2019 Pinot Noir SWK Vineyard

Hatched comes strongly recommended. It might lack the luxurious accouterments you might expect from a restaurant. You could argue that it is stripped down to the fundaments: the quality of service and quality of food. Inconveniently, it is not located close to any tube station, off the beaten trek, so either grab a cab or give your legs a workout. Trust me, the Pain Perdu alone is worth it.

This is a stunning set of wines from Steve and Catherine Kistler. The 2019s are more than worthy follow-ups to the stellar 2018s. The Kistlers describe 2019 as quite similar to 2018 in that the fruit reached an early ripeness, which was followed by a prolonged period of cooler weather. Unlike 2018 however, acids began to drop, and that prompted an acceleration of picking. Bunches were generally looser than in 2018, with smaller berries.

Two thousand-nineteen was only the second year Steve Kistler was able to focus entirely on Occidental following his gradual retirement from Kistler Vineyards. Some of the developments here in recent years include a greater focus on whole berry fermentations and longer vinifications in general. The 2019 saw 22-23 days on the skins, followed by malolactic fermentation, both with ambient yeasts. The wines were aged in French oak (30% new) with no racking until July/August 2020, when they were racked to tank prior to bottling in November/December 2021.

I have followed Occidental since the very beginning and had an opportunity to both taste and drink these wines on numerous occasions since then, often in the company of the established benchmarks for Pinot Noir. These are very, very special wines.