The 2016 Pinot Noir Estate is the larger production red from this team, yet it certainly gives a good view into the quality coming from the Hilt wines. Black cherries, black raspberries, graphite, peppery herbs, and underbrush notes flow to a medium-bodied, supple, beautifully layered Pinot Noir that has ripe, present tannins, plenty of mid-palate flesh, and remarkable purity. Drink it any time over the coming 7-8 years.

The Hilt's 2016 Pinot Noir Sta. Rita Hills is excellent, wafting from the glass with an exciting bouquet of dark wild berry fruits, licorice, rich soil, rose hip and orange peel. On the palate, the wine is medium-bodied, bright and expansive, with velvety tannins and a crunchy core of primary fruit, its bright line of acidity carrying through to the mouthwatering finish. - WK

The 2016 Pinot Noir Estate is a powerful, dense wine. Today, the tannins are huge and imposing. Even so, the depth and persistence of the fruit is impossible to miss which gives the wine a decidedly chunky feel. Based on how the 2016 showed from barrel, I have to imagine this is not the best showing for the Estate. -- Antonio Galloni