Steve Kistler is a legend in Californian winemaking. He learned his craft at Ridge Monte Bello, where he absorbed Paul Draper`s purist, scientific approach. At his Kistler Vineyards label, he spent years producing acclaimed Sonoma Coast Chardonnay and Pinot Noir. But he wanted to go further, and the extreme western coastal ridges of California were calling him. These sometimes marginal, fog-shrouded sites are hard work and expensive to manage, but what Steve realised early on in his career is that they can also be responsible for exquisite wine.

Steve is no longer involved in Kistler Vineyards, and has thrown himself full-time into his Occidental label. Around the bays and grassy headlands near the town of Bodega, he has led the way in opening up the western wine frontier. While the erratic maritime weather, storms and fogs challenge the vineyards, they also provide for slower, more steady ripening and longer hang-time. These help a wine find the structure and minerality that Steve insists is the key to longevity. His winemaking tends to favour minerality over fruit, since `fruit is transitory`. He prefers heritage clones (grape clones from long-established Californian stock) over fashionable recent French clones which, in his view, become overproductive and too floral in Californian soil. (NT 17/07/23)