers a very pure flavor of dark raspberry and a chewy impression of extract. Wonderfully ripe but with a nicely restrained sweetness. This has terrific fruit.
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Robert Parker
The Wine Advocate
Issue 157
94-96
September 2007
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James Laube
Wine Spectator
85/100
September 2007
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Wine Advocate # 157
Feb-05
(94-96)
April 2008
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