Quintessa 2013 Red Blend, Rutherford, Napa Valley

The flagship wine of the Huneeus Family of Napa Valley, Quintessa is a Meritage style blended red wine from estate vineyards in the Rutherford Bench district. Each year, it is a blend that can include some or all of the five varietals grown on the estate: Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Petit Verdot and Carmenere. Fruit from each component block of Quintessa is harvested, sorted, then gravity fed into either oak or stainless steel fermentation tanks. Once fermentation and maceration are complete, each block of wine is aged separately for up to two years in French oak barrels. After aging, the components are brought together and the final blend is created. Robert Parker scored this 2013 96 points saying "The 2013 Proprietary Red Wine has always been good, but I think they have re-positioned themselves at a much higher pinnacle with the 2013. This is a Cabernet Sauvignon-dominated blend but has important component parts such as Cabernet Franc, Merlot and Petit Verdot from their gorgeous vineyards just off the Silverado Trail in Rutherford. The wine has a dense bluish/purple color and a beautiful nose of black raspberries, blueberries, lead pencil shavings, and touches of oak and spring flowers. The complexity of the fragrance is followed by a wine with terrific body, stunning purity, wonderful balance, and great depth and richness. This is certainly the most profound Quintessa made to date and should evolve gracefully for at least 20-25 years." and James Suckling scored it 98 points and said "This is really fantastic on the nose with blackberries, blueberries, lavender, and violets. Even sage. Full body plus extremely integrated tannins that are polished and refined. The balance and harmony are phenomenal. Goes on for minutes. Beautiful now but will satisfy for decades."