Anyone tried it? Not even sure how broader WA cabs fared in 2015. Looks like release is $140, I was thinking about passing but when you put it in context of Napa the price isn’t bad.
thoughts are appreciated.
thanks
-paul
As far as I know there are not a lot of opportunities to taste this before release. One thing about QC is that they tend to be pretty consistent year in and year out, so if you have had, or have access to any recent previous vintages, that would be the best indicator as to whether you would want to buy this or not.
Scott is exactly right. Their house style is very consistent. Have you had QC in the past?
There will be a new participant in berserkerday of Washington Cabernet Sauvignon. Not necessarily in the QC house style.
Keep an eye out for JB Neufeld in the newbie intro shortly.
I was thinking about passing but when you put it in context of Napa the price isn’t bad.
Depends on what wines you’re talking about. And for the style, Caymus is cheaper.
Have to disagree with the comparison. If you are going to critique QC, it is due to Oak and Heat. The Caymus I have had are flawed due to extract/jam and heat. So feel free to blindly hate on QC, but at least get your peer groups straight.
QC tastes nothing like Caymus. I would characterize QC by massive extract and tannin with some heat and oak. Caymus is very soft compared to QC. I don’t like either wine, but for much different reasons.
What Mason says.
That said, I can say with certainty that I’d prefer to drink post-1999 QC over post-1999 Caymus.
Amen!!!
I have been buying JB Neufeld since their 2010’s and I think you should consider looking for these on BD IX (or anytime) regardless. JB Neufeld specializes in 100% cab usually single vineyard from some top WA vineyards with a very well structured and age worthy style. The prices are well under QC but are well made.
QC tastes nothing like Caymus. I would characterize QC by massive extract and tannin with some heat and oak. Caymus is very soft compared to QC. I don’t like either wine, but for much different reasons.
I’ve had less Caymus than QC so maybe Caymus isn’t always the way I remember it, but when I’ve had non-corked bottles, it was super oaky/buttery, jammy and soft, and a bit hot. QC was also super oaky but less buttery, not quite as soft, very jammy and a bit hot. Taste wise, I think it would be easy to tell them apart side by side since at least QC tastes like it’s got some Cab involved. In terms of style, if you take those two and put them against something like Dunn and Cadence or Andrew Will, both cheaper and to me, preferable, and you were going to group them, they would naturally fall into two groups.
As far as hating it, that’s too strong. For more or less academic reasons, I bought various CA wines in the 1990s and early 2000s to see how they’d turn out at 10 and 15 and 20 years as compared with some Spanish wines. We’ll eventually drink them up.
Hi Paul,
QC is a very consistent producer. If you are a fan of the style (I am) they should be a no brainier. If not there is a long list of others who would be happy to purchase your bottles.
Opened a 2015 CVR (iirc made from fruit that does not make the cut for the better wines but not sure from where) over the holidays with company, later in the evening and thought it was somewhat disjointed, big oak and some bitterness stuck out from the fruit. Its early but don’t think it will be as good as the 2014 CVR. Will see but will wait a couple months from now to pop the next one.
What does that mean for the Columbia Valley Cab? Hard to say, there is a big gap between it and the CVR which is typically a bit rough out of the gate. Not sure the CVR indicates how good the CV Cab will be. Agree with others that the CV Cab is very consistent.
Have been buying CV Cab since 2001 and have learned over the last five years that they are much better in the teens. There is little movement by the age of six or seven. Over the 2016 holidays I opened a 2001 pop and pour thinking my funnel filter would suffice to filter the last bits. Big mistake, after a couple pours fine sediment had ben stirred up and my filter could not remove it and the last couple glasses suffered from bitter tastes on the finish. Several months later we opened our last 01 and very carefully decanted it. There was a lot of sediment. With the youthful turbidity removed it was terrific and thought it could easily go another five years.