Winemaker Notes
The 2016 Freestone-Occidental posses the energy, precision, and purity of flavor that gives all of Occidental wines lift and perfume, along with the deeper soil tones that contribute to their complexity. Remarkably vivid and beautifully layered, this wine shows elegance and great overall balance. It is delicious now and will develop nicely in bottle.
Professional Ratings
-
Jeb Dunnuck
Possessing a great nose of black raspberries, kirsch, violet, and forest floor, the 2016 Pinot Noir Freestone-Occidental is bright and juicy, with elegance and beautiful purity of fruit. Showing fine tannins, a lovely floral quality, integrated acidity, and a great finish, this is pure class.
-
Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Pale to medium ruby-purple, the 2016 Pinot Noir Freestone-Occidental has a bright, open nose of warm cranberry, rhubarb and pomegranate with raspberry and red cherry preserves plus notes of saline, orange peel, autumn leaves, rose petal and stone. Light to medium-bodied, it's packed with juicy red, perfumed fruits in the mouth, with very fine, softly grainy tannins and juicy freshness, finishing long and focused. There's a unique coastal signature to this very pretty wine.
-
Decanter
Made with 100% destemmed grapes, this Pinot Noir is pale coloured with aromas of raspberry, cherry and cranberry with a slight herbal hint of dried mint. Silky tannins and bright acidity give a delicate, ethereal polish. Occidental is the Pinot-only project from Steve Kistler, purchased in 1999 and comprising of 11ha.
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.