Kistler Freestone-Occidental Freestone Pinot Noir 2023

Occidental is Steve Kistler’s beloved Pinot Noir project that he’s always dreamed about starting. It’s a place with a singular focus – to make world-class pinot noir from unique sites on the coastal headlands in the Freestone-Occidental area of the Sonoma Coast. Like the wines of Flowers and Paul Hobbs, this is the West Sonoma Coast on full display and representing some of the greatest bottlings in the world.

I know I’m early here and this one doesn’t have any scores yet and everyone loves scores – but let us take this into account for a quick second: this was Wine Spectator’s #2 Wine of the Year in 2023(!) in their annual Top 100 and also received a 98-point score from Robert Parker’s Wine Advocate. What else do you need to know?!?

Steve Kistler, the magician, puts his magical touch with this Occidental wines – giving so much expression and pure beauty to these wines from the severe West Coast terrain. They’re elegant and structured and about the finest examples of American Pinot Noir that we have.