2020 Occidental-Kistler Vineyards 'Bodega Ridge Vineyard' Pinot Noir Sonoma Coast

"The 2020 Pinot Noir Bodega Ridge Vineyard is the second iteration of this single-vineyard cuvée from Occidental. It comes from the Bodega Ridge property, where Steve Kistler began developing 65 acres of Pinot Noir in 2012. The first single-vineyard cuvée from this property was the 2016 Running Fence Vineyard. The Bodega Ridge comes from 25 acres at the top of the property, planted mainly on southwest-facing slopes behind the tasting room, overlooking the Running Fence Vineyard (it also borders Joseph Phelps's Quarter Moon Vineyard). It's bursting with vivid aromatics"blueberry and lavender"and are supplemented by wafts of forest floor, blood orange, licorice and stony streaks. The palate is delicate and ethereal, framed by chalky tannins and shimmery acidity, although it still offers a generous core of nuanced fruit, and it finishes with a fan of spicy accents. Normally, I would say to give it a few years in the cellar, but because of the challenges of the vintage, there's no reason not to enjoy it in its youth. Drink Date: 2024 - 2030" - Erin Brooks In 2020, Occidental bottled all five of their single-vineyard wines. In this marginal climate, harvest is significantly earlier than in warmer areas of Sonoma County. "Our first day of harvest was scheduled for the first day of the fires on August 18," proprietor Steve Kistler remembered. "The summer was so warm and dry anyway, and the berries so small, we were already getting ready to pick. Our yields are under two tons per acre, and we pick so much earlier than most. For the next couple of weeks, we picked everything from both our properties. Everyone was at the mercy of the wind patterns, whether or not the smoke stagnated, how high the smoke was, etc. And if the fruit wasn't ripe enough or if you had to wait to pick, it wouldn't have worked. Our saving grace was that we had reached the edge of ripeness, and the wind patterns were in our favor. We didn't change a single thing in the winery"it was either going to work or not. They were going to be Occidental wines or nothing at all." Review Date: June 2023