2014 The Hilt Chardonnay Vanguard

The 2014 Chardonnay Vanguard offers good up-front intensity, but, it, too remains very tightly wound and in need of time in bottle. There is good purity to the orchard fruit and lemon confit flavors, while picking early has preserved a considerable amount of freshness. At this stage, the Vanguard is not really all that different from the Santa Barbara County bottling. It will be interesting to see how those two wines develop. Vineyard sources are Sanford & Benedict, Solomon Hills and Radian. Today, though, the Vanguard is not particularly expressive.

An embryonic wine, the 2014 Chardonnay Vanguard comes across as energetic and tightly wound, with tons of purity in its aromas and flavors. It will be interesting to see if the richness of Sanford & Benedict blossoms here, or if the 2014 will turn out to be a more energetic version of the Vanguard than we have seen in the past, which could be the case given a move towards larger barrels and stainless steel. The 2014 was aged in 80% new French oak barrels and 20% in steel, with 40% malolactic fermentation complete. Vineyard sources are Sanford & Benedict, Solomon Hills and Radian.