K&L has the 11 for $49.99 and Pete’s wine shop in Seattle has the 17 for $52
The 2009 Columbia Valley we opened in April 2018 was a WOTY candidate for me. I have no doubt it had positive evolution ahead but that vintage was singing from the pop of the cork.
CVR is a great buy most years
The CVR was $35 for years, I bought a case most years and have several dozen older ones .The price started creeping up 4 or 5 years ago, even at 60 it is a bargain with patience required.
[quoteJust got my offer and it is $145 for a 750 and $319 for a magnum.][/quote] When I first got into wine I probably would have bought. Unless they have dialed back these wines easy pass. You could have gotten a case of the 2008 Davenport Continuity for that price when they were having the 65% off sale.
oops–sorry to ignore you Bob ( I wasn’t paying attention).
I was referring to Miller.
Well I’ll let you know what I think when I try it but plenty of room in my cellar for more bottles. The Continuity looks like a nice QPR.
Maybe I just need to hold the QC longer, then. We decanted the 05 for a couple hours before drinking and it was good, just very oaky.
I completely agree that the flagship Quilceda Creek wine is a 15-20 year wine. I was at a tasting in August last year where we got a good look at 1999 flagship bottles from Quilceda Creek, Leonetti, Betz and Woodward Canyon. All bottles were vibrant and full of energy, though few at the table commented on how the Old Vines from Woodward Canyon may have peaked a few years prior. It really got me to reevaluate the longevity of top wines from my hometown state. It would have been nice to include Delille, Andrew Will and Seven Hills as well, but we were only an army of 8 and had opened 5 other bottles earlier in the evening.
Now keep in mind that wine making has changed in the last 20 years at each of these estates so YMMV with newer vintages. I’m taking my chances though and have begun accumulating more for the cellar.
For my tastes, QC is a strong buy and one of the best deals going for a top quality Cab. I usually drink mine at 15 years plus or minus but almost never before 10 years. We had a wine group tasting last night with 4 bottles of WA cabs and 4 bottles of CA cabs. There was a 2000 and 2001 QC and they were both in the top tier of the wines we had.
I would recommend that you try an older QC to see if it is a style you like. I have been buying there wines since 1999 and find them very consistent.
The CVR is also a great value and the offer comes out later in the year along with the Galitzine and Palengat red wines which are also good values.
I bought QC from 2000-2005 (all reviewed by Rovani) and quite frankly the only reason I stopped was because it is a pain getting wines shipped into PA. But I have been drinking the wines and they are really nice. The 2001 last year was excellent and the 2000 last month was too young still. You may or may not like the style but those vintages were well done.
Have also come to think that you should think of these as 15+ year wines. But some opened at 10ish have been very good though not yet at peak. Opened a 2010 last week for a tasting with a good 3-4 hour decant and was not disappointed.
Randy I have a bunch of older ones from 99-05 and the 99s are just starting to show their true self. A very very good wine imo if you have the patience as randy said.
I am no longer a buyer of the Big QC as I have 2 boys in college and two more one deck within the next 2-3 years… I am much more Chianti/lower level Bordeaux and less expensive cabs…
That said, I opened a 2002 (100points by someone…) and I really loved it - and it tasted like a 4-5 YO wine, not 18. Just silky smooth. It does not taste anything like Napa - and rightfully so. I loved it! I have enough from 1998 - 2015 or so when I completely turned off the QC spigott. But I still have plenty of CVR (terrific for the member price!!!) and Palengat - even a few Galitzine. I probably have 3-4 cases remaining in total and only a small number of those are CVR as they drink so well in their youth!
I suggest buying a few and trying one young-ish. If you like it, enjoy them. Otherwise, let 'em age and enjoy them later.
Erik
I think all the QCs have a signature “oaky” flavor, that I happen to enjoy. I will be buying on this release and storing them away. As others have said the CVR is an acceptor always value, I buy new ones off the list each year, and buy older ones on Winebid or K&L when they are less than the mid $40s.
Recently my wife and I were at one of the better steak restaurants here in Seattle and I had brought a ‘94 QC Cab. As the Somm was opening it she mentioned it was old QC night, and that a table across the restaurant had brought in a ‘98. I had her ask them if they were interested in swapping a glass, which they were. All of us, including the somm, preferred the extra couple years of the ‘94.
As I said I’ll be getting these ‘17s and putting them away and forgetting about them for a while
I haven’t ordered in a decade and suddenly I’m getting email offers.
I am guessing production increased or demand is down because my offer doubled this year.
Doesn’t look like they are selling out now, the '16 is on JJBuckley. I liked the QPR on the CVR prior to the '14s and then they seemed to get more fruit/oak forward. I skipped '15 as a result and bought '16 to try, same thing, but more expensive with a fancier bottle. Made me nervous that they are going to riper style. Small loss on the CVR but made me question buying the Galitzine and flagship cab. Have not pulled the trigger on the '17 yet, but still may buy a couple to keep the vertical going.
as I am getting older, I am buying less, but as others have noted, these are wines for the very long haul.
Morrell just sent out an offer for 2016 cvr at 39.99
+1