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Tasting Notes

Tasting notes
FINE+RARE, Apr 2023

Winemaker Matt Dees loves to call his Santa Barbara Chardonnays “refrigerated sunshine”, after the cool sea breezes felt in the sunny Santa Rita Hills AVA. It certainly sums up this wine. The Estate Chardonnay is predominantly produced from their single-vineyard plots, Radian and Bentrock. It has a lovely freshness, electric-like acidity alongside ripe mandarin fruit and a zest-lime hit. The wine has great energy and a vibrant mouth-watering salinity on the finish. This wine offers fantastic quality for the money and is as racy as Californian Chardonnay gets.

Critic Scores

Critic scores
93
93/100

Average Score

94
94/100

James Suckling

92
92/100

Jeb Dunnuck

More reviews and scores

94 points
James Suckling
Score 94/100 · James Suckling, Mar 2023

Aromas of pie crust dough, lightly cooked apple and white peach. Dried flower. Flinty. Mineral. Medium-bodied with creamy texture and citrusy at the end. Drink now.

92 points
Jeb Dunnuck
Score 92/100 · Jeb Dunnuck, Aug 2022

The 2020 Chardonnay Estate is terrific and has classic Sta. Rita Hills character. Salted citrus, melon, white flowers, and a kiss of peach all emerge on the nose, and it’s medium-bodied, with a supple, elegant mouthfeel, outstanding balance, and a great finish. It’s well worth the price of admission and will keep for 4-6 years.

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About the producer

The Hilt 1:1
The Hilt

The Hilt is the Santa Rita Hills project owned by sports and property mogul billionaire Stan Kroenke, who also owns Screaming Eagle in Napa Valley and the Jonata estate in the California’s Ballard Canyon AVA.

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Product details

Category

Wine

Product Type

Still wine

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