06/17/2026
The wine industry in the USA might not have the lengthy history of some other top regions in the world, but its learning curve has been impressive. America has been well recognized for a few decades in producing some of the greatest expressions of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, and Chardonnay in the world. With a grape like Pinot Noir, for the longest time it seemed like the gap in quality between our wines and regions like Burgundy in France was impossibly vast; however, thanks to the work of passionate, intrepid growers across Santa Barbara, Monterey, Sonoma, and Oregon this is not so much the case anymore. One of those trailblazing producers is Kistler Vineyards and their 2023 Russian River Pinot Noir is an excellent embodiment of the potential of American Pinot.
None of the Kistler wines are easy-to-access on the retail market, but their Pinot Noirs are a greater challenge to find than their Chardonnays. This week I was able to snag a few cases of a beautiful iteration of their Russian River Pinot bottling. To me this wine does not just represent the winery’s impressive legacy, it also delivers the type of concentration and presence so many hope for in the Russian River Valley AVA. Quite simply, this wine is stunning and is well worth the splurge.
