2016
Quilceda Creek
“CVR” Red Wine
Hang time is the guiding force behind the quality of the 2016 vintage. The cool fall season gave the grapes extra weeks to develop complexity and character. Our ultra-premium releases were among the best we ever produced, and this, the wine we make from declassified fruit originally earmarked for the top-level wines, follows suit in its full-throttle flavor and complex aromatics. Unlike our other releases, it also provides early-drinking pleasure. It is a blend of 87 percent Cabernet Sauvignon, 7 percent Merlot, 3 percent Cabernet Franc, and 3 percent Petit Verdot, grown in the Champoux, Galitzine, Palengat, and Wallula vineyards.
Electrifying savory and fruity sensations wash over the palate, leaning more toward red fruit than black fruit but melding into the essence of the Quilceda Creek experience. This wine was enjoyable on release, but the texture and tannins it picked up while aging in 100 percent French oak are still integrating with the bold Washington fruit, so the 2016 CVR will only increase in elegance as it spends a little more time in your cellar.
Paul Golitzin, Director of Winemaking
93 points
"The 2016 'CVR' is an absolutely stunning release from Quilceda Creek. It takes on instant appeal, as the nose is very pretty and perfumed with red rose petals that combine with the marvelous dark and blue fruits. The texture is outstanding with a wonderfully rich and polished mouthfeel. Delicious flavors of ripe red, dark and blue fruit combine with a touch of chocolate to envelope the palate heading into the long finish. While this is already remarkable in its youth, it should also cellar well over the next ten to fifteen years.
93 points
The entry-level 2016 Columbia Valley CVR is a beauty and well worth purchasing, particularly as it drinks well right out of the gate where the top cuvee benefit from 2-4 years of bottle age. Full-bodied, ripe, and sexy, with terrific notes of kirsch, black cherry liqueur, lead pencil shavings, and graphite, it has plenty of tannins as well as terrific balance and elegance."
92 points
"A blend of 87% Cabernet Sauvignon, 7% Merlot and 3% each of Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot, the 2016 CVR Columbia Valley Red Wine wafts from the glass with tones of rich and ripe red fruit with a soft tartness and subtle cedar spice on the nose. Full-bodied, the wine is sprinkled with sweet spice on the palate, giving way to a ripe tannic structure, and it concludes with a long finish with nuances of subtle dark cherry and elegant oak spice. Drink 2019-2036"
90 points
"Dark red-ruby. Musky currant, plum, licorice, herbs and tobacco leaf on the nose, along with a hint of celery seed and obvious oak. At once firm and smooth on the palate; more black fruit than red in character, with dominant flavors of boysenberry and dark plum complicated by licorice, herbs and oak spices. Offers a fine-grained texture for a wine made from declassified barrels, and less of a range of ripeness than usual, perhaps owing to the longer hang time afforded by this vintage. Finishes with a solid spine of dusty, building tannins that mostly avoid dryness. Shows less of the black olive component demonstrated by the 2015. (aged in 60% new French oak; 6,675 cases made from declassified barrels). Drink 2019-2025"