Quilceda Creek Cabernet Sauvignon: History, Vineyards and Prices in 2026

The Columbia Valley Cabernet Sauvignon is the flagship of Quilceda Creek, the Golitzin family winery in Snohomish, Washington. It has been made since 1979, and the winery says it has focused on Cabernet Sauvignon since it was founded (Quilceda Creek).

Below is what the winery has published about the family, the vineyards and recent vintages, and what the wine sells for today in shops, at auction and on restaurant lists. The prices come from Wine Labs data collected on November 4, 2026.

Quilceda Creek Cabernet at a glance

The Golitzin family

Alex Golitzin was born in France to Russian parents and moved to San Francisco with his family in 1946. Their sponsor was his maternal uncle, André Tchelistcheff, the winemaker at Beaulieu Vineyard in Napa. Alex and his wife Jeannette, born Palengat, moved to Washington in 1967, where he worked as an engineer for the Scott Paper Company (Quilceda Creek history).

From 1975 to 1977 Alex made one barrel a year of trial Cabernet in his garage. Alex and Jeannette founded Quilceda Creek in 1978 as Washington's 12th bonded winery after Prohibition. The first vintage, 1979, was 150 cases made in the family garage, and it won the Grand Prize of the Enological Society of the Pacific Northwest in 1983 (history). Tchelistcheff's advice, the winery says, was to make one wine and make it well (Quilceda Creek).

Who makes it

Paul Golitzin, Alex and Jeannette's son, joined as winemaker in 1992 (history). He is now the winery's president. Mark Kaigas is listed as winemaker and Mike Doherty as assistant winemaker (Quilceda Creek people).

The 2002 and 2003 vintages both received 100 points from The Wine Advocate in 2006. The winery says the 2002 was the first American wine from outside California to get a perfect score from that publication (history).

Where the fruit comes from

The core of the wine is Champoux Vineyard in the Horse Heaven Hills, first planted in the early 1970s. Quilceda Creek began buying fruit there in 1986 (history). The timeline says the winery raised its share of Champoux to 79% in 2021 and took full ownership in 2026. Today it owns and farms all 153 acres, at 600 to 800 feet on fine sandy loam (Champoux).

The second source is Mach One, a 40-acre vineyard in the southeast corner of the Horse Heaven Hills. It sits about 50 feet above the Columbia River and was first planted to Cabernet in 2009 (Mach One). The family also planted the Galitzine Vineyard on Red Mountain in 2001, with 17 acres of Clone 8 Cabernet (history). Galitzine fruit goes into its own single-vineyard wine.

Vintages and vineyards

Quilceda Creek does not publish a tech sheet for every vintage, but its vintage pages name the vineyards. Through 2017 the wine drew on three or four vineyards. From 2018 it has been Champoux and Mach One only, with Champoux at 90% in the vintages that give a split.

The 2018 was the winery's 40th vintage of Cabernet and carries a commemorative foil. The 2023 was bottled in July 2025 and released to members in February 2026 (2023).

What Quilceda Creek Cabernet costs today

On November 4, 2026, 399 sellers had the wine on offer in a 750 ml bottle. Most are in the US (326 sellers), with 12 in Hong Kong, 11 in Japan and 8 in the UK. Half of all offers sit between $204 and $267, and the median is $240.

AuctionMedian of 5,772 sales, buyer's premium included$148

ShopsMedian of 399 sellers, all vintages$240

RestaurantsMedian of 543 wine lists$425

Per 750 ml bottle, US dollars, November 2026.

Channel	Price	Basis
Auction	$148	Median of 5,772 sales, buyer's premium included
Shops	$240	Median of 399 sellers, all vintages
Restaurants	$425	Median of 543 wine lists

These three prices don't measure the same thing. Shop prices mix many vintages. Auction prices are what one lot sold for, with the buyer's premium but before shipping, tax and storage. A restaurant price includes service. The winery sells to members at a member price it does not publish, so we leave it out.

Age makes little difference to the price here. Shops ask a median of $200 to $256 for every vintage from 2012 to 2023, and $250 for the 2002. At auction, the same vintages sold for medians of $117 to $164. The 2003 is the highest at auction, at $203.

$0$100$200$300

2012$149$250

2013$152$240

2014$164$239

2015$130$200

2016$136$213

2017$117$225

2018$150$230

2019$147$250

2020$126$256

2021$136$225

2022$146$250

2023$140$249

Medians per 750 ml, 2012 to 2023 vintages. Each has at least five shop sellers and five auction sales.

Vintage	Shop median	Auction median
2012	$250	$149
2013	$240	$152
2014	$239	$164
2015	$200	$130
2016	$213	$136
2017	$225	$117
2018	$230	$150
2019	$250	$147
2020	$256	$126
2021	$225	$136
2022	$250	$146
2023	$249	$140

This is a selection of vintages. Medians need at least five sellers or five sales.

Per-vintage shop figures leave out stores whose listings do not state a reliable vintage.

At auction

We have 5,772 sales with a recorded price, at 30 auction houses, from January 2003 to November 2026. K&L Wines (2,216 lots), Acker Merrall Condit (874), Winebid (673) and Hart Davis Hart (505) account for most of them. Half of all sales fall between $126 and $174 a bottle.

The auction median has drifted down. It was $199 in 2012, fell to $150 by 2019, and has been between $129 and $149 since 2022. More bottles now come to auction: 913 sales so far in 2026, against 84 in 2012.

All vintages, per 750 ml, buyer's premium included. 2026 runs to November 3.

Year	Median	Sales
2012	$199	84 sales
2013	$198	166 sales
2014	$189	244 sales
2015	$176	179 sales
2016	$159	118 sales
2017	$153	269 sales
2018	$163	313 sales
2019	$150	330 sales
2020	$145	419 sales
2021	$153	469 sales
2022	$149	413 sales
2023	$138	395 sales
2024	$129	547 sales
2025	$136	789 sales
2026	$142	913 sales

On restaurant lists

The wine is on 543 restaurant wine lists in our data, collected between January 2025 and November 2026. Nearly all of them are in the US. The median list price is $425 a bottle, and half the lists price it between $325 and $525.

The Columbia Valley Cabernet in the Quilceda Creek range

The winery also makes CVR, a red blend, and several single-vineyard Cabernets, among them Galitzine, Palengat and Tchelistcheff (Quilceda Creek wines). These are the ones with at least ten sellers in our data, all vintages together.

Buying Quilceda Creek

The winery sells through a private member list, and there is a waiting list. It says the typical wait is 12 to 18 months, there are no fees, and members need to buy at least once a year. The Columbia Valley Cabernet is the February release (FAQs). Small amounts also reach shops and restaurants, and older vintages sell often at auction.

See all Quilceda Creek wines on the Quilceda Creek producer page. See live prices and auction history in Wine Labs market data.

Data methodology: Wine Labs data, November 4, 2026, for "Quilceda Creek Cabernet Sauvignon, Columbia Valley, USA". Shop prices are live 750 ml offers from online merchants and wine shops, one price per seller per vintage (the lowest), with each chain counted once, and with multi-bottle packs and the winery's own shop left out. Auction prices are sold lots with a recorded result, buyer's premium included, per 750 ml bottle, with mixed lots and flagged outliers left out. Restaurant prices are one bottle price per restaurant. All prices in US dollars. Family, vineyard and vintage details are from Quilceda Creek's own pages, linked above.