KISTLER VINEYARDS
Kistler is “patience, poise, and soil..” - Jason Kesner, President and Winemaker
In 1978 Steve Kistler quietly started making wines that he felt uniquely represented the vineyard sites they came from.. In today’s world, this idea isn’t new.. but in 1978’s fledgeling American wine industry, it was a very different story. Now 40+ years later the brand isn’t just stronger and more successful than ever, it continues to improve all the time... Among producers of Chardonnay and Pinot Noir Kistler is, without question, an American icon.
Improvements at Kistler come in many forms, but always share two things in common - the tweaks are small, and they happen slowly over many years. This kind of lilting evolution speaks to Kistler’s confidence in their history - they don’t seek big changes, instead searching for small ways to make what they already do work better, and better, and better.. The winemaking and grape growing methods at Kistler have been proven out over decades - they are simple, uncomplicated and effective..
This internal confidence was very transferrable to photography - because of the simplicity of Kistler’s approach, it was possible to distill the “elemental” building blocks of their processes in pictures. In addition to extensive documentary photography, a focus of the work was a series of lit, still-life “artifact” photographs of the building blocks of the process - soils, rootstocks, vine cuttings, grape clusters, tools, etc.. This made for a strong counterpoint to candids taken with a slightly grittier feel, incorporating motion, emotion, and lots of people. Also, as shown in the clip above, ambient audio was used to overlay a gallery of night harvest photographs creating a uniquely immersive web experience.
Photographing Kistler, which began in January 2018, will not likely be a “completable” project.. President and Winemaker Jason Kesner and his team are always finding small details to improve, and most importantly - new vineyard sites to celebrate.. More than 10 vineyard locations across the North Bay were chronicled just for this project, with new ones on the way. The amount of nuance is vast - for the current website alone, which launched in February of 2020, over 130 images were included - multiples more than any other project I have worked on. It’s an honor to be responsible for this important work.
www.kistlervineyards.com || Website Collaborator : Offset Partners || Sound + Video Editing Collaborator : Brittany Delph
