2014 Occidental, Pinot Noir, Sonoma Coast, California, USA

2014 Occidental, Pinot Noir, Sonoma Coast, California, USA

Product: 20148107446
Prices start from £650.00 per case Buying options
2014 Occidental, Pinot Noir, Sonoma Coast, California, USA

Buying options

Available by the case In Bond. Pricing excludes duty and VAT, which must be paid separately before delivery. Storage charges apply.
Case format
Availability
Price per case
12 x 75cl bottle
BBX marketplace BBX 1 case £650.00
BBX marketplace BBX 1 case £650.00
New To BBX
New To BBX
BBX marketplace BBX 2 cases £945.00
See more listings+
See more listings
You can place a bid for this wine on BBX

Description

Tasting both the 2012 and 2013 vintages of Occidental’s Sonoma Coast Pinot was eye opening and this continues in the same vein. It is another real “wow” wine. Occidental is firmly at the top of our list for New World Pinots. Forget this as an “entry-level” wine, the Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir easily rivals top Premier Crus (and some Grand Crus) from Burgundy.

This is beautifully fragrant, with an abundance of fruit jumping out of the glass. It is rich yet restrained and superbly structured – the tannins melt seamlessly into the fruit. Give this a couple of years in the cellar and it will be a beauty. While arguably more famous for his Chardonnays, Steve Kistler appears to have the Midas touch when it comes to Pinot Noir. A must buy!

wine at a glance

Delivery and quality guarantee

Critics reviews

Wine Advocate92/100
Medium to deep ruby-purple, the 2014 Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir has a lovely savory/earthy nose of black tea, charcoal and black soil over a core of black cherries and red currants. Medium-bodied, the palate is packed with red berry and earthy flavors, supported by silky, fine-grained tannins, and finishing long and earthy.
Lisa Perrotti-Brown - 01/03/2017 Read more

About this WINE

Occidental

Occidental

Occidental is dedicated exclusively to the production of world class Pinot Noir from the Sonoma Coast.  The state-of-the-art winery is just east of the town of Bodega on a ridge top, next to the Bodega Headlands Vineyard, overlooking the Pacific Ocean. Following a hugely successful career at eponymous winery Kistler, Occidental is very much Steve Kistler’s family led project to make the best Pinots California has to offer.

The Occidental Station vineyard lies 15 miles further inland than the estate’s other vineyards. It was planted in 1998 by Steve Kistler, who has farmed the plot himself every year thereafter. It is the one wine in the range that is from a completely different ridge, on a site that is picked two weeks earlier than everywhere else. It is therefore a riper style yet one that is still undeniably ‘Occidental’.

The Freestone-Occidental Pinot noir includes a blend of fruit from Bodega Headlands, Occidental Station, and Bodega Ridge vineyards. It also shares the same winemaking techniques as the vineyard-designated Pinot, the only difference being that the provenance is wider.

Find out more
Russian River Valley

Russian River Valley

This low-lying valley Sonoma County in and its 10,000 acres of vineyards was virtually unknown before 1983, when it was granted official appellation status (Russian River Valley AVA). 

It has since established a formidable reputation as a prime spot for challenging varieties like Pinot Noir (29% of the acreage in 2007), which thrives in this cool-climate region. Chardonnay (42% of the acreage in 2007) has also blossomed here, showing a signature lean and restrained profile.

The Russian River Valley climate is influenced by cooling fogs, drawn inland from the Pacific. This natural air-conditioning allows the grapes to develop full flavor maturity over an extended growing season, while retaining their life-giving natural acidity.

Find out more
Pinot Noir

Pinot Noir

Pinot Noir is probably the most frustrating, and at times infuriating, wine grape in the world. However when it is successful, it can produce some of the most sublime wines known to man. This thin-skinned grape which grows in small, tight bunches performs well on well-drained, deepish limestone based subsoils as are found on Burgundy's Côte d'Or.

Pinot Noir is more susceptible than other varieties to over cropping - concentration and varietal character disappear rapidly if yields are excessive and yields as little as 25hl/ha are the norm for some climats of the Côte d`Or.

Because of the thinness of the skins, Pinot Noir wines are lighter in colour, body and tannins. However the best wines have grip, complexity and an intensity of fruit seldom found in wine from other grapes. Young Pinot Noir can smell almost sweet, redolent with freshly crushed raspberries, cherries and redcurrants. When mature, the best wines develop a sensuous, silky mouth feel with the fruit flavours deepening and gamey "sous-bois" nuances emerging.

The best examples are still found in Burgundy, although Pinot Noir`s key role in Champagne should not be forgotten. It is grown throughout the world with notable success in the Carneros and Russian River Valley districts of California, and the Martinborough and Central Otago regions of New Zealand.

Find out more