2014 Quilceda Creek CVR
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Tasting notes
Healthy red-ruby. Extravagant perfume of boysenberry, cassis, licorice and spices. Very ripe and plush, but with enough energy to maintain shape to its flavors of dark berries, bitter chocolate and spicy oak. Offers strong raw material for this bottling, which is actually a "de-selection" of the estate's tanks with the addition of some press wine. (And it's entirely from estate fruit for the first time.) Finishes with smooth, ripe tannins. My favorite CVR to date.
Critic scores
The Wine Advocate
Stephen Tanzer, Vinous
More reviews and scores
Bright ruby-red. Slightly more port-like on the nose than the flagship Cabernet, offering scents of black cherry, licorice and dark chocolate (Red Mountain is typically a few degrees hotter than Champoux Vineyard in Horse Heaven Hills, notes Golitzin). Compellingly plush, broad and sweet, conveying a bulletproof quality to its highly concentrated cassis and licorice flavors. The tannins here are slightly less noble than those of the flagship Cabernet, but I'm quibbling. This stunner finishes strong and long, with steadily building fruit and no loss of shape... Paul Golitzin agreed that he took selection of only the best fruit “to another level” beginning in 2014. (ST)
The finest vintage ever for this cuvée, the utterly spellbinding 2014 Cabernet Sauvignon Galitzine Vineyard is 100% Red Mountain Cabernet Sauvignon that was brought up in new barrels. Slightly deeper and richer than the Columbia Valley Cabernet, its deep ruby/purple color is followed by a smorgasbord of graphite, crushed violets, crushed rocks, cassis and dark chocolate. With incredible richness, ultra-fine tannin, no hard edges and a stacked mid-palate, give this crazy good red 2-3 years of cellaring and enjoy over the following two decades! Bravo to the team at Quilceda! (JD)
One of the finest examples of this cuvee to date, the opulent, sumptuous and downright sexy 2014 Cvr Columbia Valley Red Wine gives up loads of black currants, kirsch, licorice, toasted spice and dried herb aromas and flavors. Full-bodied, gorgeously textured, round, and just about as hedonistic as it gets, yet without being over the top or heavy in the least, drink it anytime over the coming decade.
About the producer
Founded in 1978, Quilceda Creek helped put Washington Cabernet on the world stage. Mentored by André Tchelistcheff, the family-owned winery became renowned for its powerful, age-worthy Cabernets and was the first U.S. winery outside California to earn 100 points from Wine Advocate.