Matt Dees and the Art of Winemaking: Weathering Storms, Basketball Talk and Crafting Greatness

The Hilt’s winemaker blends passion, patience and a little luck to create some of the finest wines from the Sta. Rita Hills—even when fermentation happens on the side of the road.

The view of the “Pinot Bowl” from Radian Vineyard at The Hilt.

For 10 minutes, Matt Dees talked about college basketball.

The Hilt winemaker needed to cleanse his mind. After hours of tasting and blending 2024 wines out of the barrel, his palate was a little washed out. Such is the way the wheels of the talented winemaker spin. In a conversation, he touches all the bases—sports, music, movies, pop culture, politics and wine, too.

He knows that well.

“Young wines aren’t supposed to be expressive if done correctly,” Dees said. “They shouldn’t be expressive at six to seven months old. They showed some of their true colors; it was just a quick check-in. We wanted to check the pulse.”

While the future wines are alive and well, the 2022 vintage from The Hilt—the Pinot Noir and Chardonnay—are two of the best wines I’ve ever tasted from the Sta. Rita Hills.

The Sta. Rita Hills, a little plot of California land with a transverse mountain range that funnels in frigid air off the Pacific Ocean, is making the best interpretations of Burgundian varietals in the country.

“There’s some sunshine in these wines,” Dees said. “We lean into the vintage. We big-time lean in every vintage, but these are wines that taste like the site, the county, the winemaking team and the sun, which was everywhere.”

In The Hilt Estate Pinot Noir 2022 ($50) there's a sunshine burst of ripe red fruit hiding under the melancholly of the earty spicy notes on the introduction. It's a brilliant wine with acidity, fresh fruit and a salty blood orange note on the finish that is captivating