2017 Quilceda Creek Cabernet Sauvignon Columbia Valley Washington 750 ml

Quilceda Creek’s Cabernet Sauvignon is one of the timeless icons of American winemaking, a collectible that no serious cellar is complete without. Founded by a Russian émigré in 1978, the family-run estate has magnified Washington State’s finest terroirs into a single-variety expression whose sheer power, seamless integration, and silky polish rank with the greatest in the world.

The gorgeous 97-point 2017 is exactly what we’ve come to expect from Quilceda Creek: Pauillac-like in its precision, opulent and plump with crème de cassis and black cherry, it’s an extraordinary Cabernet from a winery that has earned staggering praise from Robert Parker’s Wine Advocate.

“This awesome estate, which is run by Paul and Alex Golitzin, is producing some of the top Cabernet Sauvignon blends in the state, and I would venture, the world,” asserted Parker’s publication.

Alex Golitzin was tutored by Napa legend André Tchelistcheff—who happened to be his uncle. It was Tchelistcheff who counseled him to focus on one grape. Golitzin took the advice to heart, making the equivalent of a Bordeaux Grand Vin with his Cabernet Sauvignon each year, seeking single-minded perfection, and achieving what is consistently one of the best wines made on American soil.

For the serious Cabernet collector, Quilceda Creek’s 2017 Cabernet Sauvignon is an essential purchase, and today might be one of your best shots. List price is $200, we’ve got it at $170. Compare that with other 97-point wines from the vintage—like the $744 Realm The Absurd and Schrader To Kalon ($344)—and it’s a very sharp deal for buyers of Cabernet blue-chips and luxury reds.

Our personal collection of Quilceda Creek stretches back into the late 1990s, and these latest releases are some of the most seductive we’ve tasted yet from the estate, showing a harmonious texture that earlier, stiffer vintages required several years of cellaring to attain.

Ask founder Alex Golitzin about his favorite wines, and he’ll tell you about a revelatory 1982 Château Pichon-Lalande or a kingly 1990 Château Montrose—bottles whose poised combination of layered structure and balance clearly formed the mold for releases like this one.

His son Paul, rightly regarded as a superstar vintner in his own right, has taken over winemaking duties for a number of years now, and is delivering on the promise that Alex and uncle André recognized decades ago.

Paul’s 2017—which taps the peerless Champoux, Lake Wallula, Palengat, and Wallula vineyards—is a dazzling evocation of a growing season that featured a cool spring and warm summer, and an October that afforded the grapes beautiful hang time for ripening. The resulting fruit was mature, intense, and perfect to burnish the image of Quilceda Creek. 

Make the investment today and save this American classic for a special night—one that comes any time over the next two decades.