March 31, 2024 - Finally popped this with lamb roast for Easter. May have waited too long. A bit thin, raspberry fruit, and a tad acidic.
February 16, 2024 - Cork was protruding slightly but in decent shape, soft but not saturated. Color is brownish garnet red, not quite as deep as I would expect. Nose is flat, wine is bitter with little to no fruit. This seems like it’s oxidized or at least we’ll over the hill. NR.
November 26, 2023 - Drank over five hours. Cellar temperature (cool)
Deep burgundy in color.
Faint red fruit. Hint of cigar box.
Mouth filling. Still remnants of jammy fruit left. Silky smooth. Medium plus finish. Some herbaceous notes. Although heavily extracted the wine is perfectly balanced right now. This is my first time trying QC's merlot, and I absolutely love it. Case worthy. At its peak. Drink now or over the next 18 months.
Insane lamb chop dinner tonight. Roasted Brussels sprouts by Britt.
Smoking a Perdomo now. A very nice day. #Grateful
June 10, 2023 - I looked at the tasting notes below with trepidation as I have 2 of these left, now only 1. I opened a bottle last night at the Wine Watch and drank against Dunn 1997, 2005 Bordeaux, and Paul Hobbs and it may have been the wine of the evening. Decanted for 1 hour and the best of this Merlot came through. One person said it was the best QC of anything he drank and this is what you hope for from the Right Bank. The structure, color, acidity and fruit were still intact, very enjoyable and open for business over the 2 hours we drank it. Be prepared for a Merlot with good extraction, lots of structure, with a lot of age but still showing some signs of youth. I have 1 more left and I will drink it this year. Why wait for a great wine to go bad.
May 8, 2022 - Heavy extraction, evident on the nose, concerned me. But this Merlot has enough balance and restraint - and certainly enough ripe fruit. Over time it became a bit plodding for me but a nice pairing with roast duck.
April 17, 2022 - Easter treat. Subdued cassis flavor, with mint, cedar, and stone.
August 31, 2021 - waited too long
August 26, 2021 - On a steep downhill. Drink now and maybe save one as QC’s last vintage of merlot.
July 26, 2021 - Drink NOW - DRINK NOW!!!
Fun Fact: Quilceda discontinued the Merlot in 2006, with this wine. It's lovely, but all softened out, time to drink. For real.
June 26, 2021 - took a bit to wake up, but after about an hour in the decanter, it showed really well. still quite powerful for a 15 y.o. wine.