Quilceda Creek Palengat Proprietary Red Blend 2016
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The 2016 Quilceda Creek “Palengat” Proprietary Red Wine was sourced from Champoux, Palengat, Lake Wallula and Wallula Gap Vineyards, all of which are located in the Horse Heaven Hills AVA. Pristine black cherry, plum and cassis fruit are found in this seamless wine with nuances of tobacco, chocolate and Asian spice.
Blend: 83% Cabernet Sauvignon, 11% Merlot, 6% Cabernet Franc
Professional Ratings
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Jeb Dunnuck
The 2016 Palengat is mostly Cabernet Sauvignon blended with 11% Merlot and 6% Cabernet Franc, and it’s one of the smaller production cuvees. It’s a rich, full-bodied effort and has wonderful purity in its crème de cassis, graphite, and ample pencil lead like nuances, with an almost Pauillac vibe. With fine, sweet tannins, a great mid-palate, and considerable elegance and finesse matched up to classic Quilceda power and richness, it’s a beautiful wine to drink over the coming 15-20 years.
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Wine & Spirits
Palengat is a south-facing vineyard that’s adjacent to Champoux Vineyard, one of the original vineyards in the Horse Heaven Hills. A blend of 83 percent cabernet sauvignon, 11 percent merlot and the balance cabernet franc, this has a slightly cooler feel than the winery’s Red Mountain wines: It has plenty of succulent fruit, but also more savor, more woodsy notes, more sagebrush garrigue in the aromas. And the texture, like the fine grit of windblown sand, offsets the fruit and brings the wine into a quiet balance. Indeed, without all the Red Mountain girth, the effect is awesome and vast, like an open plain under a twilit sky. Smoke a lamb shoulder, uncork, and savor.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
A members-only bottling composed of 83% Cabernet Sauvignon, 11% Merlot and 6% Cabernet Franc, the nose of the 2016 Palengat Vineyard is filled with robust black and dark red fruit along with subtle floral aromas and savory spices. Medium to full-bodied, the wine is rich and hearty on the palate, with a stream of minerality that merges into a strict tannic edge. It concludes with an abundance of oak on the long finish. Only 1,275 cases were made.
Other Vintages
2015-
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Established in 1978 by Alex and Jeannette Golitzin with the first vintage produced in 1979, Quilceda Creek is Washington State’s 12th bonded winery after Prohibition, but the family’s storied history with winemaking dates back to the late 1800s. Family owned and operated and one of Washington State’s premier wineries, Quilceda Creek has dedicated itself to producing world-class Cabernet Sauvignon. The wines of Quilceda Creek have been an expression of five vineyards in the coveted Horse Heaven Hills and Red Mountain American Viticultural Areas (AVA). Champoux Vineyard is one of the oldest vineyards in Washington State and the Cabernet Sauvignon grapes grown there have produced five of Quilceda Creek’s perfect 100-point wines. Grapes for the sixth 100-point wine were sourced from Galitzine Vineyard in the Red Mountain AVA. Today, Paul Golitzin oversees all aspects of winemaking and vineyard operations, pursuing the same standard of excellence that brought Quilceda Creek to world prominence.
One of the world’s most classic and popular styles of red wine, Bordeaux-inspired blends have spread from their homeland in France to nearly every corner of the New World. Typically based on either Cabernet Sauvignon or Merlot and supported by Cabernet Franc, Malbec and Petit Verdot, the best of these are densely hued, fragrant, full of fruit and boast a structure that begs for cellar time. Somm Secret—Blends from Bordeaux are generally earthier compared to those from the New World, which tend to be fruit-dominant.
"Surely this is Horse Heaven!”
Its wide prairies and rolling expanses led an early pioneer to proclaim that the region looked like “horse heaven,” and as a result, the area was appropriately named. Horse Heaven Hills is in south central Washington state, geographically bound on its northern border by the Yakima River and in the south, by the larger Columbia River.
Its proximity to the Columbia River contributes to a variety of climactic factors that dramatically affect its grapes. In particular, an increase in wind from changes in pressure along the river, which flows from the cool and wet Pacific Ocean, inland to Washington’s hot and arid plains, creates 30% more wind than there would be otherwise. These winds moderate temperatures, protect against mold and rot, reduce the risk of early and late season frosts, diminish canopy size and toughen grape skins.
The vineyards bordering the river are on steep, south-facing, well-exposed slopes, with well-drained, sandy-loam soils. But the soils of the appellation are diverse throughout, ranging from wind-blown sand and loess, Missoula Flood sediment, and rocky basalt. Horse Heaven Hills has an arid continental climate with elevations ranging from 200 to 1,800 feet.
The first vines of the appellation were planted in 1972 in an optimal spot now referred to as the Champoux Vineyard. Today it remains the source of some of Washington’s most desirable and expensive Cabernet Sauvignons. In fact, the appellation as a whole boasts many of Washington’s top scoring wines. Its primary grape varieties are Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Syrah, Chardonnay and Riesling.