Sun-Scorched Quartz - Bacchus Unleashes Kistler McCrea Chardonnay 2016
Sun-Scorched Quartz - Bacchus Unleashes Kistler McCrea Chardonnay 2016
Bacchus, breaker of barrels and beast-tamer - recounts the high-noon sprint that locked a dragon’s molten breath inside Kistler’s 2016 McCrea and shows why this cult Chardonnay still glints with a 30 percent upside
How the mountain blazed into legend
Harvest noon, Sonoma Mountain baked under a sheet of white-gold glare. Heat mirages rippled over the vineyard when a milk-white dragon burst from a fissure of quartz, scales scattering sun-sparks across the vines. I dashed along the glowing seam, scarlet cloak snapping like a battle flag, and matched the beast stride for stride until it coiled beside Helen Turley’s open-air barrel room. With one thrust of my thyrsus the dragon exhaled a ribbon of liquid fire; I captured the stream in a rotating cask branded McCrea Chardonnay 2016. Pear, flint and sea-salt brioche erupted from the bung as I sealed a shard of sun-lit quartz into the stave. “Guard this light,” I swore, “and its value will climb as fast as we run.” The dragon vanished uphill in a flash of bone-white and gold, leaving only racing footprints and the promise of profit.
From mailing-list ember to secondary-market flame
Released in 2018 at $90-100, McCrea 2016 now fetches $140-180 retail and up to $190 in U.S. auctions, a 50-80 percent gain in six years despite thin trade volume. Monte-Carlo modelling of past Kistler runs sets a central $230 by 2028 – about +30 percent from today – though the forecast band widens whenever a single trio in original wood changes hands.
Why this white still burns bright
Kistler crafts McCrea like white Burgundy: native-yeast barrel ferment, 30-40 percent new French oak and long lees contact. Critics answered with 94-96-point praise, citing tangerine oil, crushed rock and hazelnut cream. Fewer than 1 000 cases left the ridge, and acidity from the near-perfect 2016 vintage will keep the wine vibrant well past 2028, layering honey and roasted almond onto its flinty core. Scarcity plus pedigree equals durable demand.
Investment ritual – three sparks to follow
- Strike below $150 a bottle or <$480 for OWC threes; those prices still surface in winter auctions and quieter web shops.
- Cellar at 55 °F – dragon-glass loves cool caverns, and so does a 14.1 percent Chardonnay.
- List during Burgundy allocation months – March and September – when Côte de Beaune shortages push Chardonnay collectors toward California’s brightest heights.
Last swallow of dragon-lit gold
The quartz shard still hums within that barrel, and on cloudless days the mountain flashes like a mirror to the sun. McCrea 2016 may never roar like Montrachet, yet its ascent is steady, its scarcity unbroken, and its legend tied to dragon fire and sprinting vines. Lay a few bottles beside your Corton-Charlemagne, wait for the next heat-wave of demand, and toast with me when Sonoma’s ridges blaze again.
