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A massive, intense wine that’s close to perfection. Right out of the gate there’s layered aromas of blackberry pie, ripe blueberry, sagebrush and black tea. The freshness is extraordinary, as is the seamless mouthfeel and texture. Opulent blackcurrant, blackberry pie, mocha, Asian spices and sage flavours lead to a long finish. While wonderful now, it will cellar well for at least another decade.Vinous Media | 99 DECThe flagship wine from Quilceda Creek offers exotic scents of plum, cassis, loam, coffee and pine sap, a rich and evocative blend. The wine delivers all that is promised and more; it is deep and dense with flavor, polished, focused and persistent. Vanilla, espresso, fine tannins, luscious acids and cascading fruits.Wine Enthusiast | 99 WEThe 2008 Cabernet Sauvignon shows delicious and juicy on the nose with a clearly delineated frame of red and black fruit expressions that are open-knit and accessible. Full-bodied, flavors of dusty plum, juicy dark cherry and blackberry essence sway on the palate with a lively and juicy structure, offering fine-grained tannins before elegant oak tones and exotic baking spices shine through the mid-palate. The wine offers an elegant yet underlining mineral tension that adds complexity to the wine before concluding with a long evolving finish. I feel the need to elevate the previous score, as it has certainly earned the “plus sign” originally given to it back in 2013.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 98 RP(cabernet sauvignon blended with 2% merlot): Good full red-ruby. Complex, slightly high-toned aromas of plum and brown sugar. Wonderfully sweet but firmly built; dense, smooth and complex, with the terrific definition of the 2008 vintage at its best. A hint of nutty ripeness is countered by a lively suggestion of eucalyptus. This is harmonious from day one. Comes across as less sweet than the Palengat, finishing with great length and breadth but no undue weight, and spreading out to coat the mouth with flavor.Vinous Media | 96 VMFirm in texture, with sandy tannins around a supple core of ripe, plush cherry, tobacco and tar flavors. Finishes with persistence and flashes of sage and bay leaf. Long and inviting, this is built for the cellar. Best from 2014 through 2020. 3,625 cases made.Wine Spectator | 94 WS

The 2008 Galitzine Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon contains 1% Merlot. It proffers a brooding aromatic array of toasty oak, Asian spices, incense, a hint of sage, violets, and assorted black fruits. More structured than the preceding wines, “No doubting it’s Red Mountain” say the Golitzins, it has plenty of ripe tannin more than balanced by loads of succulent fruit, exceptional density, richness and power. Give it 5-6 years and drink it from 2016 to 2033.At Quilceda Creek it’s the same old story, great wines made by unpretentious people. The Golitzins decline to raise prices because they feel loyalty to the people who supported them from the beginning and who might not be able to afford connoisseur/collector pricing. As for the latest wines, they regard 2008 as ”a regular vintage with no issues; you could pick at your leisure”. They are considerably more excited by the 2009 vintage which they describe as “wines with tons of aroma ... really good” which, given their understated manner, I interpret to mean really terrific. For this tasting, the 2009s were all tasted from barrel samples.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 98 RP(99% cabernet sauvignon with 1% merlot; all of the Quilceda Creek reds are aged in 100% new French oak): Complex, expressive aromas and flavors of redcurrant, minerals, menthol, smoke and tobacco. Fat, sweet and concentrated, with an almost liqueur-like ripeness to its highly concentrated, palate-saturating flavors. This savory, chewy wine finishes with huge tannins that reach the incisors and lingering notes of blueberry and minerals.Vinous Media | 95 VMQuilceda Creek’s single vineyard Red Mountain Cabernet Sauvignon has the heft and structure for decades of aging; to drink it anytime soon is folly. Massively oaky, spicy and loaded with chunky ripe fruit, it’s full-flavored and big-boned; a young, raw Cab with unlimited potential.Wine Enthusiast | 95 WE

The 2008 Palengat Proprietary Red Wine is made up of 76% Cabernet Sauvignon, 14% Cabernet Franc, with the balance Merlot and Petit Verdot. The fruit was sourced entirely from the Palengat Vineyard. Pain grille, pencil lead, Asian spices, incense, violets, dried herbs, black currant, and blackberry aromas compose the bouquet of this impeccably balanced offering. It opens in the glass to reveal plush, succulent flavors, superb concentration, plenty of ripe tannin, and at least 4-5 years of aging potential. It will deliver optimum drinking from 2015 to 2028.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 97 RP(76% cabernet sauvignon, 14% cabernet franc, 7% merlot and 3% petit verdot; this used to be a single-vineyard wine but Palengat is now used as the name for a proprietary Bordeaux blend): Expressive aromas of cassis, cocoa powder and brown spices. Sweet and smooth on entry, then intensely flavored and tactile in the middle, with a plush creme de cassis flavor framed and intensified by mounting graphite minerality. Wonderfully suave wine with terrific back-end volume, very smooth tannins and lingering spiciness. Paul Golitzin describes 2008 as "focused and complex," while the 2009s, he says, are "ripe and fruity, like the 2005s." He says that he may prefer 2009 at this stage.Vinous Media | 94 VMQuilceda’s single-vineyard Bordeaux-style blend is 76% Cabernet Sauvignon, 14% Cabernet Franc, 7% Merlot and 3% Petit Verdot, from a vineyard just across the road from Champoux. Dusty and fragrant, it suggests soft leather, toast, caramel and coconut, hiding its fruit at first in a wash of luxurious barrel flavors. That fruit emerges with some hours of decanting, a tart and racy mix of berry and sweet tomato.Wine Enthusiast | 93 WE