Napa Importer Quintessential Takes Over U.S. Sales for Montes and Kaiken
The Napa company becomes the exclusive U.S. importer for the Chilean winery on November 1 and for its Argentine sister winery on January 1, adding two South American names to a portfolio built on family owned estates.
NAPA: Quintessential, the wine importer based in Napa, will handle U.S. sales for two South American wineries under an agreement the company announced on Tuesday, Oct. 20. The company says it has been named the exclusive importer, distributor and marketer in the United States for Montes, the Chilean producer, and for Kaiken, the Argentine winery that the Montes family created across the Andes. The Montes side of the arrangement starts Nov. 1, 2026, and Kaiken follows on Jan. 1, 2027.
Quintessential works only with family owned wineries and distilleries, and the two additions deepen a South American bench that, according to the company, already holds Pascual Toso and Bodegas Bianchi from Argentina and Seña, Viñedo Chadwick and Matetic Vineyards from Chile.
Montes and Kaiken are exactly the kind of partners we look for at QuintessentialDennis Kreps, co-owner of Quintessential, in the company announcement on Oct. 20, 2026
Kreps went on to say, in the same announcement, that both wineries pair strong wines with a long term view of their vineyards, and that his company plans to build on the record the two have already established with American buyers.
Montes and Kaiken are exactly the kind of partners we look for at Quintessential.
A Chilean name built in Apalta
Montes dates to 1988 and built its reputation from its estate at Apalta in Chile’s Colchagua Valley. Trade materials for its Montes Alpha Cabernet Sauvignon describe fruit drawn mainly from that Finca Apalta vineyard, with additional fruit from the Marchigüe estate. The winery’s best known bottlings include Montes Alpha M, Montes Folly and Purple Angel. Aurelio Montes Sr. co-founded the house, and his son, Aurelio Montes Jr., serves as chief winemaker, a role also listed on the winery’s trade pages.
Kaiken began in Mendoza in 2002. Its name comes from the caiquén, the wild goose that crosses the Andes between Chile and Argentina, and portfolio materials for the winery trace the same crossing to Aurelio Montes himself, who made repeated trips into Mendoza before founding it. The winery farms in Luján de Cuyo and the Uco Valley, with Malbec at the center of its range and a Vistalba bottling called Mai at the top of it.
What changes for buyers
For American retailers and restaurants, the practical change is the route the wines travel. Orders, marketing and distribution for both houses will run through the Napa company once each start date arrives, rather than through their previous arrangements. Both wineries also hold Certified B Corporation status, a point each side flagged in the announcement and one that Kaiken’s portfolio listings in the trade also record.
The announcement gave no pricing changes and no changes to the wines themselves. The first date to watch is Nov. 1, when the Montes portfolio changes hands in the U.S. market.
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