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| Drinking Windows and Values |
| Community Tasting History |
| Community Tasting Notes (average 92.1 pts. and median of 92 pts. in 265 notes) - hiding notes with no text | | | Tasted by snowingfun on 5/5/2024 & rated 92 points: Drinking well right now, bold with great finish, dark cherry. (244 views) | | | Tasted by davidandrose on 4/14/2024 & rated 91 points: Pnp. 90 minutes after opening there's bramble and black/blueberry pie on the nose.
Tannins are fully integrated and while present they are clearly soft and fading. This is super-easy to drink and has the capacity to pair w anything from seabass to tonights moo cow.
Inventory shows i have 1 last bottle; if so ill drink within the year for safety's sake; this wine has played a great round on a glorious day, but we're on the 18th green w just a putt or two till we're off to the clubhouse (435 views) | | | Tasted by jshufelt on 12/15/2023 & rated 90 points: Consistent with previous tasting note. (1038 views) | | | Tasted by RJWallis on 12/14/2023 & rated 92 points: PnP at the end of our annual Holiday Party. Disappeared quickly. Leather and dark red fruits. (909 views) | | | Tasted by GBJoe on 11/19/2023: Decant 2+ hours (1028 views) | | | Tasted by Sp@rk on 9/11/2023 & rated 91 points: Medium body and finish. Slight kick from alcohol on both nose and palate that eventually dissipated. Better on day 2. (1461 views) | | | Tasted by DDw2 on 4/22/2023 & rated 90 points: Expectations are always high for a QC, even the basic CVR - that said, this was just ok. 2015 not my favorite vintage across the board. The heat from this wine even on the nose is strong - carried through to palate - nose showed blackberry notes with a hint of flintiness - palate showed dark fruits, some umami and a tar or dark olive tapenade and even some blue fruit - acid balance shows up 2/3 through to finish with a final upper palate light bitterness to close
At $40 back in the day a decent wine if not outstanding. (1756 views) | | | Tasted by ta75 on 4/5/2023 & rated 93 points: Nose: Blackcurrants, forest floor, black cherry, licorice, fig, wet bark.
Palate: Bright acidity but perfectly in check with the fruit and tannins -mouth watering. Tar, dark plum, pomegranate jam, dark cherry, vanilla pod and sweet forest berries. Great wine and qpr.
92-93 (1479 views) | | | Tasted by JB12 on 1/9/2023 & rated 93 points: Nice cab. Coravined a glass. Large fruit flavor, with cherry, blackberry. Drinking fine now, but will likely smooth out so,e more over time (1890 views) | | | Tasted by 3daywinereview.com on 12/3/2022 & rated 88 points: Twin Cities Wine Club Washington State Bordeaux & Syrah Tasting (Edina, MN): Oak up front but after some decanting and Vinturi it got better. Blueberries, dark cherry, menthol and blackberries. Some tobacco on the finish. My least favorite wine of the tasting and I think Quilceda Creek is the most overrated wine in Washington. 88-89. (2202 views) | | | Tasted by RPerro on 11/18/2022 & rated 93 points: Well...I didn't hold this until 2025 like I said I would. But the flavors here are spot on with my note from earlier this year, less the yeasty bits. I think the 6+ months of additional cellar time served this wine well, in that it was much more enjoyable now vs. then. Gave it an additional point and think it will continue to gain them with more time. Alas, I'm out of the 2015. Drink now - 2030+. (1628 views) | | | Tasted by Backdoctor on 11/10/2022 & rated 92 points: Balanced, drinking well. (1393 views) | | | Tasted by Tsliwinski on 8/10/2022 & rated 93 points: Beautiful full bodied complex wine. Deep red fruits with floral notes and nice game. Finishes well. Tannins are tamed. (1818 views) | | | Tasted by jeginmt on 7/31/2022 & rated 95 points: Dark red almost opaque, full bodied, rich dark fruit flavor, strong but well integrated tannins, well balanced acidity. It is a pleasure to drink and to appreciate how good a great Cabernet can be. It was excellent right after pulling the cork. Perhaps it has reached its optimum age? (1503 views) | | | Tasted by Tsliwinski on 7/2/2022 & rated 93 points: