Quilceda Creek Cabernet Sauvignon 2015

Robert Parker
A powerful wine that bears the stamp of the vintage, the 2015 Cabernet Sauvignon offers up aromas of minty crème de cassis, blackberries, dark chocolate and spice, framed by a lavish application of toasty new oak. On the palate, the wine is full-bodied, ample and heady, with a generous core of ripe, liqueur-like fruit, a fine-grained chassis of tannins and a long, heavily oak-inflected finish. To hold the estate to its own high standards, after the more elegant and complete 2014, the 2015 vintage of Quilceda's flagship bottling feels a bit more overtly high-octane and marked by its time in new wood, and I don't think it will ever be as graceful. But it's a lusty, expressive Cabernet Sauvignon that will drink well for a decade or more.

Jeb Dunnuck
The flagship is the 2015 Cabernet Sauvignon, 100% Cabernet Sauvignon mostly from Champoux with the balance from Palengat and Wallula vineyards. Crème de cassis, graphite, black licorice, unsmoked tobacco, and hints of chocolate and emerge from this beauty and it continues to gain depth and nuance with time in the glass. Full-bodied, deep, and layered with an incredible purity and elegance on the palate, it's already accessible but has more than enough tannin, depth, and balance to evolve for two decades or more.

Owen Bargreen
The 2015 Quilceda Creek ‘Columbia Valley’ Cabernet Sauvignon is the best red wine that I have sampled from this vintage in Washington. The wine was sourced from the Champoux (roughly 70% of the fruit), Palengat, Wallula and Lake Wallula Vineyards. While this has the Columbia Valley AVA on the bottle, it is primarily a Horse Heaven Hills wine. The wine shows creme de cassis, pencil lead and black tea with a touch of red cherry compote on the nose. The heady aromatics bring you back to the glass for more pleasure. The palate is silky smooth and marvelously coats the mouth. Lightly tannic, the wine slowly unveils blueberry compote, blackberry cobbler, mocha, and creme de cassis flavors that build in the glass. The minerality, weight and overall presentation of the wine is simply astounding, as is the long and lingering black fruit and mineral driven finish. There is a seamless quality to this wine really shines through with every lingering sip. This is a truly monumental effort in a vintage that was challenging due to severe heat spikes throughout the summer growing season.

James Suckling
This sets itself apart with concentration and poise, delivering the layers of fruit depth that great cabernet wines possess. The palate's impressively built on layers of ripe, fleshy fruit and superbly cut tannins. Holds long and regal. This is great wine. Drink or hold for 10+ years.

Når man 10 gange på kun 17 år har scoret de magiske 100 points hos verdens førende vinanmeldere, så er man i besiddelse af et meget sjældent talent. Et sådan er Paul Golitzin, der er President & Director of winemaking hos Quilceda i Washington State. Han er søn af grundlæggeren Alex Golitzin, der startede eventyret tilbage i 1978. Men det var da Paul tog over, at tingene fik det sidste skub helt derop, hvor Robert Parker udråbte dem til at være den bedste Cabernet Sauvignon producent fra Washington State. Og der er godt nok nogle alvorlige nogle af vælge iblandt.

En del af forklaringen på Quilcedas skyhøje niveau ligger også i det faktum, at man ikke går på kompromis med noget som helst. Quilcedas vinmarker i Colombia Valley bliver passet og plejet minutiøst med største respekt for naturen. Produktionsanlægget er state-of-the-art. Og der bruges ene og alene nye franske egefade til modningen af alle vinene. Men klart den største del af æren tilfalder Paul Golitzins uomtvistelige know-how.

Quilceda kommer med en ren Cabernet Sauvignon, som er det helt store slagnummer. Dertil kommer blends, hvor rundt 95% igen er Cabernet Sauvignon. Men trods den minimale andel af henholdsvis Merlot og Cabernet Franc, er der alligevel smagbar forskel i udtrykket. Alle vinene fra Quilceda ligger dog og roder omkring de 95-100 points, så der bliver leveret over hele linien.

Vi har hjemtaget mere eller mindre hele Quilcedas line-up. Mængderne er dog ikke enorme, så vent ikke for længe, hvis du vil have fingre i toppen af Washington State. Til gengæld kan du tage dig god tid i forhold til at nyde dem. Det er vine skabt til et langt, stolt liv … helt på niveau med det bedste fra Napa Valley.