Great to see those TNs--thanks again for taking one for the team. I got onto QC's mailing list back in Feb. and bought my first 1/2 case. Divvied up 2 to Madd Dogg and placed the other four into my cooling unit, not to be seen again until 2007 or so. I can't wait!

Perhaps the reason why WS doesn't have vintage charts is because there is very little vintage variation in Washington. The water supply is usually dictated by irrigation and rain is rarely a problem. I believe that the greatest threat to Washington Vines is cold winters killing some of them. This prevents vines from getting any real age on them but shouldn't effect the quality of the harvest, that would remain rather consistent.

TCK

Popped my first one, just 'cause. WIML is dead on, this is way way young.
'00 Quilceda Creek
Purchased from winery. Drank from Vinum Extremes. Dark purple, nearly opaque at the core. Initially, with an hour in the decanter, a very dense nose of earth, blackberry, and vanilla oak. Substantially different from the '99 which showed beautiful cedar and tobacco, but I'm trying this one 6 months younger than I tried the '99. Very dense primal fruit on the full concentrated palate, with dusty tannins from beginning to end, the end is very, very long. There is a lot going on here, but only glimpses are visible right now, back into the bottle with ya...
With 24 hours of air. Layers of big black currant have become dominant on the nose with a touch of anise as well. Well balanced, but not shy in the acid department as in previous vintages. The fruit has become more substantial, but it is still fairly cloaked in the bold tannic structure. The finish, timed, is well over a minute as the wine just coats the inside of your mouth. Extremely different from the '99 at this point. It will be interesting to see if its vaulted resemblance to Chateau Margaux shows up with time, I hope so. It still is a very good wine that is pretty tough to pin down at this point. 94++. 23 to go......

I popped one last night also. There were nine of us on a cellar depletion thingie so we didn't decant. Also it was about the sixth or seventh wine and we had had some pretty good merde before it.

It is TIGHT! Stealth, your notes are right on. I would only add that the tannins were really sweet. I think this thing has got a couple of years yet but I suspect that then the drinking window is going to be fairly short.

I have never had a Quilceda Creek wine, but my wife and I will be having a private tasting at the winery in July. Would some of you experienced with this winery please tell what you consider to be the stregths and weaknesses of this winery, the characterisitcs of their different varietals, their aging potentials, and the best recent vintages? Thanks so much.

I was hoping someone with more experience than myself would jump in here to help... I have some experience going back to the 98 (although I haven't opened up any of my own 98's - save the one I brought to the Seattle Offline at Delille). QC's strength is definitely Cab. I don't think they have ever used merlot in their flagship wine. Tends to be 90-something % cab and the rest petite verdot. They have started using merlot both in a high end varietal bottling and as a blender for their second wine. The cabs (to me) are a cross between california style and bordeaux style. They tend to be easier drinking young than Bordeaux but more austere than california. Blueberry, Cassis, Vanilla, Spice are the most prevalent characteristics of a young QC. I don't have experience on the aging curve, but according to the wine maker, 7 years from vintage date is a good place to start.

The winery has been gradually buying and planting premium parcels of land in eastern washington in order to have total control of their fruit. They will eventually produce all Estate wine and phase out their long term contracts.

That is about it off the top of my head.. If you haven't checked out their website, it is worth a look.http://www.quilcedacreek.com/

Have a great time at the winery. The Golitzens (and in-laws) are very nice people and a pleasure to talk to. Try to get you them to pour the 99 if they aren't already.

Thanks, smaug. I'm sorry you'll be away when we're out there.

