The Occidental vineyards define the western edge of where pinot noir can be grown successfully on the Sonoma Coast. Since the early 1990s, Steve Kistler has believed that the climate and soils on the uplifted marine terraces and ridges around the town of Bodega would be ideal for growing distinctive and Burgundian-style pinot noir.
The Occidental vineyards are planted atop a southern-exposed ridge at elevations of 400-750 feet, with an expansive view of the pastoral lowlands below. Looking west from both our Bodega Headlands and Bodega Ridge properties, we can see the waters of the Pacific Ocean through a notch in the hills formed by the Estero Americano, one of the several creeks flowing westward through the ranches. These lowlands and watersheds create the natural channels that bring wind and fog from the coast directly through Occidental’s vineyards each and every day.