2015-2017 Occidental "SWK Vineyard" Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir Vertical

“The 2015 Pinot Noir SWK Vineyard is another heavenly effort from Steve Kistler. The most finesse-driven, elegant, and medium-bodied in the lineup, it offers a perfumed and floral nose of red fruits, spice, and forest floor. With integrated acidity, ultra-fine tannin, no hard edges, and perfect balance, this beauty just glides over the palate and has everything you could want from this variety. It’s already hard to resist yet will keep for a decade or more. (JD)” (05/2018)

“Medium ruby-purple colored, the 2015 Pinot Noir SWK Vineyard is a little reticent to begin, slowly opening to allow glimpses at an incredible array of earth, mineral and savory characters—moss, loam and ceps—over a beautifully perfumed core of red cherries, violets, raspberry leaves and redcurrants plus a touch of iron ore. Medium-bodied with a rock-solid frame of grainy tannins and electric freshness, it has an incredibly tightly wound palate of red fruit and savory layers with a very long, minerally finish. (LPB)” (07/2018)

“A wine that was ethereal and alluring from tank, the 2015 Pinot Noir SWK Vineyard has come together beautifully since I last tasted it. Exotic, thrilling aromatics set the stage for a brilliant, utterly impeccable wine long on class and nuance. Racy and plush, with tremendous flavor intensity and tons of supporting minerality, the 2015 simply has it all. This is another magnificent wine from Steve Kistler and Occidental. (AG)” (01/2018)

“More vegetal than their Cuvée Elizabeth, with that exotic stemmy note that lifts up the dark, powerful cherry fruit. Naturally well endowed in every respect – chewy tannins, potent fruit, garrigue complexity and insistent length. 18/20 points (RH)” (06/2018)

“The only wine to see some whole clusters, the 2016 Pinot Noir SWK Vineyard is one of the more structured, backward wines in the lineup. It reveals a deeper ruby color as well as a complex bouquet of darker raspberries, earth, graphite, and smoky notes. Rich and medium to full-bodied, it has great balance and concentration as well as building tannins. It's another classy, age-worthy wine from Steve Kistler that's going to benefit from bottle age and ... ranks with the top wines of the vintage. 98+” (06/2019)

“The 2016 Pinot Noir SWK Vineyard emerges from the highest point of Steve Kistler's Bodega Headlands property. Vibrant and exquisitely beautiful, the 2016 is a striking wine that is going to need a number of years to come together. There is a lot here, but the 2016 is painfully closed at this stage. Dark red cherry, plum, blood orange, mint and rose petal all develop in the glass, with bright saline notes that give the wine shape and energy. Today, the SWK is utterly exquisite, but my impression is it will be an even better wine in a few years' time. (AG)” (01/2019)

“The 2016 Pinot Noir SWK Vineyard offers a strong sense of place and a chiseled structure that will allow it to be very long lived in the cellar. The nose is reminiscent of the forest and the sea, its wild cherry fruit accented by wafts of mushrooms, fennel, tobacco, saline and seaweed, and it becomes more floral as it airs in the glass. The palate is bursting with layer after layer of salty red fruit. It’s structured by powdery tannins and lip-smacking acidity and has a long, dynamic finish. (EB) 96+” (01/2025)

“The 2017 Pinot Noir SWK Vineyard is rich, heady and bursting at the seams with personality. Black cherry, menthol, licorice, plum, espresso, lavender and savory herbs infuse the 2017 with striking layers of complexity and sheer character. Poor soils give naturally low yields and a wine with serious concentration as well as power. Statuesque and towering, the 2017 is a drop-dead gorgeous beauty, but it needs time to be at its best. (AG)” (04/2020)

“The 2017 Pinot Noir SWK Vineyard is beautiful stuff, offering a complex, ethereal style as well as a gorgeous nose of kirsch and black raspberry-like fruit along with complex sappy flowers, spice box, salty, seaside-like minerality, and forest floor. This ruby/purple-hued 2017 has medium-bodied richness, terrific overall balance, an incredible floral quality, and a great finish.” (05/2020)

“The 2017 Pinot Noir SWK Vineyard is an incredible wine with pure, crystalline expression and dynamic energy. Its aromas are deep, broody and layered, with cranberry sauce and blackberries accented by blood orange, woodsmoke and tea leaves. The palate is energetic and incredibly light on its feet, bursting with bright fruits tinged with bitters and citrus. It has a firm, grainy frame, lip-smacking freshness and a long, ethereal finish. (EB)” (07/2020)