The Vision
The Hilt Estate was first established in 2004 to focus on making world class Pinot Noir and Chardonnay.
Rather than immediately purchasing an estate vineyard to call home, our winemaker Matt Dees and his team spent several years studying the Sta. Rita Hills AVA—what Matt calls a “10,000-piece jigsaw puzzle” in terms of soils and exposures.
They purchased fruit from the north to the south, the east to the west, coming to understand each subregion and block’s myriad nuances. Within about two years of a diligent search for the perfect site, we realized that we wanted to be north-facing, and that we wanted to be all the way in the southwest corner of the AVA—as close to the ocean as possible, within the historic boundaries of the Sta. Rita Hills.
“We understood that winegrowing in this little pocket of the world, while challenging, would result in wines with vibrancy, vitality, and elegance,” Matt reflects.
In the summer of 2014, The Hilt acquired a historic 3,600-acre property, featuring three distinct vineyards: Bentrock, Radian and Puerta del Mar.
“It is a rare opportunity to own a property with two vineyards that are so disparate, soulful, and unique,” says Dees. Bentrock and Radian, two prominent ridges with each planted to approximately 100 acres, define the property and are the primary sources for The Hilt Estate wines.
The Hilt Estate is an untamed landscape of steep hills, windswept ridges, and fog-blanketed canyons. The Estate’s north facing vineyards command the lower left quadrant of the Sta. Rita Hills, closest to the Pacific Ocean. Here, exposed to the Pacific Ocean’s rough winds and cool maritime influence, The Hilt’s chilly, sun-drenched vineyards present a grape grower with some of the biggest challenges for farming. For Winemaker Matt Dees, however, the opportunities and sense of discovery presented by The Hilt Estate make them the most exciting vineyards one could imagine.
While the vineyards, which were first planted in 2006, were primarily developed for Pinot Noir, one of the great discoveries that has emerged from The Hilt Estate has been world class Chardonnay. Little by little, some of the original Pinot Noir vines have been grafted to Chardonnay. Beginning in 2017, a small amount of Syrah was planted, followed by Riesling. Both varieties have been added to the portfolio of estate wines. “Overtime, we start to hear the voices of the vineyard,” says Dees.
