Quintessa — Napa’s upcoming premier estate?

There are many small estate wineries in Napa Valley producing only one primary wine, and Opus One does the same with 35,000 cases. Many people suspect, however, that Quintessa has the potential to become the Valley’s leading larger producer specializing in one superb wine.

The winery is owned by Agustin and Valeria Huneeus, big names in the wine business.

Agustin was president of Concha y Toro in their native Chile, leaving during the times of political instability to come to California where he held important positions at California wineries before becoming an investor and president of what was then a distressed winery specializing in cheaper wines, Franciscan Winery.

He helped raise that winery to a new level, in the process acquiring small Mount Veeder Winery, but also establishing Estancia in Alexander Valley (now on the Central Coast) and Veramonte in Chile’s Casablanca Valley and a small winery called Quintessa based on a vineyard in Rutherford.

A few years ago, huge Constellation Brands bought Franciscan and all its parts other than Quintessa, coalescing the brands plus Simi it acquired, into the fine wine arm of Constellation (Canandaigua being the lower end wines, and BRLHardy from Australia a new operation).

Huneeus kept Quintessa, though Franciscan continues to market its wines, and son Agustin Francisco is the president of Franciscan.

What makes Quintessa special is its unique site. Probably the only large hillside property in the middle of Napa Valley, it contains what were virgin vineyards planted in diverse soils and exposures. The vineyards are planted in a variety of Bordeaux varieties. Valeria Huneeus, who is a PhD viticulturist, supervises the property.

From then mix of grapes grown of the estate, winemaker Sarah Gott, formerly the winemaker at Joseph Phelps Vineyards, can mix and match to produce one special wine called simply Quintessa. Made in the Bordeaux style, more elegant and restrained that some of California’s exuberant Cabernets, it’s made to excel now but also age with the best.

To make the wine, Huneeus created an unusual winery that blends into one of his property’s hills. The rock-faced structure will become part of the landscape over time as plantings rise in front of the structure.

As the estate nears completion, I’m reminded of Agustin Huneeus’ comments, “I want people to visit here to remember the vineyards, not the winery.” Having tasted a number of vintages of the wines, I can add, I suspect they’ll remember the wine as well.

Copia bakes 300 lb. cake

Copia, the interesting American Center for Wine, Food and the Arts, has a opening for its latest exhibit, Sweet Tooth. With a name like that, you knew it would be a bad place for sweet-lovers to hang out. Fortunately, wine and savories are my weakness, so I was pretty safe.

A number of wineries poured sweet wines, both syrupy dessert wines and St. Supéry’s delightful Moscato, only slightly sweet with a delightful Muscat aroma. I know Americans with their love of fruit and sweet things would find such Muscat wines delightful if they hadn’t been brainwashed by wine snobs.

Of course, there were plates of sweets around, but the star of the show was a 300-lb. cake, constructed and decorated on site, then cut into nibbles for a ravenous crowd. Copia hs more than 8000 members, half local, and I think most were waiting in line for the cake. I didn’t but heard it was excellent.

My friend Lori loves sweets, but the line was too long, and we hadn’t eaten, so headed for Misto restaurant, one of nine Italian restaurants in downtown Napa.

Long a local favorite, Misto has upgraded both its ambience and food as competitors opened. You can either take the economy route, or eat like Italians, as we did with a shared antipasti and risotto, then separate main courses. Followed by an unctuous chocolate dessert.

Since I had been to Sicily last year and had a good time there, we shared a bottle of Regaleali wine, one of the island’s bests.

Copia, by the way, is open Wednesday through Monday from 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Julia's Kitchen serves lunch those days and resumes dinner service Thursday through Sunday March 20 from 5:30-9:30 p.m.

Pacific Quartet plays home concert

As in Florence of old, people in Napa Valley are starting to open their homes for concerts, poetry readings and even theatrical performances. It’s a delightful trend, and a nice reminder of what life was like before we all depended on television and recorded music for our entertainment. The home boasts a performance room with great acoustics, but I’ve also attended performances in modest homes and in cramped patios and lawns.