Excellent WA cab blend. Still lot's of room to grow. Nice rich dark red fruit with long palate and ample forest floor make this an interesting wine. Glad I still have three more in the cellar. (1429 views) | | | Tasted by akpace on 6/20/2022 & rated 93 points: Spicy, pepper vanilla. (1443 views) | | | Tasted by BobbaWA on 5/27/2022 & rated 93 points: Always a winner. (1461 views) | | | Tasted by GA_Seattle on 4/29/2022 & rated 91 points: Very tightly wound, even after 3 hours my impressions were limited to dark brooding fruit and oak. Modestly more revealing on night two, tannins yielded somewhat but I think this wine just needs more time to settle in. Try again in 2024. (1301 views) | | | Tasted by RPerro on 4/9/2022 & rated 92 points: 2 hour decant. A touch yeasty on first sip after the pop. Glad I let it breathe for a bit. Flavors of black cherry, cassis, oak and vanilla, with a lovely finish of espresso and cocoa nibs. This is in a really good place right now, but will hold my last bottle until 2025 at least. Drink now - 2030. (1374 views) | | | Tasted by Charlie C on 2/18/2022 & rated 94 points: Dark red in color. Black cherry and blackberry on the nose. Fine, but intense fruit on the palate. Bittersweet chocolate, black cherries, sweet tobacco. Sweet tannins, sharp (not unpleasant) acidity, great balance. Finishes long with dark chocolate and cherry notes. Lovely. Should drink well for 6 to 10 years. (1577 views) | | | Tasted by ogres3 on 2/15/2022 & rated 92 points: Continues to improve with age. Very pleasant fruit, deep reds and blues, becoming more integrated and nuanced with time. (1486 views) | | | Tasted by Enzo D on 2/6/2022 & rated 91 points: Bottle 2 of 4. Enjoyed on its own after dinner. Near peak. Drinking very well right now after short decant. Will open another in about a year. (1445 views) | | | Tasted by ogres3 on 1/27/2022 & rated 92 points: Full bodied fruit forward not as complex as the cab. Still quite good. (1402 views) | | | Tasted by hhusky on 1/22/2022 & rated 94 points: Nose: marshmallow and vanilla, blackberry, blueberry, eucalyptus, slate, glycerin. Smooth grippy tannins, good acidity and alcohol, well balanced. Taste: blueberry jam, stewed prunes, bell pepper, sour cherries: long finish. Delicious. Could lay down for longer. (1170 views) | | | Tasted by ogres3 on 1/12/2022 & rated 93 points: Very nice blend. Primarily cab with the complex purple and blue fruits, but the cab franc adds a boldness and possibly some alcohol (15%) that is quite enjoyable. May be biased because paired with an excellent meal. Hoping the '18 and '19s are even better. (1328 views) | | | Only displaying the 25 most recent notes - click to see all notes for this wine... |
| By Tamlyn Currin
JancisRobinson.com (9/26/2022)
(Quilceda Creek, CVR Columbia Valley Red) Subscribe to see review text. | By Stephen Tanzer
Vinous, Focus on Washington: The New Normal (Nov 2018) (11/1/2018)
(Quilceda Creek Red Wine Cvr Washington Red) Subscribe to see review text. | By Jeb Dunnuck
JebDunnuck.com, Latest Releases from Washington State (4/5/2018)
(Quilceda Creek CVR Columbia Valley Red Wine) Login and sign up and see review text. | By Paul Zitarelli
Full Pull, Full Pull Quilceda Creek (11/5/2017)
(Quilceda Creek Vintners CVR) Hello friends. We have the return today of a holiday-season tradition: our once-a-year shot at accessing wine from the inimitable Quilceda Creek Vintners.The story of Quilceda Creek begins with the story of Andre Tchelistcheff. By the time Tchelistcheff arrived in the Napa Valley in 1938 (to take the winemaking job at George de Latour’s Beaulieu Vineyards), he had already seen an eventful 37 years. Born in 1901 to a father who was the Chief Justice of the Russian Imperial Court, Tchelistcheff’s life changed dramatically with the Russian Revolution of 1917, after which he fought for three years in Russia’s Civil War. He was wounded on the battlefield, eventually recovered and rejoined his family, and then fled with them to Yugoslavia, and then onto Czechoslovakia and finally France, where he took up the study of oenology at the Institut National Agronomique. That’s where George