Winemaker Notes
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
-
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.
-
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.
-
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.
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”.
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.