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Collectible California Chardonnay: Kistler, Aubert, Peter Michael

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California chardonnay has never been better. The tense, mineral wines from cooler sites have become exciting alternatives to Burgundy. And at the more full-bodied end of the spectrum, the clichés of the past are long gone. The wines are in-tune and focused. This week’s auction showcases top wines from both camps. Here are the best buys.

 

Kistler

No California producer has championed single-vineyard, terroir-driven Chardonnay more than Steve Kistler. His best wines are both opulent and savory, with lemony richness and a pronounced smoky minerality.

 

These two vineyards were some of Kistler’s earliest fruit sources, and I first tasted them back in the ‘90s. Lee Hudson's pristine vineyard in Carneros creates salty, lemony, focused wines. The warmer McCrea vineyard on Sonoma Mountain makes rounder wines with a hazelnut and honeysuckle character that reminds me of old-school Meursault.

2016 Kistler Hudson Vineyard Chardonnay $75

2016 Kistler McCrea Vineyard Chardonnay $75

 

Both the taut, focused Trenton Roadhouse and the more luxurious Vine Hill are very favorably priced here.
 
Across from the historic Durell Vineyard on the southern Sonoma Coast, Stone Flat typically makes the most chiseled wine in the Kistler lineup. As it’s priced here, it’s a can’t miss.
 
Aubert
Mark Aubert got his start working at Peter Michael as Helen Turley's assistant back in the ‘90s The style here is for ripe, layered wines masterfully supported by brisk acidity.
 
Just 6 miles from the Pacific on the extreme Sonoma Coast, the UV-SL (named for the vineyard manager Ulysses Valdez) is both ripe and intensely mineral.
 
Larry Hyde’s famous vineyard is Aubert’s coolest site for Chardonnay. The aromatic ‘21 is all about seashells and preserved lemons, and again, pricing is very sharp.
 
The Lauren Vineyard is in the foggy woods of the Russian River and the wine shows it. Creamy in texture but poised and defined.
 
Peter Michael
Since Sir Peter Michael founded the winery in the 1980s, it has been the source of some of California’s most concentrated, immaculately textured Chardonnays.
 
The Belle Cote - at nearly 2000 feet in elevation - is the single vineyard to ripen, often well into October. It’s the perfect window into the rich but lifted Peter Michael style.
 
The low yields of the Carriere vineyard produce a densely concentrated wine that needs 5-10 years to unpack and show its cards.
 
Mon Plaisir was the original estate vineyard, and has always been the most plush wine in the range. Ma Belle Fille is more exotic and tends to have intense jasmine blossom aromatics. You won't find a better iteration than the ‘21.
 
Happy bidding,

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