2012 Quilceda Creek, Columbia Valley Red Wine CVR
Breaking with tradition this year, Quilceda Creek has chosen to release two vintages of their Columbia Valley Red, now officially designated as “CVR,” in the same year. The freeze which struck Champoux Vineyard in late 2010 significantly affected the quantity of grapes available for the 2011 CVR, which was released six months earlier than usual. (We put the 2011 in our June club, and we still have a couple of bottles in stock.) As 2012 was a significantly warmer year, Quilceda Creek once again had a wide choice of grapes from some of the best vineyards in Washington, including Champoux, Discovery, DuBrul, Klipsun, Shaw, Tapteil, Wallula, and their own Palengat and Galitzine vineyards. The 2012 CVR is predominantly Cabernet (83%) and full of red and dark fruit, bittersweet chocolate, minerals, and spices. You can enjoy it any time over the next ten years, but this vintage is probably the most impressive right out of the bottle that we have seen yet. Thanks to Quilceda Creek’s generosity, we were again able to get a very generous allocation, so we will be able to pour this wine at our Boxing Day club tasting. It is still $51.50, the same price as before, and one of the best values you’ll find anywhere for an elite Washington Cabernet. And we do have a tiny amount available of the 2011 Quilceda Creek Cabernet at the club price of $175.