Vinous

• By Stephen Tanzer
  New Releases from Washington: A Bonanza for Consumers (Dec 2019), 12/1/2019 (link)

  (Quilceda Creek Red Wine Cvr Washington Red) Subscribe to see review text.

JebDunnuck.com

• By Jeb Dunnuck
  The 2016s From Washington State, 4/11/2019 (link)

  (Quilceda Creek CVR Columbia Valley Red Wine) Subscribe to see review text.

Full Pull

• By Paul Zitarelli
  Full Pull CVR, 12/4/2018

  (Quilceda Creek Vintners CVR) Hello friends. We have the return today of a holiday-season tradition: our once-a-year shot at accessing the gateway wine into the inimitable Quilceda Creek Vintners. [Note: we’re also going to advocate for an additional parcel of the flagship Cabernet that we originally offered in September. No promises, but if you’re interested, see the bottom of today’s offer, and we’ll do our best to secure more bottles.]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-$200) 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). In 2016, the proportion of Cabernet is considerably higher than any vintage of CVR we’ve previously offered: a full 87%, rounded out with 7% Merlot and 3% each Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot. The aromas reflect the high proportion of Cab. It offers a classy profile: crème de cassis, pomegranate, anise, and minerals all swaddled in attractive barrel tones (all French oak) of smoke and high-cacao chocolate. The palate is generous with blue and black fruit, coating the mouth with polished texture. The 2016 vintage’s return to more normal temperatures does wonders for this consistently beautiful wine. There’s plentiful structure, seriousness, and complexity; all deeply impressive. This is a total powerhouse, chic and sophisticated, with intensity and length and depth to spare.