2014
Quilceda Creek
Columbia Valley Cabernet Sauvignon
The 2014 Quilceda Creek Cabernet Sauvignon Columbia Valley is an absolutely amazing wine. Packed to the brim with floral aromas and flavors of blackberry, blueberry, black cherry and plum fruit intertwined with nuances of cacao nib, anise, soy, forest floor and minerals in this tour de force bottle of wine. That’s a lot of inspiration from a wine that’s 100 percent Cabernet Sauvignon.
The 2014 season started with early heat and vine development. Elevated heat levels throughout the summer promoted vine stress, and stressed-out vines shoot all of their nutrients to their grapes. With final ripening occurring in late September and October under ideal conditions, the grapes were ideal and the wine has turned out pure and complex, with a rich, seamless combination of fruit and savory feeling to it. Its silky texture shines through with a finish that lasts for minutes.
Paul Golitzin, Director of Winemaking
100 points
"The 2014 Cabernet Sauvignon is another tour de force from this estate that's reminiscent of first growth Bordeaux from a vintage like 2009. Made from 100% Cabernet Sauvignon and aged in new barrels, it offers incredible notes of blackcurrants, graphite, lead pencil shavings and crushed rocks in a full-bodied, decadent, insanely layered and seamless style. This beauty possesses ultra-fine tannin, no hard edges and a forward, already hard to resist style, yet it's going to keep for more than two decades.
This is a sensational vintage from Quilceda's Paul and Alex Golitzin! Both the classic Columbia Valley Cabernet and the Galitzine Vineyard are sheer perfection, and the Palengat release is also just about as good as it gets. These are incredible wines that offer everything you could want from Washington State Cabernet Sauvignon, and readers owe it to themselves to try these wines!"
99 points
"This 100% Cabernet wine was aged for 21 months in new French oak and was sourced from the Champoux, Palengat and Wallula VIneyards. Having a dense core this inky colored Cabernet wine begins with a ripe bouquet of rose petals, creme de cassis, anise, milk chocolate coated dark cherries and sweet pipe tobacco. The heady aromatics are downright monstrous, yet depict a wonderful sense of place which brings out the wine's femininity. The palate is plush and intense, showing a wonderful softness as this juncture. There are deep flavors of black forest cake, black olive tapenade, creme de cassis, mocha and suggestions of eucalyptus. The minerality is absolutely fabulous as this wine brings near perfect tension, voluptuous fruits and an exceedingly long finish. If enjoying young be sure to decant for at least two hours. There is a seamless quality to this wine that reminds me of the unbelievable 2004 Quilceda Creek 'Columbia Valley' bottling. This gorgeous Cabernet wine is both massive and elegant. This stunning wine will cellar well for two decades. Drink 2018-2035"
96 points
"Quilceda Creek's 2014 flagship Cabernet was one of the two or three best young Washington wines of my tastings this year, and Paul Golitzin agreed that he took selection of only the best fruit "to another level" beginning in 2014. His chief objective was to eliminate less-refined tannins in the wines. He is also more precise in the vineyards, growing the canopies early, pulling leaves at the optimal times—in other words, trying to push the harvest into October in order to get even better phenolic ripeness without sacrificing acidity or driving potential alcohol levels higher. The pHs of the Quilceda Creek '14s are around 3.95 but their firm total acidity energizes the wines."
"(made without press wine; Paul Golitzin referred to this wine as the estate's "extra virgin olive oil"; 100% new oak): Bright ruby-red; not hugely saturated. Sexy scents of cassis, blackberry and violet. Wonderfully fine-grained black and purple fruit flavors are quite primary without being at all hard. Boasts terrific inner-mouth energy and clarity of flavor. The very slowly building whiplash of a finish offers a strong element of spicy lift and terrific grip. This beauty should be long-lived, but even today it's not austere."