2009 Quilceda Creek Red Blend

Quilceda Creek’s 2009 Red Wine – which includes 15% of Merlot and near-negligible amounts of Malbec, Petit Verdot, and Cabernet Franc – nicely integrates preserved walnut, toasted pecan, and green herbal elements into a matrix of cocoa powder, chocolate syrup, and confitured dark berries. There is a hint of heat to the finish of this plush, plump offering, but neither that nor the wines torrefied elements detract from a torrent of sweet berry juiciness, nor preclude a sense of energy and a dynamic interaction of myriad elements. I suspect, based on intuition as well as reliable reports – although I have scarcely any personal experience as yet with older Quilceda Creek wines – that this will remain well worth following for at least a decade. Quilceda Creek’s nearly quarter-century long history and success in showcasing Washington State’s potential with Cabernet Sauvignon scarcely require recounting at this juncture as both that history and the resultant wines have achieved near-legendary status. It’s worth noting, though, the extent of the Golitzins’ association with Champoux Vineyard in the Horse Heaven Hills (which also happens to be where I recently met and tasted with them.) Fruit from the Mercer Ranch already played a significant role in the course of Quilceda Creek’s first two decades, and when this property became Champoux, the Golitzins acquired a 21% share (a decision Alex Golitzin calls “the greatest thing that ever happened” to Quilceda Creek.) With the replanting of most of Champoux’s Cabernet following severe frost damage in 2010, the vineyard mix of Quilceda Creek’s releases will necessarily change significantly for the next several years and likely diminish somewhat in overall volume. Powerful Cabernets from top sites in Red Mountain – notably Ciel du Cheval, Klipsun and Tapteil – have also been constants from the early years of this winery, and it is in that viticultural neighborhood, and in collaboration with Ciel du Cheval proprietor Jim Holmes, that Alex and Paul Golitzin planted their first estate vineyard in 2001, whose fruit they subsequently determined cried-out for separate bottling – a judgment rendered once again on the wine (dubbed Palengat – Jeanette Golitzin’s maiden name) that issued from a high-density vineyard acquired in 2006 adjacent to Champoux. Fermentations – utilizing several yeast strains – can last anywhere from 14-50 days, explains Alex Golitzin. “Some lots we push through fermentation; others we slow down,” part of a process he and his son see as guaranteeing that no matter how sweetly and seamlessly ripe their wines (and those are certainly two ineluctable adjectives for them!) “you don’t get a sense of sur-maturite.” At least a third of what is vinified ends up being declassified into a bottling labeled simply as “Red Wine,” and Golitzin notes that “this selection is made from the get-go, during primary fermentation when we’re grading (what’s in) every fermentor (of which there are 38) by taste. After malolactic, we do the same thing by fermentor – not (afterward) by barrel, because (assessing) barrels get(s) tricky. One might all of a sudden taste good but that’s not a reliable guide.” (Press wine, insofar as it is utilized, also ends up here.) Given that all, save for this “second wine,” see 100% new barrels, it’s worth noting that most of those are crafted expressively for the winery and include a major share of five-year-aged barriques from Taransaud similar to those from that tonnelier that have in the past couple of years begun to find their way in small numbers into other cellars worldwide. All of the wines spend just under two years in barrel, and those of the 2009 collection finished with just over 15% alcohol. Tel. (360) 568-2389