2015 The Hilt Chardonnay Vanguard
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Tasting notes
The 2015 Chardonnay Vanguard is powerful, dense and voluptuous, with all of the raciness of the vintage on full display. Apricot, honey, chamomile, dried flowers, new oak and hint of butter add notable flavor complexity. Viscous and oily on the palate, but in the midweight style that is typical of these wines, the Vanguard is just as impressive from bottle as it was last year from barrel. Fruit sources are Sanford & Benedict, Bentrock, Solomon Hills, Bien Nacido and Radian.
Critic scores
Average Score
Jeb Dunnuck
Antonio Galloni, Vinous
More reviews and scores
The 2015 Chardonnay Vanguard delivers a wonderfully spicy nose of white pepper, coriander seed, ginger and anise over a core of white peaches and lemon curd. Medium-bodied, with a great intensity of stone fruit and citrus layers, it has a lively acid line and finishes with those spices coming through.
The 2015 Chardonnay Vanguard comes from slightly younger vines and sees more new oak (although it still seems mostly neutral barrels). This light to medium gold colored Chardonnay offers terrific notes of citrus, under ripe pineapple, salty minerality and white flowers. It's concentrated and textured, yet racy and vibrant, with bright acidity. It really needs 5-6 years of bottle age and is going to have two decades of longevity.
The 2015 Chardonnay Vanguard comes from slightly younger vines and sees more new oak (although it still seems mostly neutral barrels). This light to medium gold colored Chardonnay offers terrific notes of citrus, under ripe pineapple, salty minerality and white flowers. It's concentrated and textured, yet racy and vibrant, with bright acidity. It really needs 5-6 years of bottle age and is going to have two decades of longevity. Farmed to “The Hilt,” these killer Pinot Noirs and Chardonnays are made by superstar winemaker Matt Dees. All these latest releases are going to benefit from 3-4 years of bottle age.
About the producer
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.