Quintessa
Twenty-six blocks on 280 Rutherford acres, each picked and fermented on its own, aged apart up to two years, then blended into one wine with Carmenere in it.
Why go
The estate presents one wine, the Quintessa blend, and farms as if it made twenty-six. A 280-acre property holds 160 planted acres, cut into 26 blocks.1 They farm each block organic and biodynamic, then pick and ferment it on its own.1 Pickers bring the fruit in at dawn. The cellar sorts it and gravity-feeds it into oak, steel or concrete.1 Every plot then ages apart for up to two years in French oak before anybody blends anything, and the finished blend sits another year in bottle.1 Five varieties go in: Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Petit Verdot and Carmenere.1 That last one is the tell, because hardly anyone else in this valley plants Carmenere. Agustin and Valeria Huneeus founded the place, and the site does not say when.1
Order this / avoid
- Order: the Quintessa blend, the wine the estate presents; which of the five varieties are in it moves with the vintage.1
- Avoid: driving up without a confirmed booking. Every visit path on the winery's own site returned not-found when I tried and no booking page answered, so call first.
What locals & experts say
- Quintessa, on the farming:
Each block is farmed ... organically and Biodynamic® ... harvested, and vinified individually to preserve and enhance the nuances of the land.
1 - Quintessa, on the cellar:
The fruit is harvested early in the morning, then sorted and gravity-fed into oak, stainless steel or concrete tanks and vinified. Once fermentation and maceration are complete, the wine from each plot is aged separately for up to two years in French oak. After the final Quintessa blend is created, the wine is bottled and laid down for yet another year before release.
1
Both of those are the estate on itself, and it names no certifying body behind the organic and biodynamic claim. I read no outside palate on this wine, so I have no critic's line for you.
Good to know
- No price, no hours, no format. Three visit paths on the winery's own site return not-found and no booking page answered, so book by phone or through the estate directly.
- Hygiene: not established. I have no inspection record for this county.
Verdict
could-visit — One estate, one blend, and a production sequence that explains the price: 26 blocks across 280 Rutherford acres, each farmed organic and biodynamic, picked at dawn, gravity-fed, fermented and aged apart for up to two years in French oak before anyone blends anything, then a further year in bottle. Carmenere sits in that blend beside the Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot, which is a variety almost nobody else here bothers to plant and the reason this tastes different from its neighbors. Agustin and Valeria Huneeus founded it and the site gives no year for that. The rung stops here because no route to a booking answered on this pass, so I cannot tell you what a visit costs or when they pour.