Quilceda Creek 2012

Description

Rating: 98 Drink Date 2018 – 2032 Reviewed by Jeb Dunnuck Issue Date 28th Jun 2015 Source 219, The Wine Advocate The 2012 Cabernet Sauvignon is brilliant. Made from 100% Cabernet Sauvignon, mostly from the famous Champoux Vineyard in the Horse Heaven Hills, it was aged all in new oak and bottled unfined and unfiltered. It offers a captivating bouquet of black cherry liqueur and cassis-like fruit, Asian spice, coffee bean and lead pencil shavings to go with a full-bodied, ripe, seamless and hedonistic style on the palate. One of the more approachable, opulent examples of this cuvee, it has no hard edges, plenty of tannin and a massive, heady finish. Give it 2-4 years in the cellar and enjoy bottles through 2032. This is another serious lineup by Paul and Alex Golitzin and I was able to taste their 2012s multiple times, once at my office in Colorado where I was able to follow the wines for multiple days, and then during a visit at the estate just north of Snohomish. In both cases they showed beautifully, with the ripe, exuberant style that’s common in the vintage. When speaking about the ’12s, Paul told me that it was an "easy growing season and that you had to be selective." In addition, they had more production from Champoux (which was hit hard by frost in 2011) due to their increased ownership in the vineyard after the retirement of Paul Champoux. Looking at their 2013s, these are more restrained and classic in style, yet have terrific concentration, and I actually preferred their slightly more focused, pure style. We’ll see how these round out once in bottle, but they’re certainly terrific wines and in line with the expected quality from this estate. Yields as a whole were down in 2013 compared to 2012, but I didn’t get a feel for the percentage or effect on the case production of the cuvees. ——————————————————————————————————————————————- Wine Advocate #213 Jun 2014 Jeb Dunnuck RATED (97-100) Drink: 2015 – 2035 $200-$263 More approachable, but no less impressive, the 2012 Cabernet Sauvignon (100% Cabernet Sauvignon) looks gorgeous, and is probably the most complete wine in the lineup. Layered and rich, yet ultra-pure and also elegant, it gives up classic crème de cassis, lead pencil shavings, licorice and liquid flower like qualities to go with full-bodied richness and depth on the palate. Relatively civilized, yet with building tannin and richness, it should benefit from short term cellaring and have two decades of longevity. RATED (97-100)