2012 Occidental Pinot Noir SWK Vineyard
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Tasting notes
As good as the Cuvée Catherine is, there is another Occidental Pinot that is also profound. The 2012 Pinot Noir SWK Vineyard also comes from his 65 acres planted in Occidental. This is a 1,000-case cuvée from a site that sits above the Bodega Headlands Vineyard. With a dark ruby color like its siblings, it is made from 100% Calera and sees only about 30% new French oak. This wine offers a copious mouthful of red, blue and black fruits, medium to full body, terrific acidity, and intense black raspberry and black cherry fruit along with spring flowers, forest floor and spice box. This is a stunning, super-complex, compelling Pinot Noir to drink over the next decade or more.
Critic scores
Robert Parker
Antonio Galloni, Vinous
More reviews and scores
The 2012 Pinot Noir SWK Vineyard, from a parcel just above Bodega Headlands, is the wine where all of the concepts Kistler is developing at Occidental converge. Vertical, structured and explosive on the palate, the SWK is built on a serious core of minerality. Graphite, smoke, violets and a host of mineral-inflected notes hit the palate in an intense, saline Pinot that is going to need time to fully come together. Today, the SWK is totally crystalline and nuanced, but it is also very, very young and in need of time in bottle.
About the producer
Steve Kistler is a man who needs little introduction. He founded, and – for almost 40 years – made the wines at, Kistler. Since leaving his eponymous estate in 2017, Kistler has been focused exclusively on Occidental, his new, family winery on the outer edges of the Sonoma Coast.