2015 Quilceda Creek, Cabernet Sauvignon, Columbia Valley, Washington, USA
Critics reviews
William Kelley - 29/06/2018
About this WINE
Quilceda Creek
Washington State
Washington State was effectively a 'dry-state' producing only grape jelly, until the 1980s spawned a wine industry desperate to make-up for the lost time. In 2004 plantings were at 12,141ha (up 4,000ha since 2000). Columbia Valley AVA dominates with approx. 60% of total vineyard area; the prized sub-region Yakima Valley AVA covers 39%; Walla Walla Valley AVA 1%.
Lying to the east and in the shelter of the coastal Cascade Mountains, the region enjoys a dry, distinctively continental climate, where Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot blends can reach great heights on the sandy gravely loam soils; Semillon and Riesling are the most promising white wines.
In 2005 there were approx 350 wineries (a 10% increase year on year), with the Andrew Will Winery regarded as the region's best.
Cab.Sauvignon
The most famous red wine grape in the world and one of the most widely planted.
It is adaptable to a wide range of soils, although it performs particularly well on well-drained, low-fertile soils. It has small, dusty, black-blue berries with thick skins that produce deeply coloured, full-bodied wines with notable tannins. Its spiritual home is the Médoc and Graves regions of Bordeaux where it thrives on the well-drained gravel-rich soils producing tannic wines with piercing blackcurrant fruits that develop complex cedarwood and cigar box nuances when fully mature.
The grape is widely planted in California where Cabernet Sauvignon based wines are distinguished by their rich mixture of cassis, mint, eucalyptus and vanilla oak. It is planted across Australia and with particular success in Coonawarra where it is suited to the famed Terra Rossa soil. In Italy barrique aged Cabernet Sauvignon is a key component in Super Tuscans such as Tignanello and Sassicaia, either on its own or as part of a blend with Sangiovese.
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Description
A powerful wine that bears the stamp of the vintage, the 2015 Cabernet Sauvignon offers up aromas of minty crme de cassis, blackberries, dark chocolate and spice, framed by a lavish application of toasty new oak. On the palate, the wine is full-bodied, ample and heady, with a generous core of ripe, liqueur-like fruit, a fine-grained chassis of tannins and a long, heavily oak-inflected finish. To hold the estate to its own high standards, after the more elegant and complete 2014, the 2015 vintage of Quilceda's flagship bottling feels a bit more overtly high-octane and marked by its time in new wood, and I don't think it will ever be as graceful. But it's a lusty, expressive Cabernet Sauvignon that will drink well for a decade or more.
William Kelley - 29/06/2018
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