2023 Kistler Chardonnay Hyde Vineyard
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Tasting notes
The 2023 Chardonnay Hyde Vineyard is youthfully coiled on the nose, its fruit tucked behind a wispy curtain of matchstick. The medium-bodied palate is much more open at this stage, offering highly concentrated, peach and citrus flavors and a luxe, satiny texture. It’s balanced by firm, focused acidity and has a very long, mineral-driven finish. It’s dynamic, continually changing and shifting in the glass, and it should be long lived in the cellar.
Critic scores
Jeb Dunnuck
Antonio Galloni, Vinous
More reviews and scores
Also from Carneros, the 2023 Chardonnay Hyde Vineyard takes things to another level in the range with reduction spice, a savory salinity, preserved lemon, orange blossom. and sherbet. It’s long on the palate, with full-bodied richness, although it has mouthwatering, fresh acidity. It’s a very impressive vintage of this wine that’s in a league of its own. Drink over the coming 10-12 years. 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 Hyde Vineyard is laced with apricot, dried herbs, chamomile and light tropical inflections. I find the reductive note here overpowering. It will be interesting to see what time brings. Tasted again after a decanting and 24 hours of air, the 2023 fills out nicely, softening some of the reductive edge. I find the Hyde to be a bit of a question mark, as its balance is on the razor's edge. It's a 50/50 bet as to whether that reduction will dissipate or get stronger over time. There is something that is so alluring about the 2023, but readers need to know what to expect.
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.