Welcome to Q Journal.

A dry winter marked the start of 2021, foreshadowing somewhat smaller canopies in the vineyard. We pruned accordingly to encourage balanced ripening through the growing season. Against the backdrop of dry conditions, spring was refreshingly cool, allowing the clusters to develop slowly. From June through August, when sugar begins to accumulate, days were moderately warm,…

At Quintessa, we view the land, the plants and animals it sustains, and the people who tend to it as one living, interconnected organism. This biodynamic philosophy prompts us to treat the vineyard and winery holistically—in an effort to channel the property’s energy into a pure and distinctive wine. This commitment also brings vibrancy to…

How to capture the story of Quintessa in a single image? This was a question that both inspired andchallenged us. It’s not as if maps of the estate didn’t exist. But none of them successfully painted the full picture of this property’s distinctive setting in Rutherford between two mountain ranges, nor its astonishing geological complexity,…

Farming organically and biodynamically carries a great deal of responsibility. Each year, we seek to learn what the plants need to perform at the highest level—to best capture the diverse character of our estate, no matter the conditions of the season. Our effort to understand Quintessa’s composition underground informs our vineyard decisions aboveground. Our geologic…

Illumination emerged from a clear vision, inspired by the tradition of Bordeaux’s great estates. Simply put: to create a white wine that would be a worthy partner to Quintessa—possessing the complexity, character, and transparency to mirror our estate blend. From our first small production in 2006, the core of the fruit for Illumination has always…

In hindsight, 2020 was a bellwether year, a season that tested—and ultimately affirmed—our pinpoint understanding of each vineyard block, the kind of wine it wants to produce, and the proactive farming it needs to fulfill that potential. The mosaic of our estate vineyard gave us a wide-ranging palette of unique site expressions to work with…

Our Illumination mirrors the soul and substance of Quintessa, produced with the same philosophy of blending and expression of terroir. It’s a white wine with complex layers of flavor, profound textures, and the capacity to age. A blend of Sauvignon Blanc and Sémillon, Illumination expresses the character of the sites where it is grown, amplified…

One of the most exciting truths about wine is that each year shapes it in an entirely new way. In the vineyard, as the vines draw on the resources of soil and sun, nuances of moisture and warmth create flavors and textures in the wine unique to that vintage. Ideally, the environment supports balanced ripening:…

The 2019 Quintessa celebrates the precision and nuance of a vintage that reflects the full complexity of our estate. It is an expression of Quintessa in a graceful growing season, yielding a wine of transparency and depth—full of flavor, while also energizing and persistent. This vintage began with well-timed rains that encouraged a smooth start….

The blue oaks growing throughout the estate are testaments to its formation. It was the vision of Valeria Huneeus to not only respect these majestic trees, but to retain every single one on the property, many of which have been rooted here for centuries. These oak forests inform the character of Quintessa as much as…

For more than three decades, we have dedicated ourselves to deepening our relationship with the Quintessa estate. Founders Valeria and Agustin Huneeus discovered Quintessa in the course of their search for a pristine landscape. Their shared vision was to steward the beauty of an estate while thoughtfully farming a wine that could become its distinctive…

It can be easy to overlook a vineyard in winter. The vines are bare of leaves, dormant. The fruit has all been harvested. However, the winter months reveal a wine’s potential. Bare vines in winter stand like an x-ray, divulging the form of their growth over time. The vineyard’s imperfections are visible. Its adaptation to…

Each year we rededicate ourselves to preserving the pristine beauty of Quintessa, to respecting the distinctive voice of this property, to stewarding its future. It is the commitment of our entire team that makes this possible. Most of our employees have worked at Quintessa for more than 15 years. In the vineyard, Martin Galvin has…

From the first moment Valeria saw what would become Quintessa, she was very adamant about not doing anything to harm the land. To discover a property of this size in Napa Valley that had never been planted to vineyards was rare, and presented a great responsibility to protect the beauty. Organic, and in 1996, Biodynamic®…

As a living expression of the estate, each vintage of Quintessa is an opportunity to listen to the unique voice of this property that is shaped by the soils, vines, climate, and human element. “Every year has a distinct personality, and with each vintage we are working to make a deeper connection between the soils,…

In 1989, when Valeria and Agustin Huneeus began mapping out vineyards on the ancient uplifts and swales of their distinct property, they were confident it could produce a wine of exceptional elegance and complexity. Inspired by the old world estate model, their intent was to make a single wine each year that would best express…

Glance into Estate Director Rodrigo Soto and Winemaker Rebekah Wineburg’s office on the fermentation level of the Quintessa winery, and the first thing you see is rocks— rows and rows of volcanic rocks, in shades of gray, ocher and ebony, some that even resemble gemstones. “This land has been witness to the creation of Napa…

On a warm August day at Quintessa in the heart of Rutherford, Rodrigo Soto sits across from Rebekah Wineburg and  a table covered in some 150 glasses, each filled with a different barrel sample of estate wine from the 2017 vintage, which has been aging in barrel for almost a year in the caves beneath…

Each vintage of Quintessa tells a story about the evolution of this property, and about Napa Valley itself. Thanks to a near-perfect growing season, the 2016 vintage has a sense of generosity that is reflected in the wine, with continual layers that are revealed not only as the wine opens in your glass, but also…

The Huneeus family is pleased to announce Rodrigo Soto as Quintessa’s Estate Director. Born and raised in Chile, in many ways Rodrigo has been preparing for this role nearly all his life. His interest in wine began with a summer job at the age of 14, and after growing intrigued, decided to study agronomy in…