Review: 2023 The Hilt Estate Chardonnay and Pinot Noir Santa Rita Hills

The Hilt Estate can be found in California’s Santa Rita Hills, where it creates a range of wines including Riesling, Syrah, and its flagship releases of Pinot Noir and Chardonnay, under the guidance of winemaker Matt Dees.

Today we look at The Hilt’s estate-grown Chardonnay and Pinot Noir, both from the standout 2023 vintage.

2023 The Hilt Estate Chardonnay Santa Rita Hills Review

This is a clean and versatile chardonnay, quite delicious from the jump, with classic flavors of lemon, green apple, and some pear all making for a brisk, fruit-filled attack. The palate develops some sweetness, curiously evoking Juicy Fruit gum until more lemon and apple, a bit baked this time around, comes into focus. The wine is clean with light notes of white flowers on the finish and a touch of coconut. All told, this is one of the most delightful chardonnays I can recall in recent memory — a sunny crowd-pleaser with far more depth than you would imagine. A / $50

2023 The Hilt Estate Pinot Noir Santa Rita Hills Review

Clean and cherry-forward up top, but laced with dark chocolate and gentle notes of anise. The fruit becomes more insistent as it develops on the tongue, culminating in a deeper and darker character that leans further into chocolate and vanilla, but which never becomes gummy, unctuous, pruny, or overly earthy. That’s a neat trick in today’s pinotverse, which tends to run hoary and overblown, no matter where it’s grown. The name “The Hilt” may connote intensity, and while this wine has plenty of power in reserve, it wouldn’t dream of allowing you to describe it as “gentle.” Neat trick. A / $50

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