Is there another winery in California that is been so successful without any marketing whatsoever, no public relations to speak of, no public tastings, no tasting room, absolutely nothing to suggest the owners have any interest in their consumer base? Probably the success has come through Robert Parker, Jr., who is one of the privileged few to be able to taste Kistler's wines and anoints them as royalty. That is not to say the wines are not worthy. The Chardonnays go through 100% MLF, are barrel fermented and come out the other side very buttery and appealing, although their greatest attribute is as a sipping wine and not primarily a food-friendly wine. My wife and I adore the Chardonnays. The Pinot Noirs early on were highly extracted and heavily oaked, appealing to Parker's palate, but off-putting to many others especially in light of the high prices that were demanded. The winemaking style for the Pinot Noirs has mellowed in recent years to the benefit of the wines.

Not much is revealed publicly about the winery but production is probably around 25,000 cases of Pinot Noir and Chardonnay annually. Almost all of the wine is sold through a mailing list with allocations based on years of customer loyalty and volume of customer purchases. The list is almost ruthless in that those who do not regularly buy in significant amounts soon suffer the consequences of scrawny allowances. These are wines for only the well-to-do as they start at $70 a bottle and go up from there. The minimum purchase from each twice-yearly offering is one case.

The winery was founded in 1978 and the first several years were rocky with some serious winemaking problems Since then, success has come quickly and today all of the wine is quickly snapped up. The proprietors are Steve Kistler and Mark Bixler. Steve Kistler received a B.A. from Stanford University, studied at University California Davis and Fresno State University for two years, and was an assistant at Ridge Vineyards for two years before founding Kistler Vineyards. He serves as winemaker and oversees vineyard operations. Mark Bixler received degrees from M.I.T. and U.C. Berkeley, taught Chemistry at Fresno State University for seven years, and worked at Fetzer Vineyards for two years. Mark shares winemaking responsibilities, and is the chemist and business manager for Kistler Vineyards.

The grape sources include some of the finest vineyards in Napa and Sonoma Counties. After years of planning, a new winery was built at the Kistler's Vine Hill Vineyard in the Russian River Valley in 1992. The facility is state of the art, optimized for the production of limited quantities of the very highest quality Chardonnay and Pinot Noir. The wines are only sold through a mailing list and the secondary market (which is extensive indicating many buyers purchase, but do not drink the wines, opting instead to sell them for a handsome profit).

The Pinot Noirs come from Kistler Vineyard in the Russian River Valley, and Occidental Station and Bodega Headlands on the Sonoma Coast.