The 2018 Chardonnay Vine Hill Vineyard offers lush aromas of yellow peaches, saline, crushed hazelnuts, wet hay and notes of dried flowers and honeycomb appearing with time in the glass. In the mouth, it has a medium weight, ultra silky texture and expansive flavor layers, framed by addicting juiciness and finishing extraordinarily long. What a stunner!

One of my favorites in the lineup was the 2018 Chardonnay Vine Hill Vineyard. Another pure, flawlessly balanced 2018. It reveals a medium gold hue along with captivating notes of caramelized apple, lemon curd, honeyed flowers, and salty, rocky minerality, racy acidity, and a great, great finish. California Chardonnay doesn’t get much better! Give bottles 2-4 years and enjoy over the following decade or more.

The 2018 Chardonnay Vine Hill Vineyard is another stellar wine in this range. The natural richness of these 30+-year-old vines on AxR rootstock comes through loud and clear. Lemon confit, butter, spice, apricot and lightly honeyed notes all grace this wonderfully inviting, Chardonnay. The Vine Hill, from the Kistler winery property in the Russian River Valley, is another wine that eloquently captures the essence of site.