Winemaker Notes
The 2022 Quilceda Creek Columbia Valley Cabernet Sauvignon is an ethereal wine with an incredible sense of purity and place. The aromas and flavors quintessential to Champoux Vineyard include assorted black fruits, black truffle, sandalwood, cocoa, walnut and river stone. The intense concentration level, coupled with the seamless texture of this wine is remarkable.
Professional Ratings
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Jeb Dunnuck
The 90% Champoux grapes in the 2022 Cabernet Sauvignon Columbia Valley contribute classic Cabernet aromatics of sandalwood and dried herb, while the full-bodied palate builds a richness of raspberry and cassis. (The other 10% of the grapes are sourced from Mach One.) The texture and tannins are elegantly polished, beautiful, and sexy, the oak providing a frame for the wine but not impeding otherwise. With a lengthy finish.
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James Suckling
This delivers a broad spectrum of aromas, from very pure, perfectly ripened dark fruit, including back cherries, currants and wild blackberries, to stoney, mineral nuances, spice box, fine cedar and a touch of graphite. Beautiful texture. It shows tense and compact but very fine, almost silky tannins on a full and broad palate. Classy and very precise. Very long. 90% Champoux vineyard and 10% Mach One vineyard. Better from 2029.
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Vinous
A minty flourish gives way to dusty blackberries, lavender, violets and hints of crushed stone as the delicate and refined 2022 Cabernet Sauvignon Columbia Valley blossoms in the glass. Elegant and silken in form, this impresses most for its graceful persona, more red fruit than black, as a crunch of minerality adds traction throughout. The 2022 comes across as totally classic, leaving fine-grained tannins to flex upon the palate as blue and purple inner florals resonate over tinges of sweet spice and dried blueberries. This is a gorgeous interpretation of the vintage, yet patience is required.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2022 Cabernet Sauvignon comes mostly from the Champoux Vineyard plus 10% from the Mach One Vineyard. Initial wafts of glossy oak give way to cassis, blueberry, tobacco, aniseed and garrigue. The full-bodied palate offers powerful blue and black fruit and Goldilocks ripeness. It’s framed by plush, velvety tannins and fireworks of fresh acidity, and it has a long finish with a flourish of exotic spice. It should be long lived in the cellar. Rating: 95+
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Wine Spectator
A compelling and handsomely structured red, with expressive elements of black cherry and blackberry laced with clove, black tea and tobacco flavors that gather richness and density toward refined tannins.
Quilceda Creek has earned some of the highest reviews and awards of any winery in the United States: thirty - four 100 - point scores from seven different critics across Wine Advocate, Decanter, International Wine Report, The Wine Independent , and OwenBargreen.com . Additionally, Quilceda Creek was awarded four top 10 wines of the year in Wine Spectator , and Wine Enthusiast ’ s Best Cabernet of the Year.
Since 1978 Quilceda Creek has focused exclusively on producing exceptional Cabernet Sauvignons that rival and surpass the quality and pedigree of the finest Cabernet Sauvignons in the world. When Alex Golitzin founded Quilceda Creek, he took his uncle André Tchelistcheff ’ s advice to heart: make one wine and make it well. And for Alex, there was no doubt that wine would be Cabernet Sauvignon. In the several decades since, Quilceda Creek has never wavered from this focus, relentlessly pursuing perfection with every vintage. Their exclusive portfolio of vineyards in Washington State set Quilceda Creek apart. As the 12th bonded winery in the state post Prohibition, Quilceda Creek ’ s longevity has given them years to refine their vineyard sourcing and perfect their farming practices. As the industry and vine acreage in Washington State have grown, they have used their depth of knowledge and experience to their advantage, singling out properties with the combination of geography, climate and soils capable of producing layered and complex Cabernet Sauvignons. Their exclusive portfolio of v ineyards in the Columbia Valley AVA sub - appellations of Horse Heaven Hills and Red Mountain include some of Washington State ’ s most historic and revered vineyard properties. Meticulously farmed by their crew year after year, Champoux, Mach One and Galitzin e vineyards consistently produce acclaimed Cabernet Sauvignons that set the standards for exceptional quality.
Quilceda Creek would not be what it is today without Paul Golitzin, Alex and Jeannette Golitzin ’ s son and Quilceda Creek ’ s President and Winemak er. Growing up at the winery and with winemaking mentors such as his father, Alex, and his great uncle, André Tchelistcheff, Paul was immersed in the lifestyle of the wine industry from an early age, both its hard, physical labor and its culture of beauty and craftsmanship. When he was named winemaker in 1992, just 14 years after Quilceda Creek was founded, Paul made it his mission to bring the winery to new heights of quality. He became laser focused on vineyard sourcing, precision viticultural practices a nd new techniques and technologies in the winery. He began experimenting with yeasts, worked with coopers to develop custom barrels for Quilceda Creek, and kept scrupulous historical vineyard and vintage records to identify the strongest blocks and rows at each property. It is Paul ’ s inspired blend of virtuosity and precision that has resulted in the long string of highly acclaimed wines for which Quilceda Creek is widely known. Under his leadership, Quilceda Creek has solidified its position as a benchmark producer of Cabernet Sauvignon, not only in Washington State, but the world over. Far from resting on his laurels, Paul continues to experiment constantly, following his own dictum that “the best Cabernet Sauvignon Quilceda Creek has made is its next”.
Washington produces so many exciting wines, and that definitely includes Columbia Valley Cabernet Sauvignon. With over 10,000 acres under vine, Cabernet Sauvignon is now the most widely-grown varietal in the state. Terrific examples hail from sub-appellations like Red Mountain, Wahluke Slope, Horse Heaven Hills and Walla Walla Valley. One of the fascinations of these Columbia Valley Cabs is that they so often seem to have one foot in the New World and one in the Old. Representing the former are characteristics like the ripe, forward fruit that results from long sunny days during the growing season (up to two hours longer than in much of California). Old World similarities include an undeniable brightness from acidity, as well as notes of herbs, graphite and a dusty, sometimes gravelly minerality.
Whether you’re looking for a budget bottle for everyday enjoyment, or a stellar, world-class wine with tremendous aging potential, Columbia Valley Cabernet Sauvignon wines can deliver the goods! Among the many fine options are bottles from Columbia Crest, Chateau Ste. Michelle, L’ecole #41, Quilceda Creek and Leonetti.