Quilceda Creek

I was offered a spot on the Quilceda Creek mailing list for the 2013 CVR. I am currently on Rivers Marie, Rhys and Phillips Hill and not sure if this is worth it our not as I have never drank their wines. Any feedback? Style, QPR etc.

thank you


Tracy

I do not know Phillips Hill. If you are on Rhys and Rivers Marie for the pinots, recognize that QC is a completely different flavor profile. If you get the R-M cabs, and you like them, then maybe you should try a QC to see if you like it. The list is not a hard get. I was on it for years and stopped buying because I owned too much of it and they still offer some to me.

The are adored by some, but by no means all. I would buy a bottle and try it first. And a bottle with some age on it.

I was on the list but no longer am. But there are a lot of people (including a lot of critics) who think the sun rises and sets on Quilceda Creek

thank you for the information yes I have both Rivers Marie cabs and pinots enjoy them both immensely

Phillips Hill is a small Pinot producer out of Anderson Valley very good. Not affiliated with them just like their wine.

TL - you need to follow Neal’s advice, find a bottle of the red with 3-8 years (more is better) and drink it before taking a slot

The wine is very unique and hits people very differently when they drink it. Some love it. Others hate it. It is one of the rare, truly binary result wines out there.

I was on the list for many years, have had the wine many many times and finally sold all of mine as my tastes have changed.

The CVR is a very concentrated, powerful, oaky and tannic red. I find it almost undrinkable in the early years, but I recently opened a 2006 and it has finally started to emerge into a nice place.

So my personal take is that if you can hold off on them for a good amount of time, they are pretty good QPR in the powerhouse cab category.

so has their winemaking.
Not a fan these days.

I would also be interested in a comparison of their style to any other CA Cabs?

Apart from being apparently over-oaked, are they fruit driven, extracted, sweet or more savoury, herbal, earthy? etc…

Thanks!

Overoaked when young.
after 10+ years, they’re not bad… quite complex in my opinion…

but $150 is way overpriced…
$75 and it’s a quality cab.

So, for example, if compared to Hillside Select, how would they differ?

QC is very concentrated, powerful and heavily oaked. I find a lot of wood and a lot of tannin in the early years, with the exception of the Palengat Red Wine, which is softer.

The wine is not fruity, sweet, milkshake, burning with alcohol, or anything like that (though those are sort of the reflexive descriptors partisans of the other style use to describe different wines, and so i’m sure you’ll see them used to describe QC out there). To me, it’s just really tannic and oaked when the wine is younger. I think they probably turn the corner eventually, maybe at 12+ years for the cabernet and 8-10 years for the CVR/Red Wine, though with younger wines than that, there is always a question mark and people wondering whether the transformation will occur or if the wines are made differently now and the aging result will be different.

The general style is fairly typical for Washington cabernets, I think.

Steve Saxon is a big fan of Quilceda Creek, you should ask him.

completely different wines in my opinion. though i’ve only had limited number of HSS

I like their CVR, and have opened one from 2007-2011 each time they’re delivered. I don’t think the CVR is too heavily oaked or too sweet. Actually, I think they’re great QPRs. It’s strange, because I’m an old world kind of guy and have been purchasing mostly Burgs… but there’s something about QC’s basic CVR that I enjoy.

Pretty much why I stopped buying after the '06 vintage. However, I can also say this is the reason I have stopped buying most cabs, along with the fact my palate no longer finds them that intriguing. Glad there are plenty of varietals to choose from, so we can all enjoy what we drink. [cheers.gif]

And,the price is right for the CVR.

I will be in Maui in March. Would tove share some QC with you. Pretty big wines.

I picked up a couple just to try it at this price point. I thought it was interesting that Wine-searcher shows these at ~$60+ Where to buy Quilceda Creek 'CVR' Red Wine, Columbia Valley | prices & local stores in USA, even though you can get it off this list for $36 with pretty sizable allocations.

W-S Pro has this wine at $44.

http://www.wine-searcher.com/find/quilceda%20creek%20red%20columbia%20valley%20washington%20usa

A polarizing wine; love/hate…