I recently attended such a performance at the mountaintop estate of Don and Barbara Niemann, who just moved here full time from Chicago. They invited people to pay to hear a concert by the famed Pacific Quartet to raise money for the Napa Valley Opera House, which is nearing having enough money to restore its dramatic, century-old upstairs auditorium.

The quartet is based at Northwestern University—it began in California, hence its name — where it’s the Quartet in Residence, and performs, and its members teach. It also espouses contemporary music, commissioning eight new string quartets alone in a recent season.

The Niemann’s home occupies a magnificent setting high above Lake Hennessey east of Napa Valley itself, and looks down on such famed vienayrds and wineries as Chappellet, David Arthur and Long Vineyards. With its southwestern exposure, the site would be a superb place to grow cabernet, but it would be difficult to get permission to plant grapes there; Napa County is already demanding and becoming more strident in protecting the hills from erosion and disturbance in general.

Auberge restaurant regains stature

The classiest place to stay in Napa Valley is almost certainly Auberge du Soleil, a world-class resort in the eastern hills of Napa Valley east of Rutherford. When it was first opened as a restaurant in 1981 by Claude Rouas, it raised the culinary standards of the whole Valley.

Since then, it’s coasted along, being best known for superb service in a lovely site with fancy rather than exceptional food. It’s as if presentation had taken preference over taste and innovation.

Of late, the resort has decided to change that, first hiring executive chef Richard Reddington, who is gaining recognition for his offerings. It also remodeled its restaurant , bar and kitchen, and recently held a dinner featuring top chefs and wines to celebrate the event.

The restaurant now certainly matches the stature of the rest of the resort, and takes its place among the elite of Napa Valley for food and experience. It’s now clearly a destination worthy attending in its own right, clearly an alternative to Domaine Chandon, LaToque and the French Laundry for celebrating a exceptional occasion.

Carneros Inn to open early Fall 2003

It’s basically impossible to get permission to build anything in Napa Valley’s agricultural preserve except houses and wineries, and even those are becoming increasingly difficult. Most development, and even it is limited, lies in the cities, especially Napa itself.

Nevertheless, a few clever entrepreneurs have been able to turn some existing, “grandfathered” sites to new uses.

Two are fancy resorts being built at the sites of old recreational vehicle parks.

One is Carneros Inn, the first new resort approved in Napa County in 20 years, and the other is Calistoga Ranch. Both are in later stages of construction, and both should open this year.

Carneros Inn is being welcomed by most wineries in the Carneros district as provided the first center for that large grape-growing area. It’s is sure to prove popular for events and lodging for their guests.

The property had a permit for 96 RV spaces and 24 house trailers, er, mobile homes, so the new resort includes 96 RV-size (about 800 sq.ft.) cottages, some arranged in suites, 24 residences for sale, and a small town-like square on 27 acres plus significant guest facilities.

In spite of the origins of the permit, it’s a first-class resort and expects to charge up to $400 per night for the accommodations.

Each cottage includes a large bedroom and bath, plus a private pation and all the amenities.

The resort will include a fine dining restaurant, bar and spa at the property's highest elevation open only to guests, another provision of the permit.

Breakfast will be delivered to rooms, but the resort is replacing an existing roadside café with nicer facility that will serve breakfast and lunch to guests, locals and the general public. The café will also feature a wide selection of Carneros wines as well as special small-lot productions from elsewhere in the region.

The developers, Carneros Partners, also have permission to develop additional cottages in an adjacent property once used to store RVs. The Inn is at 4048 Sonoma Highway and the phone number is 299-4900. It whould open in early Fall.

More on Calistoga Ranch, which is being developed by Auberge du Soleil, later.

Contact Paul: paul@ilovenapa.com