Quintessa Rutherford - $198.99

Wine Details

Price: $198.99
Producer: Quintessa
Region: Rutherford
Varietal: Dry Red Table Wine
Container Size: 1.5 L
Flavors: currant, game, mint, mocha, plum
  • Award Winning
  • Red Wine
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Product Description

  • Due to a very concentrated vintage, the 2004 Quintessa takes a departure into the realm of power, allthe while maintaining the finesse and elegance that have been the signature of the wine from the Quintessa Estate since its inception. An opaque jet black robe leads to a bold attack, transitioning into a weighty layered mid-palette of infinite complexity. The finish is supple and round with good length and exquisitely forged tannins.

Expert Ratings

Ratings Vintage Source Flavors
Tanzer - 89 Details: ($120) Bright, saturated ruby-red. Sweet aromas of roasted plum, mocha, truffle, loam and maple syrup. Sweet, lush and broad, with fat flavors of currant and spices. Finishes with substantial, building, dusty tannins that coat the teeth. This would make a very good steakhouse red. 2002 Tanzer currant, game, mint, mocha, plum
2001 Tanzer currant, minerals, new oak, spices, spicy, strawberry
Tanzer - 89 Details: Dark red. Slightly roasted aromas of plum, strawberry and currant jam, complicated by tobacco and mint. Expressive and slightly exotic on the palate, with superripe red fruit and tobacco flavors and a whiff of raisin. The roasted element carries through in the mouth. Finishes with building tannins, a note of caramel and moderate thrust and grip. 89 points 2001 Tanzer
2001 Tanzer blackberry, dark berries, mineral, oak, raspberry, spicy, truffle
Tanzer - 89 Details: (cabernet sauvignon with 25% merlot and 5% cabernet franc) Bright ruby-red. Complex aromas of currant, black cherry, dark raspberry, dark chocolate, graphite, tobacco, espresso, mocha and mint. Supple and sweet on entry, then quite fresh in the middle, with Bordeaux-like flavors of currant, mocha, minerals and tar. Not a large-scaled wine but nicely balanced. Finishes with big, mouthcoating tannins and finishing notes of charry oak and dark chocolate. 2000 Tanzer black cherry, currant, dark chocolate, espresso, graphite, minerals, mint, mocha, oak, raspberry, tar, tobacco
2000 WineEnthusiast cassis, oak
2000 CGCW cassis, cherries, oak, spice
Tanzer - 90(+?) Details: Bright red-ruby. Highly aromatic nose combines currant, cherry, spicecake, bitter chocolate, marzipan and a floral topnote. Lively, intensely flavored and light on its feet, with perfumed flavors of red cherry and rose petal and slightly intrusive oakiness. Grew silky as it opened in the glass. Finishes with fine but firm tannins that call for at least a few years of additional bottle aging. 1999 Tanzer bitter, cherry, chocolate, currant, red cherry, rose petal
Tanzer - 89-91? Details: Full, saturated ruby. Aromas of blackberry, cassis and licorice. Juicy and rather high in acidity, with tart-edged flavors of black fruits and violet. Seems rather tough today, with the wine acids clashing with its tannins. Very backward, rather powerful wine. This vintage witnessed a concentration of sugars and acids more through dehydration-"a more brutal ripeness"-than through normal development of flavor via sunshine and warm weather, notes winemaker Philippe Melka. The 2000 vintage produced more elegant wines, with softer tannins, he adds, as a couple of hot spells resulted in more thorough ripeness of the skins. 89-91? points 1999 Tanzer blackberry, cassis, licorice, violet
1999 WineEnthusiast oak
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Food Pairings

Category Pairing
Cheese Soft Pungent Cheese
Pasta & Grains Lasagna
Sauces Red Wine Sauce

Awards and Accolades

  Name Vintage
Award Winner 100 Best Wines - 2008 - Wine & Spirits  

Wine Terms

Name Value
United States Wineries exist in all fifty states, but the most predominant (and best) wine comes from Northern California, Oregon, and Washington State, with New York gaining a foothold in the industry. American wines make up about 75% of all wine sales in the US. The appellation system uses the term AVA (American Viticultural Area) to determine where wines were produced, but grape varieties can be planted anywhere in the country. American wineries generally use varietal labeling, and government regulations require that the variety on the label must make up at least 75% of the blend (in Oregon it’s 90%). The words reserve, special selection, private reserve, classic, and so on have no legal definition in the US. Some wineries use these terms to indicate their better wines; others use the words as a marketing tool to move lower quality wines off the shelf.
California California produces the majority of wine made in the United States. Chardonnay, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Sauvignon Blanc, Zinfandel and Pinot Noir dominate the wine production in California, but many other varietials thrive in the California climate. Many fine wines are produced in California using Mediterranean grapes.
Napa County Napa County is located north of the San Francisco Bay Area in California. At the north end of Napa County is the Bay Area's second tallest peak Mount Saint Helena, and to the far south of Napa County lays the section of the Napa Valley that bleeds into Carneros. When the first white settlers arrived in the early 1830s, there were six tribes in the valley speaking different dialects and they were often at war with each other. The Mayacomos tribe lived in the area where Calistoga was founded. Napa County was one of the original counties of California, created in 1850 at the time of statehood. Napa Valley is widely considered one of the top wine regions in California and all of the United States. By the end of the nineteenth century there were more than one hundred and forty wineries in the area. Today Napa Valley features more than two hundred wineries and grows many different grape varieties including Cabernet Sauvignon, Chardonnay, Merlot, and Zinfandel. The region is visited by as many as five million people each year, making it the second to Disneyland as the most popular tourist destination in California.
Rutherford The region of Rutherford is a large alluvial fan north of Oakville that spreads north and south in the middle of Napa Valley, CA. This sloping mass of sediments deposited by the river gave birth to some of the most famous and historic wineries in Napa. Composed of gravelly, sandy clay loam soil, in recent years you can't hear much about Rutherford without the fraise "Rutherford Dust", most likely do to the warm growing temperatures. Rutherford warm weather is well suited for the Cabernet Sauvignon which is the main wine of the region.

Tasting Notes

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