Occidental Wines is the personal Pinot Noir project of Steve Kistler, who built his original reputation as the founding winemaker of Kistler Vineyards, one of California’s most acclaimed Chardonnay estates. Occidental, which Kistler operates with his daughter Catherine, represents a deliberate turn toward the West Sonoma Coast’s cold, windswept headlands: a site radically different from the warmer Russian River and Sonoma Mountain terroirs of his earlier career. The project has attracted intense critical attention since its first commercial vintages.

The Bodega Headlands Vineyard sits on the coastal ridgeline in the Freestone-Occidental area of the West Sonoma Coast AVA, where the Pacific’s influence is unmediated and fog-driven summers keep temperatures dramatically lower than inland Sonoma. Cuvée Elizabeth is Occidental’s most delicate and florally expressive single-vineyard Pinot Noir, named after one of the founding family members and produced from early-picked fruit through a process of minimal punch-downs and deliberately lower fermentation temperatures designed to preserve its high-toned aromatics and saline mineral character. The 2022 growing season produced an unusually small crop, concentrating flavours to exceptional levels.

The 2022 Cuvée Elizabeth has received some of the most extraordinary critical recognition of any American Pinot Noir in recent years. Decanter awarded the wine a perfect 100 points, placing it number two on their Top 50 US Wines List for 2025. Wine Spectator gave 96 and both the Wine Advocate and Vinous awarded 95 points. Together these scores confirm Occidental as the leading single-vineyard Pinot Noir estate on California’s West Sonoma Coast.

A wine of exquisite finesse: raspberry coulis, wild strawberry, rose oil and iris on a light-to-medium-bodied, finely knit palate of tremendous elegance. Racy natural acidity lifts red berry and floral layers through an impossibly long and perfumed finish. The saline coastal quality of the West Sonoma Coast is unmistakable. Best from 2026 through 2040.

Waves of succulent black cherry and mulberry fruit drape over a subtly piercing mineral aspect, while a backdrop of red and black tea, dried anise and blood orange zest adds alluring range. Racy, finely beaded acidity provides a nearly invisible corset of structure, letting it all play out with confidence through the lengthy finish.  — Wine Spectator

Silky, aromatic and light on its feet, the 2022 Cuvée Elizabeth is a wine of exquisite finesse and understated beauty. Bright acids lift a core of gentle red and purplish fruit in this classy, polished Pinot from Occidental. All the elements are so well balanced.  — Vinous