Very clean cork extraction. Decanted off of moderate amount of fine and coarse sediment. Medium-red color with medium transparency. Currant and cherry aroma with black truffle and some vanilla notes. Initial taste shows tannic grip still there, but with a little air and some food, this dissipates. Palate is still relatively fresh but fully integrated and balanced with red fruit and earthy notes mixing. Finish is medium. This was a lovely bottle. Drink or hold.
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Strange cork, looked in great condition, but bore no markings of any kind. In the glass. this showed just the beginning signs of maturity. The nose was more mature, with violets, Asian spice, and forest floor. Very compact on the sweet-tart palate, with stemmy berries and a modestly unpleasant hamster-cage overtone, also juicy acidity. Shortish but not unpleasant finish. This could easily pass for a decent Right Bank Bordeaux near the end of its useful life. No reason to hold.
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Quilceda Creek Vertical (Hughes House - Chicago IL): Double blind tasting of what turned out to be a 10 year Quilceda vertical, with this is added as by far the oldest wine in the lineup. Clearly mature nose of black fruit, leather and earth, with a bit of mint. Flavors are also clearly evolved but less interesting than the aromas. Moderate length.
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Wineflock - Quilceda Creek Intro/Retro (Home): Group #7, My #8 - Deep opaque red with crrimson edges. Slightly canned round red/black fruit nose with prune and green pepper notes. Nice balanced round spicy red fruit with cola hints. Fully mature.
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Quilceda Creek Vertical 1990-2003 (My house): Green pepper, forest floor, really starting to showcase the acidity and bring it to the forefront. The tannins are all but gone. Very dry with seabreeze and tobacco on the nose. Past its prime, but you could still tell that it was a great wine 3-5 years ago
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California 'cult' lunch at Spago with Leve (Los Angeles, CA): I brought this down as a ringer, because it might sneak in well with the Bordeaux. In this flight of mostly young bruisers though, it didn't stand a chance. It was a fairly typical showing for a solid but not great bottle of Quilceda. The nose is the typical one, raspberry, violet and a little leafy but also with a touch of forest floor showing some age. The palate shows the tannins to be ahead of the fruit, but this is pure, clean, still well-proportioned, and finishes out with a nice dusty mouthful of silky tannins.
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After spending the last two days moving nearly 2,000 bottles of wine into our new cellar, I wanted something special to commemorate the day. I only bought this wine 2 years ago, so I was a bit apprehensive about the condition. The cork, however, was perfect. Interestingly there was no telltale QC mark on it. They must have started that in 91 or 92. The color was a touch murky garnet with only the slightest hint of pink on the edge. The nose was massive from the moment I pulled the cork. Wow. It is completely intoxicating and overwhelming with violets, black fruit, and, initially limited secondary elements. After only 20 minutes in the glass, a strong subtext of forest floor emerged. While the nose was terrific, the palate was leagues ahead of it. It begins with a beyond lush mouth-feel. This might be the densest wine that has passed my lips. Wow again. I find strong elements of forest floor, sweet black fruit, and chocolate. The exquisite balance is nearly perfect if not for the touch astringent finishes. Wow, one last time. There is simply no way that this wine is 13 years old. Tracy pegged it as a young monster. If I had tasted this blind, the nose was a slight giveaway to the age, but I would have guessed 95 at the earliest.
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6/3/2018 - fredb Likes this wine:
Very clean cork extraction. Decanted off of moderate amount of fine and coarse sediment. Medium-red color with medium transparency. Currant and cherry aroma with black truffle and some vanilla notes. Initial taste shows tannic grip still there, but with a little air and some food, this dissipates. Palate is still relatively fresh but fully integrated and balanced with red fruit and earthy notes mixing. Finish is medium. This was a lovely bottle. Drink or hold.
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4/29/2011 - mwanasheria wrote: 92 Points
Quilceda Creek Vertical (Zum Hirschen, Aarau, Switzerland): Still lots of cassis, and nice texture, but starting to fade. Some green notes, but still very interesting.
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9/19/2010 - petitblanc wrote: 88 Points
Strange cork, looked in great condition, but bore no markings of any kind. In the glass. this showed just the beginning signs of maturity. The nose was more mature, with violets, Asian spice, and forest floor. Very compact on the sweet-tart palate, with stemmy berries and a modestly unpleasant hamster-cage overtone, also juicy acidity. Shortish but not unpleasant finish. This could easily pass for a decent Right Bank Bordeaux near the end of its useful life. No reason to hold.
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2/12/2010 - Burgundy Al wrote: 89 Points
Quilceda Creek Vertical (Hughes House - Chicago IL): Double blind tasting of what turned out to be a 10 year Quilceda vertical, with this is added as by far the oldest wine in the lineup. Clearly mature nose of black fruit, leather and earth, with a bit of mint. Flavors are also clearly evolved but less interesting than the aromas. Moderate length.
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2/12/2010 - winefool wrote: 92 Points
Wineflock - Quilceda Creek Intro/Retro (Home): Group #7, My #8 - Deep opaque red with crrimson edges. Slightly canned round red/black fruit nose with prune and green pepper notes. Nice balanced round spicy red fruit with cola hints. Fully mature.
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12/1/2006 - 3daywinereview.com wrote: 88 Points
Quilceda Creek Vertical (Michael's House, St. Louis Park): Past peak with earth, green pepper and tobacco. Fruit muted compared to many later wines. Still fun to try.
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12/1/2006 - burcusabrews wrote: 89 Points
Quilceda Creek Vertical 1990-2003 (My house): Green pepper, forest floor, really starting to showcase the acidity and bring it to the forefront. The tannins are all but gone. Very dry with seabreeze and tobacco on the nose. Past its prime, but you could still tell that it was a great wine 3-5 years ago
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8/7/2005 - jwgauthier wrote: flawed
Corked! My one and only bottle! #**@&%!
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2/16/2005 - Eric wrote: 91 Points
California 'cult' lunch at Spago with Leve (Los Angeles, CA): I brought this down as a ringer, because it might sneak in well with the Bordeaux. In this flight of mostly young bruisers though, it didn't stand a chance. It was a fairly typical showing for a solid but not great bottle of Quilceda. The nose is the typical one, raspberry, violet and a little leafy but also with a touch of forest floor showing some age. The palate shows the tannins to be ahead of the fruit, but this is pure, clean, still well-proportioned, and finishes out with a nice dusty mouthful of silky tannins.
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12/7/2003 - Jason wrote: 95 Points
After spending the last two days moving nearly 2,000 bottles of wine into our new cellar, I wanted something special to commemorate the day. I only bought this wine 2 years ago, so I was a bit apprehensive about the condition. The cork, however, was perfect. Interestingly there was no telltale QC mark on it. They must have started that in 91 or 92. The color was a touch murky garnet with only the slightest hint of pink on the edge. The nose was massive from the moment I pulled the cork. Wow. It is completely intoxicating and overwhelming with violets, black fruit, and, initially limited secondary elements. After only 20 minutes in the glass, a strong subtext of forest floor emerged. While the nose was terrific, the palate was leagues ahead of it. It begins with a beyond lush mouth-feel. This might be the densest wine that has passed my lips. Wow again. I find strong elements of forest floor, sweet black fruit, and chocolate. The exquisite balance is nearly perfect if not for the touch astringent finishes. Wow, one last time. There is simply no way that this wine is 13 years old. Tracy pegged it as a young monster. If I had tasted this blind, the nose was a slight giveaway to the age, but I would have guessed 95 at the earliest.
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