Quilceda Creek
Palengat Horse Heaven Hills Cabernet Sauvignon
Horse Heaven Hills, Columbia Valley, Oregon/Washington, USA
2018 opened Oct 2021. Red raspberries and thyme on the nose. Dried currents on the front that are almost immediately balanced by some flinty notes that tingle on the front of the tongue. On the mid palate it continues with mild red-fruit flavors that are offset by some delicate high notes—that remind me of the smell of the loess that that gets blown off the Horse Heaven Hills on dry summers days. It has a slightly tart finish that lingers—but the satiny tannins offset this zing, and they hold this wine together from beginning to end. I’d want to call the tannic structure “heavy” except that they never come to dominate the tasting experience. This wine is lush and zaftig from start to finish, but its tremendous sophistication offsets any heaviness.
BTW, the fruit (which is subtle to begin with) fades after an hour of decanting. The tannic body opens up (i.e. it gets even smoother and fuller) but some harsh high notes begin to dominate on the finish. Frankly, I like this wine best a half an hour out of the bottle. If an increase in intensity is OK for you, go for a longer decanting. I like it better with less oxygenation. The fact that it gets a bit more intense with decanting makes me wonder if this vintage won’t lose some of its subtlety with aging. I’m not going to be able to resist drinking up my limited allocation, so, l’ll never be able to perform the aging experiment.
2018 opened Oct 2021. Red raspberries and thyme on the nose. Dried currents on the front that are almost immediately balanced by some flinty notes that tingle on the front of the tongue. On the mid palate it continues with mild red-fruit flavors that are offset by some delicate high notes—that remind me of the smell of the loess that that gets blown off the Horse Heaven Hills on dry summers days. It has a slightly tart finish that lingers—but the satiny tannins offset this zing, and they hold this wine together from beginning to end. I’d want to call the tannic structure “heavy” except that they never come to dominate the tasting experience. This wine is lush and zaftig from start to finish, but its tremendous sophistication offsets any heaviness.
BTW, the fruit (which is subtle to begin with) fades after an hour of decanting. The tannic body opens up (i.e. it gets even smoother and fuller) but some harsh high notes begin to dominate on the finish. Frankly, I like this wine best a half an hour out of the bottle. If an increase in intensity is OK for you, go for a longer decanting. I like it better with less oxygenation. The fact that it gets a bit more intense with decanting makes me wonder if this vintage won’t lose some of its subtlety with aging. I’m not going to be able to resist drinking up my limited allocation, so, l’ll never be able to perform the aging experiment.
