2020 Loring Wine Company Rancho La Vina Vineyard Pinot Noir Sta. Rita Hills

Brian Loring started with two barrels in 1997 after falling hard for Burgundy and California Pinot Noir — Calera, Williams Selyem, the wines that made him quit his corporate job and move to Santa Barbara County. Today Loring sources from the California Coast's best sites, turning small lots into Pinot that punches well above its price.

Rancho La Vina sits high on a bench in the southern Sta. Rita Hills, a family ranch dating to the 1860s that grows organic walnuts, heirloom tomatoes, and tiny, wind-hammered Pinot clusters. The exposure keeps the berries small and the concentration high — the kind of fruit that makes supple, silky wine without needing to shout.

The 2020 spent ten months in French oak, just 15% new, letting the fruit lead. You get ripe cherry and raspberry with coastal lift — the salinity and brightness that makes Sta. Rita Hills Pinot impossible to confuse with anywhere else. Medium-bodied, juicy, tart in the best way, with fine tannins and a perfumed nose that opens on pomegranate, red rose, and a whisper of mushroom and cured meat.

Pull the cork tonight — it's built for immediacy, not the cellar, and it'll show you exactly why Brian Loring walked away from the desk job.