Quilceda Creek

One of the premier North American wineries, Quilceda Creek has achieved more 100 plus scores from Robert Parker than any other Washington winery. Originally founded in 1979, Quilceda Creek has become a benchmark for Cabernet Sauvignon in Washington State. The attention to detail by superstar winemaker Paul Golitzin shows in the glass. Similar to my winery visit last year, I was incredibly impressed with their efforts in an awesome vintage, 2013. There were only some very slight differences in their wines, as their 2013 efforts were showcasing some slightly darker fruit profiles, while both vintages exhibited lovely richness and intensity, while maintaining a strong mineral backbone.

One wine that continues to impress for the money is the CVR, formerly known as their ‘Red Wine.’ The 2013 Quilceda Creek ‘CVR’ (WWB, 93) is a rich and viscous product of an incredible vintage. At the 40 dollar retail price point, it serves as an incredible value and a great special occasion wine. Following up my wine of the year, 2012 Columbia Valley Cabernet, is their 2013 Quilceda Creek ‘Columbia Valley’ Cabernet (WWB, 98). It is hard to explain the level of complexity and richness to this wine. This is an absolutely memorable effort by Paul Galitzine and his winemaking team that really should be cellared for at least another two years. Finally, look for the 2013 Quilceda Creek ‘Galitzine Vineyard’ Cabernet (WWB, 97) which stands neck and neck with their ‘Columbia Valley’ bottling and rivals the best Cabernet in North America. These two Cabernet releases are amongst the best new world wines that I have sampled in the past year. While Quilceda Creek is primarily only available through mailing lists, some of their wines can be found online at klwines.com as well as wine.com. Learn more about the fantastic new release wines by Quilceda Creek at http://quilcedacreek.com/ Here are the absolutely scintillating new release wines by Quilceda Creek.

2013 Quilceda Creek 'CVR' Red Wine- This excellent value wine is blend of 73% Cabernet 14% Merlot, 6% Cabernet Franc, 4% Petit Verdot and 3% Malbec that was sourced from the Champoux, Galitzine, Palengat, Tapteil, and Wallula Gap Vineyards. Aged 22 months in French oak, this wine opens with layered aromas of anise crème de cassis, coffee grounds and tar. There are rich flavors of creme de cassis, red cherry, lavender, black olive, and blackberry compote. The 2013 CVR is a structured and polished wine that will cellar beautifully into the next decade. Drink 2016-2026- 93

2013 Quilceda Creek 'Palengat' Red Wine-This wine is a blend of 58% Merlot, 30% Cabernet and 12% Cab Franc that was aged 20 months in new French oak prior to bottling in June 2015. As this slowly opens in the glass it begins to show deep aromas of mocha, anise, red bell pepper, sagebrush and creme de cassis. The red blend has beautifully layered flavors of red bell pepper, anise, creme de cassis, red cherry and blackberry jam. The texture of this wine is absolutely gorgeous which leads to the long, persistent finish. Try to resist this lovely blend for at least another year. Drink 2017-2035- 94

2013 Quilceda Creek 'Columbia Valley' Cabernet- Following up the highly impressive 2012 Cabernet, the 2013 Cabernet was sourced from the Champoux Vineyard (95%) as well as the Wallula Vineyard (5%).  Needing more than a two hour decant at this point to fully sing, the Cabernet opens with exotic aromatics of Turkish coffee, creme de cassis, anise, red bell pepper and violets. The wine has ultra-rich flavors of anise, creme de cassis, red bell pepper, graphite and blackberry cobbler while maintaining a vibrant minerality. The texture of this wine is ethereal. Despite a long decant there are still some mild to moderate tannins, that complement the velvety mouthfeel. This combination of viscosity and tension is without an equal in Washington Cabernet. There is a seamless quality to this wine that reminds me of the epic 2005 Quilceda Creek ‘Columbia Valley’ Cabernet bottling. The intoxicating aromatics of this wine bring you continually back to the glass for more. Try to resist this beautiful wine for at least two more years. Drink 2018-2040- 98

2013 Quilceda Creek 'Galitzine Vineyard' Cabernet- This 100% Cabernet wine was primarily sourced from their estate vineyard on Red Mountain, with only 5% coming from the Wallula Vineyard. The Cabernet was aged for 20 months in new French oak prior to bottling in June 2015. Initially aromatically reticent and needing a two plus hour decant, the wine slowly develops with air. After considerable time in the decanter to unwind, the wine unleashes exceedingly dense aromatics of creme de cassis, anise, coffee grounds, red bell pepper, and red cherry. This leads to mouth-watering flavors of red cherry, red bell pepper, creme de cassis and anise with suggestions of mocha and crème de cassis. Somewhat mirroring the Columbia Valley bottling, the texture, fruit weight and intensity of this wine is absolutely superlative. I see this as showcasing a slightly more masculine fruit and aromatic profile than their 2013 Columbia Valley bottling. This wine represents an absolutely gorgeous effort that stands neck and neck with their Columbia Valley bottling and is up there with the best Galitzine Vineyard Cabernet that I've ever sampled in the past ten years. Cellar this impressive bottling for at least two more years. Drink 2018-2040- 97