Here's a staggering bit of trivia: Since 2002, Quilceda Creek’s Cabernet Sauvignon has averaged 99.6 points from Robert Parker's The Wine Advocate. As you well know, we are not a fan of point scores, but still...  this howling streak of near-perfection is pretty mind-blowing.

And we're not the only ones to think so: Over the last few decades Quilceda Creek has become a true blue chip estate, with consistently rising demand (and prices) that humble the rather rapid life cycles of countless glossy Napa estates. And with the pre-review gossip calling the 2007 one of the estate's best ("exceptional" is the word the rather modest Golitzins use), things are unlikely to cool down.

Today's offer represents our first venture into Oregon's famed Willamette Valley. If this is a bit shocking given the world-renowned quality of these wines, explaining ourselves is easy enough. Two big issues have always gotten in our way: availability and price.

Today, however, we have found our Willamette Valley gem.

While the price was incredibly fair (especially given the quality of the material - we're talking about a cuvee that uses a healthy dose of fruit from the Temperance Hill Vineyard, made famous by Mark Vlossak at St. Innocent), we had to muscle our way in to get an allocation big enough to offer.

Still, given the quality and price on offer today, we expect a sell-out before the sun sets. (We wish we could source more, but we'll just have to wait till next year.)