The 2015 Chardonnay Vanguard is plush, sensual and inviting. Ripe peach, apricot, slate, new oak and spices are fused together in a deep, textured Chardonnay built on texture and volume, but in the classic understated Hilt style. The Vanguard builds nicely with time in the glass, but the best is yet to come. Once again, the differences between the Vanguard and the straight Santa Barbara Chardonnay are not many.

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.