Hilliard Bruce Pinot Noir
⏳ Drinking Window
2022 - 2028
🍽️ Food & Wine Pairings
Roasted duck, creamy mushroom risotto, grilled salmon
✨ Technical Specifications
The Dominion Tantara Hilliard Bruce Vineyard Pinot Noir is a masterful expression of the cold, wind-swept Sta. Rita Hills AVA in Santa Barbara County. Sourced from the highly acclaimed Hilliard Bruce Vineyard—famed for its meticulous, SIP-certified sustainable farming and unique maritime terroir—this wine benefits from the intense cooling influences of the nearby Pacific Ocean. The vineyard's soils, rich in diatomaceous earth and sandy loam, force the Pinot Noir vines to dig deep, resulting in low yields of highly concentrated fruit. Dominion Tantara utilizes traditional Burgundian winemaking techniques, including gentle gravity-flow transport, open-top fermentations, and aging in fine French oak barrels. This minimal-intervention approach coaxes out a beautiful tension between bright, crisp acidity and deep, complex red fruit flavors, capturing the true soul of this extreme coastal site.
🍾 About the Producer
Established in 1997 by Virginia natives Bill Cates and Jeff Fink, Dominion Tantara (originally founded as Tantara Winery) was born from a mutual passion for cool-climate Burgundian varieties. Operating out of the historic Rancho Tepusquet within Santa Maria Valley's celebrated Bien Nacido Vineyard, the winery sources fruit from elite Central Coast terroirs, including Dierberg, Talley Rincon, Zotovich, and old-vine blocks of Bien Nacido. Benefiting from east-west transverse maritime corridors that funnel morning fog and cool Pacific winds across benchland sandy-loam soils, the estate emphasizes long hang-times with natural acidity preservation. Viticultural practices focus on sustainable management with meticulous canopy care. Cellar vinification embraces low-intervention Burgundian traditions: selective whole-cluster fermentations, native yeasts, and aging in fine-grained French oak barriques. Benchmark bottlings include single-vineyard expressions such as Bien Nacido Vineyard O Block Chardonnay, Zotovich Vineyard Chardonnay, and Dierberg Vineyard Pinot Noir, prized for their tension, crystalline minerality, and savory aromatic depth.
🍇 Grapes
Pinot Noir
🍷 ABV
14-14.5%