While I am sent a nonstop cornucopia of wines for review, one of my favorite things at the end of the week is to reach into my cellar and find a great pull. I have had the chance to be revisiting many of the older Quilceda Creek wines over the past year and this time I ran into the otherworldly 2018 Quilceda Creek ‘Galitzine Vineyard’ Cabernet Sauvignon. For me this has to be one of the finest ‘Galitzine’ wines made.
This wine is sourced from this small site in the Red Mountain AVA, which is typically the warmest appellation in Washington State and an ideal region for growing red wine grapes. The location is farmed by Vineyard Manager Dan Nickolaus, and the 17-acre Galitzine Vineyard was planted in 2001-2002 exclusively to Cabernet Sauvignon Clone 8. The vineyard is clearly really coming into its own right now at the twenty year mark. Wines from this site have massive power with beautiful tar and scorched earth notes from this hot site. This is usually one of the earlier sites to be harvested by Quilceda Creek.
Onto the wine, as it comes from the epic 2018 growing season — one that was warm but did not see many 100+ degree days. For my palate this is one of the finest vintages in Washington State history, up there with the legendary years of 2005 and 2002. Enough with the intro, here is my review of the absolutely epic 2018 ‘Galitzine Vineyard’ Cabernet Sauvignon by Quilceda Creek.
2018 Quilceda Creek ‘Galitzine Vineyard’ Cabernet Sauviginon- A totally different animal to the ‘Columbia Valley’ Cabernet, but just as good, the incredible 2018 Quilceda Creek ‘Galitzine Vineyard’ is a perfect wine that shows very inky in the glass, taking on a glass-staining deep purple. Violets, tar, tobacco leaf and scorched earth notes combine with shades of Turkish coffee on the nose. The palate is weightiness and dense, with good underlying nerve and a seamless finish. The combination of flavor density and flavor complexity with its deep core of black and blue fruits, really makes this tick. Impressive now, I can see this cellaring well for another fifteen years to come — and potentially more. Drink 2024-2039- 100