Winemaker Notes
Steve Kistler's new Pinot Noir project from his 65 acres in the very cool-climate of the Sonoma Coast area is starting off with enormous potential and promise. These wines are primarily made from the Calera clone of Pinot Noir. He is able to achieve terrific ripeness and relatively low brix numbers, so alcohol-phobes among readers will be pleased to know that the alcohols of these wines run in the low range, between 13.6 to 14.2, yet the wines are very powerful, rich, concentrated and intense.
Professional Ratings
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Planted in 2000, fruit from the Bodega Headlands Vineyard was bottled by Kistler Vineyards (using the same Cuvée Catherine designation that it carries today) from 2004 until 2011, when the Occidental brand was created, and this 2011 Pinot Noir Bodega Headlands Vineyard Cuvée Elizabeth was crafted at the Kistler Vineyards winery in Forestville. In 2011, "it was rainy and cold out here,” Steve Kistler recalls. “It was a relatively poor set, so the crops were light anyway. We harvested on October 2, a later harvest out here.” It has a medium ruby-garnet color and dynamic aromas of red cherry, tobacco, aniseed, mushroom and foresty undertones. Its structural elements are beginning to soften, giving it a seamless feel, and its fleshy red fruit is accented by tertiary touches of mushroom and mint. It opens dramatically over time and will continue to evolve positively in bottle over the next decade or more.
The Sonoma Coast AVA is large in area but, not counting overlapping regions like Russian River Valley, only has a few thousand acres of grapevines—and it’s no wonder. Much of the region is rugged and not easily accessible. Its proximity to the Pacific Ocean’s fog and cool breezes limits the varieties that can be cultivated, but it proves to be an ideal environment for high quality Pinot Noir.
Since fog is a frequent fact of life here, as are heavy marine layers that sometimes bring rain, the best vineyards are wisely planted above the fog line, on picturesque ridges that capture enough sun to provide even ripening. That, with the overnight drop in temperature that reliably preserves acidity, results in fine expressions of Pinot Noir that often receive tremendous critic and consumer praise alike, and are often in high demand.