Winemaker Notes
So much going on with this wine, I could write a book. A flower that opensvery slowly. Violet candies, black cherry, resin and lavender. Wet stones,pine forest and blackberry. Driven by dark fruit on the attack. Notes ofdried strawberry and rosemary alongside charcoal and crushed rock.Sauteed chanterelle. Simultaneously full of black fruit and completelyearth-driven and defined by gently gripping structure. Savory and dense.Energetic with black plum. Reduced and tightly coiled. A legendary Radianpinot noir in the making. One can taste the long, cool growing season andextended hang time in the balanced and mouthwatering fruit. Nervy andstacked with layer after complex layer.
Professional Ratings
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Jeb Dunnuck
I loved the 2021 Pinot Noir Radian Vineyard, which has a vivid, perfumed, exotic bouquet of black raspberries, spring flowers, violets, graphite, and chalky minerality. I love its purity, and it's medium-bodied, with an incredible sense of refinement and class and a great finish. Coming from a rocky hillside vineyard on the southern side of the Sta. Rita Hills, this incredible Pinot Noir will benefit from 2-3 years of bottle age and cruise in cold cellars over the following decade or more.
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Vinous
A bright, nervy wine, the 2021 Pinot Noir Radian captures all the natural intensity of this site on the far edge of the Sta. Rita Hills. Bright acids and veins of minerality infuse the 2021 with tremendous character. Dark red/purplish fruit, lavender, crushed rocks, graphite and dried herbs are some of the many notes that race across the palate. This just sizzles with energy. It's a great example from the western edge of the appellation.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
As tends to be the case, the 2021 Pinot Noir Radian Vineyard significantly ratchets up the coiled, mineral tension endemic to this western Sta. Rita Hills site, and the team at The Hilt have captured it here beautifully. The nose is layered, dark and brooding, with an ethereal lift in the background continuously providing levity. It is rich and decadent on the palate yet searingly with acidity and mineral tension, finishing with a striking balance between flashy richness and transparent intensity. While lovers of sturdy, structured Pinot Noirs might want to check in on this now, it will surely blossom considerably in the cellar.
Wines defined by place, style and time. In the southwest corner of Sta. Rita Hills AVA lies a rugged, windswept, coastal vineyard, called The Hilt Estate; estate grower producer of stunning Pinot Noir and Chardonnay reflective of this dynamic corner of California.
Pushing the limits; in the farthest southwest reach of the Sta. Rita Hills AVA is home to Radian & Bentrock Vineyards, these vineyards dictate The Hilt style.
The numerous microclimates and unique soils provide a multilayered backdrop to create 3 unique expressions: Estate, The Guards, and Single Vineyards.
In 2014, Matt Dees, Ruben Solorzano & team took on operation and farming of Radian and Bentrock Vineyards and shifted to precise sustainable & organic farming to transform and revitalize the soil.
Thin-skinned, finicky and temperamental, Pinot Noir is also one of the most rewarding grapes to grow and remains a labor of love for some of the greatest vignerons in Burgundy. Fairly adaptable but highly reflective of the environment in which it is grown, Pinot Noir prefers a cool climate and requires low yields to achieve high quality. Outside of France, outstanding examples come from in Oregon, California and throughout specific locations in wine-producing world. Somm Secret—André Tchelistcheff, California’s most influential post-Prohibition winemaker decidedly stayed away from the grape, claiming “God made Cabernet. The Devil made Pinot Noir.”
A superior source of California Chardonnay and Pinot Noir, Sta. Rita Hills is the coolest, westernmost sub-region of the larger Santa Ynez Valley appellation within Santa Barbara County. This relatively new AVA is unquestionably one to keep an eye on.
The climate of Sta. Rita Hills is a natural match for Chardonnay and Pinot noir, thanks to the crisp ocean breezes and well-drained, limestone-rich calcareous soil. Here, grapes ripen just enough, while retaining brisk acidity and harmonious balance.