2016 Quintessa Proprietary Red Rutherford Napa Valley 750 ml

If Quintessa weren’t already a Napa Valley benchmark, their 2016 Proprietary Red would make it one: With its gorgeous ripe fruit, lush and tightly knit texture, and the aromatic brilliance of a warm-vintage Bordeaux, it’s one of the most beautifully elegant Napa Valley Cabernets we’ve tasted. Even though we expected greatness when we pulled the cork, the first sip of the 2016 still stunned us into silence.

We’re not the only ones who believe this is the greatest wine ever off Quintessa’s Rutherford estate. Jeb Dunnuck called it “a quintessential, rich, elegant Napa Bordeaux blend,” and James Suckling gave it 98 points. Robert Parker’s Wine Advocate honored it with a 97+ score, eclipsing the 2013, which Parker himself had called “certainly the most profound Quintessa made to date.”

Indeed, the 2016 is near-perfect. Bursting with aromas ripe black currant, blackberry, and blueberry fruit overlaid with fresh tobacco, graphite, baking spice, and clove, the 2016 has a lushly textured palate that cradles black fruit, exotic spice, and vanilla flavors. It’s flawlessly constructed and balanced, and showing its youthful vigor in tightly knit and elegant tannins. It’s a Napa Valley showpiece that will age gracefully for decades. 

Quintessa is a Napa Valley classic, a cellar must in any vintage, and the 2016 stands as their crowning achievement to date. Whether you choose to open this bottle in one month, two decades, or in between, it promises to be unforgettable—for you and everyone you share it with. 

It’s hard to think of a more pristine property than Quintessa. Located just north of the Oakville Crossroad, it’s bordered by the Silverado Trail in the east and the Napa River in the west, and is a sight to behold, whether you’re driving by or perched high above, gazing down from Michelin-starred Auberge du Soleil.

Some of what makes this property special is readily apparent—its undulating landscape of hills and valleys, oriented in all directions, provides the benefit of varied exposures—while some of the magic is beyond view. The vines dig deep into white volcanic ash in the eastern hills, deep gravel in the central hills, and a mix of clay, loam, sand, and gravel in the benchlands. The diverse array of soils provides Quintessa with the character that most winemakers can only dream of. 

In the age of single-vineyard wines, Quintessa follows the Bordelaise blueprint, as they have from the beginning: They produce one flagship red from their 160 acres of organically and biodynamically farmed Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Petit Verdot, and Carmenère. Each of their 26 blocks is farmed, harvested, and vinified separately, then blended to capture the estate in its diverse entirety.

In the 98-point 2016 vintage, the five varieties enjoyed an extended hang time until harvest, which took place between September 15th and October 13th. Winemaker Rebecca Wineburg then crafted that perfect fruit into a masterpiece, aging the wine for 20 months in 70% new French oak, and holding it back for another year before release. 

The result is a high-water mark for an estate that, in any vintage, represents Napa Valley at its most decadent and elegant. The 2016 Quintessa is a cellar must for the California Cabernet collector, a wine that will pay dividends for decades, and prove unforgettable long after you take your last sip.