Sorry for not posting sooner Board-O...I'm no Quilceda Creek expert, but I've had the '89, '90, '94, '99, and '00 Cab now and the '99 Merlot. The Merlot is unique, of very good quality, but not my style on its own with very candied fruit. The cab, I agree with Smaug, is to me, the best of both worlds (both Napa and Bordeaux). The wine generally has substantial pure black fruits, but is structured like fine Bordeaux with quite a few of the earthy qualities that commonly turn off the purely Cal Cab palate. It can be quite tannic young, the '94 is still a briarpatch of tannin, but matched with huge fruit. While I have yet to taste it a second time, the '99 was the single finest new release American wine I've ever had, I truly thought it sublime, though just an infant. A few months back, someone on the Squires Board was trying to put together a vertical tasting of all of QC's wines (82-00 I think), but was having a real hard time finding anyone with anything pre-'89, though I see on WineSearcher a British broker has the '83 and '87 currently.

Smaug,

The blend for the the Quilceda Creek Cab has used Merlot quite often, but still remains predominately Cabernet Sauvignon. The last ten vintages are blended as such;

2000.......97.5% Cabernet Sauvignon, 2.5% Cabernet Franc
1999.......97% Cabernet Sauvignon, 3% Merlot
1998.......97% Cabernet Sauvignon, 3 % Cabernet Franc
1997.......89% Cabernet Sauvignon, 2% Cabernet Franc, 9% Merlot
1996.......85% Cabernet Sauvignon, 6% Cabernet Franc, 9% Merlot
1195.......89% Cabernet Sauvignon, 11% Merlot
1994.......100% Cabernet Sauvignon
1993.......100% Cabernet Sauvignon
1992.......100% Cabernet Sauvignon
1991.......100% Cabernet Sauvignon
1990.......96% Cabernet , 4% Merlot

These wines are IMO ones of grace and power easily capable of holding their own next to any high quality Bordeaux or California Red. Some think these wines are overated, but not me. They are much more in the profile of fine Bordeaux and as Stealthman1 mentioned may not be of liking to the Big red CAL persons palate. I beleive many will pull out some of these wines 25 years from now and be astounded at how good they are. As far as the Merlot goes, I have had the 1999 2 times and it is a Merlot that is in need of time and will age very well.

I think in 25 years I will be very sad that I only bought one case of the '99. I will make up for that with my planned '01 purchases.

After reading some good, but not outstanding, notes for this wine, I decided to open one myself. This is a great wine that I liked better than most people who have posted about it.

Very closed at first, but still superb. The aromatics are dominated by blueberry, menthol/black licorice, and some spice. Very sexy, with great structure. In the mouth, huge waves of blueberry, blackberry, and cassis. Really builds and intensifies on the palate. Almost hurts the tongue. Huge finish, which really shows a lot of primary blueberry flavors. Suave, sexy tannins. After it begins to open up, it becomes very minty on the nose, much like the 99. The wine is impeccably balanced, and the oak is perfectly integrated.

Overall, a superb wine demonstrating both power and elegance. More elegant than the 99, but not as massive. I’m not sure which one I like better. 97 points.

Chris,
Thanks for the notes!
Question - did you decant?
If so, how long?
If not, how long did you spend from start to finish on this bottle?

Keep posting!

I decanted it, and drank it over 4 hours.

i picked up a couple of magnums and i was wondering how long anyone thought they would cellar for? keep in mind i keep my cellar at 54 degrees. i am hoping that i might be able to share them with one of my kids someday ( if i ever have any).

Pierre Rovani says 2008-2020 for the 2000 Quilceda Creek Cab. Add another 6-10 onto that if your cellar is at 54 degrees and the wine is in a magnum.

thanks seek, that is what i thought. i have the magnums scheduled not to be touvhed until 2025

The sommelier at the French Laundry compared the style to Haut Brion. I've only had the 98 and I was very impresssed with the elegance and complexity of the nose. Otherwise, I thought that it needed at least 5 years for the flavors to come around - it was pretty closed although the tannins were not harsh. There is a velvety texture to the wine that is interesting to me. It reminded me a little of the 97 Martin Ray DMC.

FWIW, in the today's release of Wine Spectator Weekly this got 93 points.

isn't that what harvey gave the 99?