2015 Longoria Wines Pinot Noir Fe Ciega Vineyard Sta. Rita Hills 750 ml

High Above the Sea Smoke

The Sta. Rita Hills appellation produces some of the finest Pinot Noir in the New World, and if you want the crème de la crème—wines like Sea Smoke and Brewer-Clifton—it’s going to cost you. 

Or, you can take home the 2015 Longoria Pinot Noir Fe Ciega Vineyard. It’s the work of Central Coast legend Rick Longoria, and its 95-point score landed it high on a very distinguished list of Pinots, right alongside Brewer-Clifton ($76, $95) and above Sea Smoke ($114, $123). 

The score—and the Pinots that Longoria has bested—don’t lie: It just doesn’t get much better than this on the West Coast.

Fe Ciega is one of the most revered sites for Pinot Noir on the Central Coast. Shrouded in the legendary ocean fog—the “sea smoke” of Sta. Rita Hills—this nine-acre hilltop site produces Pinot that has been claimed by some of Rick Longoria’s most accomplished peers: luminaries like Ojai’s Adam Tolmach and Bill Wathen of Foxen. Two decades after he planted it, Fe Ciega stands as one of Rick’s crowning achievements.

Considering that Rick is one of this region’s veterans and early pioneers, that’s no small statement. He’s been in the business since 1974, when he started out as a rookie cellarman at the historic Buena Vista Winery, absorbing the tutelage of the godfather of California wine, André Tchelistcheff. He went on to work in Napa at Chappellet, until a hankering for his spiritual home in the Santa Ynez Valley brought him back to work stints at J. Carey and Gainey. Then he started Longoria.

Fe Ciega is Longoria’s home vineyard, and the very first time we visited, we witnessed its magic firsthand. We climbed up a small mesa that dominates the vineyards below, and when we reached the vines, the fog was still as thick as pea soup. We waited, bending down and breaking thin pieces of shale in our hands to pass the time. Then, as if on cue, the fog began to lift at 10 a.m. The sun broke through, putting the majesty of Fe Ciega into perfect focus.

The mountains up here run east to west, allowing the fog to flow freely over the hills and keeping things chilly until mid-morning—as we witnessed the day of our visit. Then the brisk winds usher the clouds out to sea, and the Santa Barbara sun burns holes through the fog in less than 45 minutes. Those persistent summer winds cleanse the vines, and temperatures rarely top 80 degrees.

The result is perfectly balanced Pinot, summed up in the bottle of 2015 Longoria Fe Ciega: broad and red-fruited, with a perfect balance of ripeness, racy acid, herbs, and spice. This is a first-class Pinot from one of the top sites and producers on the Central Coast, and in the 2015 vintage, it was truly the class of the Sta. Rita Hills. Don’t miss this rare chance.