Kistler Vineyards was founded in 1978 by the Kistler family. The first vintage in 1979 produced 3,500 cases of wine and since then the winery has slowly grown to the planned production level of about 25,000 cases per year.
Steve Kistler received a B.A. from Stanford University, studied at U.C. 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 prior to founding Kistler Vineyards with Steve. Mark oversees the lab work and is the business manager for Kistler Vineyards.
Jason Kesner joined Kistler Vineyards in the summer of 2008. Jason managed Hudson vineyards from 2000-2008, the source of one of our finest wines. Jason serves as the assistant winemaker, and helps to oversee the vineyard operations.
Ed Hogan joined Kistler Vineyards in 2009. After working in his family’s retail wine business, working his way through the wine regions of France and playing key roles in the Winespell wine brokerage, Henry Wine Group and Pahlmeyer, Ed now serves as Director of National Sales for Kistler Vineyards.