Laguna Ridge (formerly labelled as Kistler Vineyard) Pinot Noir has been bottled since 2006. This ridge-top vineyard looks to the coast in one direction and the Russian River Valley in the other.

Leaf pulling . . Thinning leaves from the vine’s canopy allows sunshine to reach the grapes to ripen them and allows airflow to prevent mold issues.

Tidying up. Harvest is around the corner. In addition to thinning the leaf canopy. Our vineyard crew will also drop some fruit leading up to harvest - this is done so that the vine can focus its energy on ripening grapes and maintain optimum concentration of flavor in the grapes

Watching closely . . As harvest is upon us, the vineyards are visited daily and samples taken, it is crucial that we pick our fruit at the perfect moment of ripeness.

Harvest has begun. It has been a long and overall mild growing season, the 2023 vintage continues its journey. #kistlervineyards #harvest2023

While you were sleeping. . . Harvesting at night allows for excellent acid retention and brightness of flavor

All hands on deck. . . . Kistler’s full-time vineyard crew allows us to capture the fruit at its peak ripeness.

A Nocturnal Operation . . . In addition to protecting the quality of the fruit, night harvesting allows our crew to avoid heat stress and fatigue.

“We just get good grapes…very good grapes” . . . The words of Mark Bixler, who cofounded Kistler Vineyards back in 1978 continue to echo into our future harvests reminding us that farming comes first.

Harvest in motion. . . . The harvest bins follow our crew around the vineyard ensuring a safe journey for this delicate fruit.

An entire years work leads up to this moment. . . . All of our fruit has been brought in the winery and continues its delicious journey.

Native Fermentations . . . All of our fermentations are done with the native yeasts that come in on the fruit, this enhances the characteristics of the individual sites.

Our Les Noisetiers Chardonnay is a multi-vineyard wine, compiled of lots from the Trenton Roadhouse, Dutton, Laguna Ridge and Vine Hill vineyards along with some younger Chardonnay plantings. There lies a common thread between all of those sites via their sandy Goldridge soils.

Planting with patience. . . . When planting a new vineyard or block, it is not uncommon for us to wait 10-15 years for a vineyard to show us that it is ready to be bottled on its own.

2021 Russian River Pinot Noir. . The young fruit offers a look into the future. It’s a medium bodied Pinot Noir brimming with bright red fruit tones, delicately perfumed aromatics, a shaved graphite-like minerality and a nuanced structure lent by well-balanced natural acids.

Human touch . . . A gentle touch defines our Pinot production, the cellar crew watches over it twenty-four hours a day.

Old school tricks create delicious treats . . We guide our fermentations with as little intervention as possible. Our entire process is designed to enhance the characters of the individual sites, relative to one another, to peel back further layers as opposed to leaving our mark.

Fall colors in wine country . . . #kistlervineyards #kistler #kistlerwines

We wish you all a very happy holiday season with your family and friends.

All time Pinot Kistler Vineyards