Habit Pinot Noir– MCF Rare Wine

MCF Rare Wine Ltd.

Habit Pinot Noir

Jeff Fischer is a great guy. His main gig (as is the one that pays the bills) is as a voice actor on a hugely popular network animated show.

If you ask him, though, he's probably much prouder of the work he does as a winemaker under his Habit label in the Santa Barbara area.

He produced his first wines in 2008 and they've slowly become some of our favorite, micro-produced (like seriously 'mirco') California wines that we receive each year.

He lives in a no-frills Santa Barbara life, choosing to live as close as he can to all of his vineyards so that he can visit them all as often as possible. It's way more important to him that he can keep an eye on each and every aspect of his production (which is organic, dry-farmed and hand-picked/sorted) than anything else.

To me, it seems like a very zen kind of existence, especially from the perspective of someone in the NYC rat-race.

I've always stocked whatever Habit wines I can get my hands on in any year, but that's usually just a few cases each of whatever's available.

The Pinot Noir La Encantada from the Sta Rita Hills has always been my favorite of his lineup, but I usually get so little of it that it wouldn't make sense to offer it out.

This year, however, I have just enough.

This brings us to the important part - how the wines tastes...

This is classic Santa Rita - a super vivid, bright and well-balanced Pinot that finishes with terrific energy. The depth of the red fruits are very impressive, especially at the price point. The wine is at once broad and complex and also incredibly refreshing.

The edges of the nose and palate are packed with all manner of spicy nuance.

It's just about the perfect kind of Cali Pinot for the warmer months. It has all the stuffing to go with whatever you throw at it, yet all of the sizzle you want to keep those Summer flavors on your table front and center.

This is as honest a wine as you'll find made by as honest a guy as you'll find...

...and it's really delicious too.

HABIT Pinot Noir La Encantada Vineyard Sta. Rita Hills 2014 (very ltd)