The 2016 Pinot Noir Old Guard offers more Bing cherry and even hints of blue fruits, and is concentrated, rich, and incredible pure. Smoked earth, leafy herbs, violets, and underbrush all emerge from this rockingly complex, concentrated, yet ethereal beauty. It has ample structure, yet it's so beautifully interwoven into the wine that you hardly notice. It needs 3-4 years of bottle age and will cruise for 10-15 years or more.

(94+ The 2016 Pinot Noir Old Guard was my favorite of these wines from The Hilt, unfurling in the glass with a lovely bouquet of plum, rich soil, truffle, licorice and nori. On the palate, the wine is medium to full-bodied, its rich chassis of tannins cloaked in a youthfully primary but attractively sapid core of fruit, its mid-palate deep and layered, and its finish bright and sappy. The Old Guard derives from later-harvested parcels and was fermented with 40% whole clusters. Winemaker Matt Dees observes that, while the Vanguard emphasizes texture, the Old Guard emphasizes structure. 430 cases were produced.-WK