Quintessa: The Final Napa Vineyard

Quintessa Vineyard was the last significant piece of the Napa Valley to be planted in the 20th century. In fact, it may be the last great vineyard established in the valley, period.

San Francisco restaurateur George Mardikian bought the hilly tract of land near Rutherford in the 1940s, but never developed it. After Mardikian’s death 20 years ago, his heirs refused to sell it--effectively holding the spectacular property in trust. When vintners Agustin and Valeria Huneeus acquired the Mardikian ranch in 1989, it was as if they’d reached back through time to sieze a lost treasure.

That such a viticultural prize went unplanted for so long is remarkable. The Napa Valley was already a notable wine district before 1900. After the widespread planting of new vineyards during the 1980s and ‘90s, there was virtually no promising vineyard land up for grabs.

Decade after decade, as the valley became a sea of world-famous vineyards, the promising 280-acre parcel between the Silverado Trail and the Napa River languished in its natural state. With its five oak-crowned slopes perfectly angled toward the sun, like so many solar panels, its well-drained volcanic soils and large spring-fed pond, it was widely regarded as potentially one of the finest pieces of prime vineyard land in the valley. Vintners eyed it enviously, imagining the slopes and swales covered with vines.

“There’s not a vintner in the valley who hasn’t secretly discovered this property and dreamed of buying it,” said Agustin Huneeus (who recently sold his partnership in Franciscan Estates to the Constellation group but remains Franciscan’s managing director) at a recent vertical tasting of the Quintessa wines. “We know of at least 14 escrows.” Prospective buyers have reportedly included Robert Mondavi, Joseph Heitz, Joseph Phelps and Beringer.

But the deed never changed hands. Always, said Huneeus, the heirs grew suspicious of one another and fell out at the last minute.

The pattern changed when they met Valeria Huneeus, Agustin’s brilliant and almost supernaturally charming wife. An experienced viticulturist with a personal vision of partnership with nature, Valeria was already well versed in the challenges of Napa Valley viticulture. In the 1980s she oversaw the renovation of the historic Mt. Veeder Winery estate, with its challenging vineyards set into several rugged canyons. When she looked at the old Mardikian property, she saw small blocks of organically grown vines and tasted, on the mind’s palate, a luxuriant red wine.

It took all of Valeria’s considerable charm and determination to win the land. “I kept going back, trying to win their trust, and I never let them say a final ‘no’,” she says. She succeeded where many others had failed, and by 1990 she was working with vineyard designer Howard Tugel to lay out Quintessa’s high-density plantings.

Such good fortune in acquiring a potentially great piece of vineyard land carries a weight of responsibility. The Huneeuses, veterans of the explosive Californian and Chilean wine industries over the last quarter-century, haven’t shirked it. Over the last decade they’ve developed a wine estate worthy of the pedigree.

The first Quintessa cuvee, from the 1994 vintage, was impressive. Subsequent releases, overseen by Bordeaux master blender Jacques Boissenot, have gone from strength to strength. Contrary to the current vogue for dense, syrupy Cabernets, they present splendidly ripe Rutherford fruit with clarity and elegance. That classical style was affirmed in 1999 with the appointment of Bordeaux-trained winemaker Phillipe Melka.

So far the wines have been made in leased facilities. But early this year ground was broken for a sleek gravity-flow winery that will be set into one of the knolls with barrel-aging caves extending deep into the rock behind it. The 2002 Quintessa will be made there.

The varietal mix at Quintessa is about 65% Cabernet Sauvignon, 20% Merlot and 15% Cabernet Franc. Each variety has its own blocks in the property’s diverse geography of terraces, miniature valleys and hilltops.

The proportions are adjusted as Valeria learns more about the property. Recently, for example, she decided that one of the Cabernet Franc blocks was under-performing, so she replaced it with Merlot. “We learn something new each year,” she says. “The land continues to teach us how to bring out its best qualities.”

The varietal mix generally carries through in the blend, although Melka and Boissenot keep an open mind in selecting from up to 35 separate lots of wine. The ’94 was weighted toward Cabernet Franc. It’s aging beautifully, retaining its high-toned elegance and pure fruit. But the cuvee increasingly tends toward complex expressions of Cabernet Sauvignon, luscious and clearly defined, with Merlot and Franc in supporting roles.

The ’95 is more massive, the ’96 somewhat more intensely fruity, and both show the Rutherford opulence and purity. The Quintessa program really seemed to hit its stride with the unique ’97 vintage, which produced a large crop of superbly concentrated fruit. The ’97 Quintessa balances lush fruit, succulent tannin, grace and power with an effortless momentum through the palate.

The ’98 is a little more angular and tightly wound in youth, the fruit side more restrained, which shows off the fine structure and palate-engraving definition that increasingly seems to be the signal quality of Quintessa terroir. In the stunning ’99 it all comes together--concentration, depth of flavor and finesse.

A selection of four vintage 2000 Cabernets from separate blocks provided a glimpse into the complexity of expression on the estate. The Dragon’s Terraces wine showed a deep, clean, roasted-slope character. The Cruz Del Sur and Corona Norte Cabs, from contiguous but physically different blocks, demonstrated what a difference a soil shift and steeper slope can make in tannin structure.

And the wine from the Howard’s Million block was a velvety beauty, round and firm and deeply flavored with a fine weight on the palate. Howard Tugel’s faith is not misplaced--that wine could be bottled unblended with a cult-Cab price tag.

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Smith is writer-at-large for Wine & Spirits Magazine.