100 Points, International Wine Report
“The 2020 Columbia Valley Cabernet Sauvignon is truly sensational. This Cabernet emerges from the Champoux (90%) and Mach One (10%) vineyards and is a selection of clones 4, 8, 337, 191, 685 that spent 22 months in new French oak. It begins with striking aromas of fresh blackberries, blueberries and dark plums that are laced with fresh spring florals, mocha, sweet exotic spices, graphite and gravel nuances all taking shape. The palate is full-bodied and displays a remarkable combination of power and elegance throughout. This is beautifully structured and extremely expressive, as it possesses outstanding depth and concentration all they way through the long, finessed finish. Year after year, the Columbia Valley Cabernet is one of the most impressive wines, and there is no exception here, as it combines all the wonderful qualities of the 2020 vintage from Quilceda Creek into one expression. This is fantastic already and readers will be in for a real treat, as this simply marvelous wine will continue to deliver the goods for years to come.”Â
99 Points, Owen Bargreen
“The outstanding new 2020 Quilceda Creek ‘Columbia Valley’ Cabernet Sauvignon was sourced mainly from the Champoux Vineyard (90%) with the remainder coming from the Mach One Vineyard. This reveals very pretty black rose petals with blueberry compote, sandalwood, mocha, tar and anise notes that all meld in the glass. The palate is utterly seamless, as this glides throughout the drinking experience. Huckleberry pie, dark chocolate covered blackberry and black raspberry coulis combine with loamy soils. This is a super refined and elegant Cabernet Sauvignon that is already beautifully evolved and will provide drinking enjoyment over the next fifteen to twenty years. Drink 2022-2039
*100-Point Exclusive* “This is fantastic already and readers will be in for a real treat, as this simply marvelous wine will continue to deliver the goods for years to come.”
Two years removed from their 40th anniversary, Quilceda Creek remains arguably the greatest domestic Cabernet producer the U.S. has. No other American winery has enjoyed the success they’ve been able to achieve. They’re the first winery outside of California to earn 100 points from Robert Parker’s Wine Advocate and have done so on seven different occasions from that publication alone(!), with a handful of other wine writers and expert reviewers offering up perfect scores as well.
In fact, there really is no feat that this Washington Winery hasn’t achieved. Easily considered the best winery in the state (and dubbed so by Parker’s Wine Advocate), they have made three Top 10 appearances on Wine Spectator’s Annual Top 100 list and they even had their Cabernet poured at the White House in a dinner with then President Obama and President at Hu Jintao of China in 2011.
In what was a challenging 2020 vintage for most everyone, it’s amazing but in no way surprising that once again the folks at Quilceda Creek managed the unthinkable with a perfect 100-point wine. They weren’t even sure they were going to make the wine in this vintage, but this isolated little gem was spared from the bad weather for the most part, and still the clusters that were hand-picked came in exactly as the team wanted. This is a true show stopper, will most likely get a few more 100-point scores when the others get to it, and it also remains one of the hardest bottles to procure. I have just 18 btls today for this special text exclusive of one of the greatest American collector bottles.
“The 2020 Columbia Valley Cabernet Sauvignon is truly sensational. This Cabernet emerges from the Champoux (90%) and Mach One (10%) vineyards and is a selection of clones 4, 8, 337, 191, 685 that spent 22 months in new French oak. It begins with striking aromas of fresh blackberries, blueberries and dark plums that are laced with fresh spring florals, mocha, sweet exotic spices, graphite and gravel nuances all taking shape. The palate is full-bodied and displays a remarkable combination of power and elegance throughout. This is beautifully structured and extremely expressive, as it possesses outstanding depth and concentration all they way through the long, finessed finish. Year after year, the Columbia Valley Cabernet is one of the most impressive wines, and there is no exception here, as it combines all the wonderful qualities of the 2020 vintage from Quilceda Creek into one expression. This is fantastic already and readers will be in for a real treat, as this simply marvelous wine will continue to deliver the goods for years to come.” – List Perotti, The Wine Advocate