2021 Illumination Sauvignon Blanc

Quintessa is a 280-acre estate in Rutherford, in Napa Valley. It was founded in 1990 by Valeria and Agustin Huneeus, who had both had extensive experience in wine production and vineyard management. Agustin was chief executive officer of the Chilean producer Concha y Toro in the 1960s. He later held top positions at Seagram’s and Franciscan Estates. Valeria, a microbiologist by training, worked early in her career as a viticulturalist in South America. Quintessa makes just one wine, its flagship blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Petit Verdot, Cabernet Franc and Carmenere, depending on the vintage.

Napa Valley AVA is the most famous winemaking region in the United States and one of the most prestigious in the world. With nearly 43,000 acres of vineyards and more than 300 wineries, it is the heart of fine wine production in the United States. Winemaking started in Napa in 1838 when George C. Yount planted grapes and began producing wine commercially. Other winemaking pioneers followed in the late 19th century, including the founders of Charles Krug, Schramsberg, Inglenook and Beaulieu Vineyards. An infestation of phylloxera, an insect that attacks vine roots, and the onset of Prohibition nearly wiped out the nascent Napa wine industry in the early 20th century. But by the late 1950s and early 1960s Robert Mondavi and other visionaries were producing quality wines easily distinguishable from the mass-produced jug wines made in California’s Central Valley. Napa Valley’s AVA was established in 1983, and today there are 16 sub-appellations within the Napa Valley AVA. Many grapes grow well in Napa’s Mediterranean climate, but the region is best known for Cabernet Sauvignon. Chardonnay is also very successfully cultivated, and about 30% of the AVA’s acreage is planted to white grapes, with the majority of those grapes being Chardonnay,

This crisp, dry white wine hails from France but is grown in wine regions around the world. In California, it is sometimes called Fume Blanc; while in Sauternes, it is a component of their famous dessert wines.