Tasting Note

A very gentle Chardonnay, with soft tropical fruit on the nose - peaches, grapefruit and hints of white plum. The palate has a lovely creamy texture, with hints of peach cobbler and cream, but without being a big, gangbusters oak fest. Exceptionally balanced and with a decent amount of age, it has softened into an exceptional wine.

Producer

The Hilt was founded in 2008 in the Santa Rita Hills, Santa Barbara. The region of Santa Barbara reached only 28°C last year, the coolest wine growing area in the state of California. The unobstructed, ocean facing east-west valley known as Santa Rita Hills Valley is a complex AVA. One could divide it into four quadrants: northern-facing, southern-facing, close to the ocean, and further inland from the ocean. With such a frame, The Hilt’s favourite vineyards are in the northern-facing, closest to the ocean, windswept quadrant.

Rancho Salsipuedes, where The Hilt wines make their home, provides vineyards planted on land nearly 13 unobstructed miles from the ocean on the west. This unique, large and sprawling property offers a range of altitudes, aspects, soil types, and microclimates, giving winemaker Matt Dees a patchwork of vineyard parcels from which to select grapes and create wines with distinctive styles.

Diverse though it may be, Salsipuedes possesses some aspects that remain consistent: the land has poor soils that force vines to dig deep; there are powerful, whipping winds and a cold maritime climate that allow grapes on the property to ripen slowly and retain acidity despite the warm daytime sun; and the vines on the property are low in vigour, allowing them to produce low yields of concentrated, complex grapes. It is with these three important components – poor soils, whipping winds and a cool maritime climate along with low vigour vines – that Salsipuedes defines itself in the Sta. Rita Hills.

_{Country: USA | Region: Santa Rita Hills, California | Alcohol: 13% | Grapes: Chardonnay}