de Latour found Tchelistcheff, and their meeting led to a 35-year partnership. It’s difficult to overstate Tchelistcheff’s impact on American winemaking. A smattering of the techniques he helped to introduce: Cold fermentation. Malolactic conversion. Frost protection in vineyards. Ageing wine in small oak barrels. Basically, if there’s a winemaking technique that modern vintners take for granted, chances are Tchelistcheff helped to introduce it in the United States. His fingerprints are all over California wine, and by the 1960s, he was doing consulting work in the Pacific Northwest as well. When Ste Michelle launched in 1967, it was under Tchelistcheff’s guidance. He also had a nephew, living north of Seattle, and he encouraged his relative to try his hand at Cabernet Sauvignon. That nephew was Alex Golitzin, who proceeded to produce about one barrel of Cabernet per year from 1974 through 1978. The results were encouraging enough that, in 1979, Golitzin launched Quilceda Creek Vintners as a commercial winery, producing 150 cases of Cabernet Sauvignon. Since then, the production has increased, but the winery’s focus on Cabernet Sauvignon has never wavered, even as the next generation (Alex’s son Paul Golitzin) has taken over as Director of Winemaking. The Golitzins’ intense focus on quality has yielded considerable rewards. Perfect 100pt reviews from Wine Advocate for the 2002, 2003, 2005, 2007, and 2014 vintages of Cabernet Sauvignon. The #2 spot in Wine Spectator’s 2015 Top 100 list for the 2012 vintage. In addition to the flagship Cabernet, Quilceda Creek also produces a single-vineyard wine from their 2001-planted estate Galitzine Vineyard on Red Mountain and a Merlot-based Bordeaux Blend called Palengat that includes a large dose of fruit from their estate Palengat Vineyard (2006-planted) in the Horse Heaven Hills. And then there’s CVR. CVR has become hugely popular among Washington wine lovers generally (and lovers of Quilceda Creek specifically), because it is a wine that brings plenty of youthful pleasure while we wait for the flagship Quilceda wines to come into their own in the cellar. It also offers a more accessible price point than the higher-tier wines (which range from $100-$140) while coming from the exact same vineyards (in this vintage Champoux, Galitzine, Palengat, and Wallula) and seeing similar treatment in the winery (100% classy new French oak barrels). Another item of note for the 2015: the proportion of Cabernet is considerably higher than any vintage of CVR we’ve previously offered: a full 81%, rounded out with 11% Merlot and 4% each Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot. The aromas reflect the high proportion of Cab: blackcurrant and pomegranate fruit, dark minerality like asphalt, and fresh topnotes of violet and mint. I was prepared for the sheer deliciousness of this wine, given the pedigree of the winery and the warmth of the vintage. I was not prepared for the structure, the seriousness, and the complexity, all deeply impressive. This is a total powerhouse, a pleasure-bringer, with intensity and length and depth to spare. The balance of fruit and non-fruit elements is wonderful, the non-fruit elements combining mineral tones and savory notes of beetroot and rhubarb. Texturally, this is as polished and classy as you’d expect from the team involved, the tannins ripe and perfectly chewy, leaving a finishing impression of English breakfast tea. |
NOTE: Scores and reviews are the property of JancisRobinson.com and Vinous and JebDunnuck.com and Full Pull. (manage subscription channels) |
| Quilceda Creek Producer websiteRed Bordeaux BlendRed Bordeaux is generally made from a blend of grapes. Permitted grapes are Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Merlot, Petit Verdot, Malbec and rarely Carménère.Today Carménère is rarely used, with Château Clerc Milon, a fifth growth Bordeaux, being one of the few to still retain Carménère vines. As of July 2019, Bordeaux wineries authorized the use of four new red grapes to combat temperature increases in Bordeaux. These newly approved grapes are Marselan, Touriga Nacional, Castets, and Arinarnoa.
