Founded in 2011 by Steve Kistler, the longtime Kistler Vineyards principal, Occidental is a tightly focused Pinot Noir house on a southwest-facing ridge in the Freestone-Occidental area east of Bodega. Three estate vineyards feed five single-vineyard bottlings, allocated by mailing list and vinified by Kistler with daughters Catherine and Elizabeth.
Occidental is Steve Kistler's coastal Pinot Noir project, founded in 2011 after more than three decades of work at Kistler Vineyards. Kistler began planting in the Freestone-Occidental area in the late 1990s — buying the Bodega Headlands property in 1999 and the adjacent Bodega Ridge parcel in 2008 — and now farms roughly 85 acres of estate Pinot Noir on a southwest-facing ridge overlooking the Pacific. Three vineyards anchor the program: Bodega Headlands and Occidental Station (planted in the early 2000s) and the SWK parcel. The family lives on the Bodega Headlands property, and Kistler's daughters Catherine and Elizabeth — for whom two of the cuvées are named — work alongside him.
Freestone-Occidental Pinot Noir, Sonoma Coast — The flagship blend of all three estate vineyards; delicate, deep, and elegant (~95 points).
Bodega Headlands Cuvée Elizabeth Pinot Noir, Sonoma Coast — A single-vineyard bottling from the coast-facing headlands, named for Steve Kistler's daughter.
Occidental Station Cuvée Catherine Pinot Noir, Sonoma Coast — From the inland ridge Kistler planted in 1998; riper and more generous.
SWK Vineyard Pinot Noir, Sonoma Coast — A site-specific expression from the estate plantings.
Occidental is Kistler Vineyards founder Steve Kistler's Pinot-only project — 85 acres of Vosne-Romanée selections on the windswept Bodega headlands.
The portfolio is Pinot Noir only: a Freestone-Occidental Sonoma Coast bottling and four to five single-vineyard cuvées (Bodega Headlands Cuvée Elizabeth, Occidental Station Cuvée Catherine, SWK, Running Fence) — each picked at modest Brix, fermented with native yeasts and varying whole-cluster proportions, basket pressed, and bottled unfined and unfiltered with minimal sulfur. Many of the cellar crew have worked with Kistler for more than thirty years. The wines are sold exclusively through a small mailing list; there is no public tasting room and no walk-in availability. For collectors of California Pinot Noir, the list is one of the most coveted in the state.
Steve Kistler is one of the towering figures of California wine. He learned native-yeast, unfiltered winemaking during nearly three years at Ridge under Paul Draper, then founded Kistler Vineyards in 1978, building it into one of the world's most revered Chardonnay houses. A taste of coastal Sonoma Pinot Noir in 1992 set him on a new path: he began planting vineyards on the far western Sonoma Coast in the early 2000s and, after stepping away from Kistler in 2017, devoted himself fully to Occidental. From roughly 85 acres of estate vineyards on fog-wrapped ridges above the Pacific near Freestone — where yields can be painfully small — he and his daughters Catherine and Elizabeth craft translucent, powerfully elegant Pinot Noirs in an Old World idiom, capturing the singular character of one of California's coldest, most challenging maritime regions.
Catherine and Elizabeth Kistler are the daughters of founder Steve Kistler and the next generation at Occidental, now involved in every aspect of the family winery. The estate’s two flagship bottlings carry their names — Cuvée Catherine and Cuvée Elizabeth — a tribute to their role in its future. After their father spent decades pioneering Pinot Noir on the far Sonoma Coast and built Occidental in 2011 on a ridge above Bodega, the sisters joined him to carry the project forward, ensuring the family’s commitment to these challenging maritime vineyards continues for generations to come.
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Freestone-Occidental Pinot Noir, Sonoma Coast — The flagship blend of all three estate vineyards; delicate, deep, and elegant (~95 points).
Bodega Headlands Cuvée Elizabeth Pinot Noir, Sonoma Coast — A single-vineyard bottling from the coast-facing headlands, named for Steve Kistler's daughter.
Occidental Station Cuvée Catherine Pinot Noir, Sonoma Coast — From the inland ridge Kistler planted in 1998; riper and more generous.
SWK Vineyard Pinot Noir, Sonoma Coast — A site-specific expression from the estate plantings.
Occidental is Kistler Vineyards founder Steve Kistler's Pinot-only project — 85 acres of Vosne-Romanée selections on the windswept Bodega headlands.
Occidental is Steve Kistler's coastal Pinot Noir project, founded in 2011 after more than three decades of work at Kistler Vineyards. Kistler began planting in the Freestone-Occidental area in the late 1990s — buying the Bodega Headlands property in 1999 and the adjacent Bodega Ridge parcel in 2008 — and now farms roughly 85 acres of estate Pinot Noir on a southwest-facing ridge overlooking the Pacific. Three vineyards anchor the program: Bodega Headlands and Occidental Station (planted in the early 2000s) and the SWK parcel. The family lives on the Bodega Headlands property, and Kistler's daughters Catherine and Elizabeth — for whom two of the cuvées are named — work alongside him.
The portfolio is Pinot Noir only: a Freestone-Occidental Sonoma Coast bottling and four to five single-vineyard cuvées (Bodega Headlands Cuvée Elizabeth, Occidental Station Cuvée Catherine, SWK, Running Fence) — each picked at modest Brix, fermented with native yeasts and varying whole-cluster proportions, basket pressed, and bottled unfined and unfiltered with minimal sulfur. Many of the cellar crew have worked with Kistler for more than thirty years. The wines are sold exclusively through a small mailing list; there is no public tasting room and no walk-in availability. For collectors of California Pinot Noir, the list is one of the most coveted in the state.
Steve Kistler is one of the towering figures of California wine. He learned native-yeast, unfiltered winemaking during nearly three years at Ridge under Paul Draper, then founded Kistler Vineyards in 1978, building it into one of the world's most revered Chardonnay houses. A taste of coastal Sonoma Pinot Noir in 1992 set him on a new path: he began planting vineyards on the far western Sonoma Coast in the early 2000s and, after stepping away from Kistler in 2017, devoted himself fully to Occidental. From roughly 85 acres of estate vineyards on fog-wrapped ridges above the Pacific near Freestone — where yields can be painfully small — he and his daughters Catherine and Elizabeth craft translucent, powerfully elegant Pinot Noirs in an Old World idiom, capturing the singular character of one of California's coldest, most challenging maritime regions.
Catherine and Elizabeth Kistler are the daughters of founder Steve Kistler and the next generation at Occidental, now involved in every aspect of the family winery. The estate’s two flagship bottlings carry their names — Cuvée Catherine and Cuvée Elizabeth — a tribute to their role in its future. After their father spent decades pioneering Pinot Noir on the far Sonoma Coast and built Occidental in 2011 on a ridge above Bodega, the sisters joined him to carry the project forward, ensuring the family’s commitment to these challenging maritime vineyards continues for generations to come.
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