Wineries all over the world aspire to making wines in a Bordeaux style. In 1988, a group of American vintners formed The Meritage Association to identify wines made in this way. Although most Meritage wines come from California, there are members of the Meritage Association in 18 states and five other countries, including Argentina, Australia, Canada, Israel, and Mexico.USAAmerican wine has been produced since the 1500s, with the first widespread production beginning in New Mexico in 1628. Today, wine production is undertaken in all fifty states, with California producing 84% of all U.S. wine. The continent of North America is home to several native species of grape, including Vitis labrusca, Vitis riparia, Vitis rotundifolia, and Vitis vulpina, but the wine-making industry is based almost entirely on the cultivation of the European Vitis vinifera, which was introduced by European settlers. With more than 1,100,000 acres (4,500 km2) under vine, the United States is the fourth-largest wine producing country in the world, after Italy, Spain, and France.Washington Washington Wine Commission | Credit to Washingtonwine.org for this article
Washington Wine
Washington State is a premium wine producing region located in the northwest corner of the United States. Although a relatively young wine industry, it is now the nation's second largest wine producer and is ranked among the world's top wine regions. Washington wines are found nationally in all 50 states and internationally in more than 40 countries.
Wineries
With 30,000+ acres planted, the state has ideal geography and conditions for growing premium vinifera wine grapes. Primarily grown on their own root stocks, the vines produce grapes of consistent quality, resulting in strong vintages year after year. While its focus is on Chardonnay, Riesling, Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon and Syrah, the region also produces a wide range of other spectacular whites and reds.
Growers
Winemakers from all over the world have chosen to establish themselves in Washington, where they can create wines reflecting this region's unique characteristics. Their hand-crafted wines are receiving wide acclaim from critics regionally, nationally and internationally for their consistently high quality. Many of them have received scores of 90 and above from the major wine media. Overall this is a higher percentage than other leading wine regions.
Regions
As the state's fourth largest fruit crop, the Washington wine industry is an important contributor to the long-term preservation of Washington agriculture. The industry is committed to sustainable agricultural practices and conservation of water resources.
Washington State is a premium wine producing region located in the northwest corner of the United States. Although a relatively young wine industry, it is now the nation's second largest wine producer and is ranked among the world's top wine regions. Washington wines are found nationally in all 50 states and internationally in more than 40 countries.
Varieties
Washington produces more than 20 wine grape varieties - a ratio of 56 percent white to 44 percent red. As the industry matures and experiments, it finds many grape varieties that thrive throughout Washington's microclimates. There are more than 16,000 vineyard acres of red wine varieties statewide.
History & Vintages
Washington's wine future is limitless. As consumers discover the quality of Washington wines, demand continues to grow nationally and internationally. New acreage and wine varietals are being planted and new wineries are opening at a remarkable pace. Washington State is recognized as a premium viticultural region around the world.
State Facts
Washington's wine industry generates more than $3 billion to the state economy. It employs more than 14,000 people, directly and indirectly, with projections to add nearly 2,000 more jobs by 2006. In terms of tax revenues accrued to the state and federal government, wine grapes are among the highest tax generators of any agricultural crops. Furthermore, Washington wine tourism attracts nearly two million visitors annually contributing to the positive growth of local and regional economies.
Washington State - the perfect climate for wine = ideal growing conditions, quality wines, business innovation, lifestyle, and social responsibility. All are key elements of this world-class wine industry.
Vintages
"2008 and even more so 2010 and 2011 were cool, even cold vintages (think: 2002 in the Barossa) without the extreme ripeness, extract and higher alcohol that had become the norm in the state’s post 1995 world. 2008 was manageable but the duo of 2010/2011 nearly caused a “great depression” in Washington State." - Jon RimmermanColumbia Valley Columbia Cascade Winery Association
The Columbia Valley AVA lies mostly in Washington state, with a small section in Oregon. The Cascade Range forms its western boundary with the Palouse regions bordering the area to the east. To the north, the Okanogan National Forest forms a border with the AVA and Canada. It encompasses the valleys formed by the Columbia River and its tributaries, including the Walla Walla River, the Snake River, and the Yakima River. The Columbia valley stretches between the 46th parallel and 47th parallel which puts it in line with the well known French wine growing regions of Bordeaux and Burgundy. The northern latitude gives the areas two more hours of additional daylight during the summer growing season than wine regions of California receive. The volcanic and sandy loam soil of the valley offers good drainage and is poor in nutrients, ideal in forcing the vine to concentrate its resources into the grape clusters.Columbia Valley Columbia Valley Winery Association |
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