Special tribute wines for Special Mom’s Mother’s Day Dinner

Special tribute wines for Special Mom’s Mother’s Day Dinner

For Mother’s Day dinner, we were joined by sons Sean and Alec, their wives, Michelle and Vivianna, and their daughters.

Linda prepared grilled Tomahawk Rib-eye beefsteaks, served with mashed potatoes, broccoli cheese casserole and grilled mushrooms, with veggie and fruit plates and ceasar salad.

For a wine accompaniment with dinner, I pulled from the cellar a wine flight that included a special label that is itself a tribute to mothers, and one that is a birthyear vintage tribute to daughter-in-law Vivianna.

With the appetizer, veggie and fruit plates and the salad course we opened this high QPR easy drinking Santa Barbara Chardonnay. 

Diatom Santa Barbara Chardonnay 2023

We featured this wine in recent blogposts - Diatom Santa Barbara County Chardonnay 2023.

Long Shadows Vintners Collection Chester Kidder Red Blend 2017

Wine legend Allen Shoup created the Long Shadows Collection of wines and named one wine in honor of his mother, Elizabeth Chester, and his grandmother, Maggie Kidder. He selected Long Shadows' Director of Winemaking and Viticulture, Gilles Nicault, to craft this New World blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Syrah and other classic Bordeaux varieties.

The Chester-Kidder Red Blend is from Long Shadows Vintner’s Collection which I have featured often in earlier blogpost pages … Long Shadows Cellars feature a portfolio of limited release premium wines crafted by world class winemakers who specialize in particular varietal wines, all sourced from Washington State Columbia Valley fruit. 

We visited Long Shadows and featured their unique wine offerings in this earlier blogpost. 

Long Shadows was the creation of Allan Shoup, leader of Chateau St Michelle from 1983 to 2000. There he introduced Washington State grapes to winemakers from around the world in collaboration to produce quality wines. Under his leadership, Chateau St Michelle became the largest producer of Riesling varietal wines in the world. 

After retirement from Chateau St Michelle he founded Long Shadows to produce world class ultra-premium wines in Washington with fruit sourced from there. He built a state of the art winery in Walla Walla and recruited a team of legendary producers to craft signature wines from the best vineyards' fruit from the Washington Columbia Valley. Three years into the new venture Long Shadows was awarded the Winery of the Year by Food and Wine Magazine. 

Shoup recruited a top winemaker with expertise and a track record producing best in class wine in each category or type of wine based on a style and varietal grape. Marketed under the Vintners Collection, each of the Long Shadows labels is a testament to the legend of the winemaker for each label based on each 

varietal.

Since the beginning, Long Shadows' Director of Winemaking and Viticulture Gilles Nicault, has overseen the operations of the winery and worked closely with the vintners to bring each winemaker’s vision to completion. Internationally renowned winemakers Randy Dunn (Feather Cabernet Sauvignon); John Duval (Sequel Syrah); Philippe Melka (Pirouette Red Wine); and the late legendary Michel Rolland (Pedestal Merlot) as participating partner winemakers in their respective wines. 

Gilles also crafts Poet’s Leap Riesling and Saggi, a Sangiovese/Cabernet Sauvignon blend, in styles that remain true to their original winemakers, Armin Diel and Giovanni Folonari respectively. And finally, Gilles crafts this Chester-Kidder, a Cabernet Sauvignon/Syrah blend, independently.

Gilles Nicault has served as director of winemaking and viticulture since Long Shadows inception in 2003. As resident winemaker overseeing daily operations at Long Shadows' state-of-the-art winery in Walla Walla, Gilles works with a group of celebrated vintners from around the globe. It is his job to ensure that each winemaker's vision is realized in the vineyard and the cellar.

Gilles grew up in southern France and graduated from the University of Avignon with a four-year degree in viticulture and enology. He honed his craft in the fabled hillside wineries of Côte du Rhône, Provence and Champagne. In 1994, already a vintner of rising fame in his homeland, Gilles traveled to Washington State to expand his winemaking skills. Here he worked for several top Washington wineries, including Woodward Canyon, before joining Long Shadows. Seattle magazine named him Washington State’s Winemaker of the Year in 2016.

Gilles works closely with the state’s top growers to execute a diverse winemaking protocol at Long Shadows’ state-of-the-art facility in Walla Walla to produce wines of exceptional quality, true to the Columbia Valley’s terroir. 

We wrote about this label in several blogposts, most recently ‘Long Shadows Chester Kidder with Filet of Beef.’

It is a unique blend of Bordeaux varietals plus Shiraz/Syrah for a big bold expressive red wine, ideally suited for pairing with the grilled beefsteaks. 

We hold a half dozen vintages of this label acquired as part of our Long Shadows Vault Club allocations. For this dinner, we pulled the 2017 vintage, the same vintage and from the same appellation that we served for Linda’s birthday dinner, of another favorite Columbia Valley Red Bordeaux Blend, Force Majeure Epinette, featured in this blogpost of that special dinner - Birthday celebration dinner at Morton’s Steakhouse Naperville.

The 2017 Chester-Kidder is a blend of 68% Cabernet Sauvignon, 26% Syrah, and 6% Petit Verdot. it was aged 30 months in French oak barrels with 85% being new. 

The grapes were sourced from vineyards in Columbia Valley, Washington. The Cabernet Sauvignon was from Candy Mountain AVA and gives this wine structure and textured mouthfeel; Stone Tree Vineyard (Wahluke Slope) adds juicy, ripe cherry flavors; Dionysus Vineyard Petit Verdot, a standout site for this variety, is blended to contribute balanced acidity and dark fruit character that lifts the finished wine.

This release was rated 95 points by pundit Owen Bargreen, 94 points and Highly Recommended by International Wine Review, 93 points and Editors' Choice by Wine Enthusiast, and 93 points by Jeb Dunnuck and James Suckling, and 92 points by Stephen Tanzer.

Winemaker’s Note - Dark in color with generous aromas of wild blackberries wrapped around a pleasantly earthy core that’s accented by hints of oak spice. On the mid-palate, graphite and black licorice are complemented by a burst of vibrant fruit that lingers across a lengthy finish. A beautifully integrated wine with a broad, polished mouthfeel.

Deep dark ruby colored, full-bodied, rich, vibrant, bold concentrated savory black plum, black currant, wild blackberry and blue berry fruits accented by cassis, herbs, graphite, black tea, bacon fat, tobacco and hints of cinnamon spice and eucalyptus and oak with velvety tannins on a lengthy tongue-coating finish.

RM 93 points. 

https://www.cellartracker.com/w?3566693

https://longshadows.com/library/2017-chester-kidder/471

https://longshadows.com/

Silver Oak Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon 1991 

In a tribute to daughter-in-law Vivianna, the latest/newest mother in our growing family. we also opened a birth-year vintage Napa Cabernet Sauvignon we were holding in our cellar, from an iconic producer that we served at her and Alec’s wedding reception, and several other special events, as featured in these blogposts…. 

Big Bottle Birthyear wines for Wedding Celebration

Special Silver Oak Birthyear wines for Festive Holiday Open House, 

And, we recalled and shared our special unique visit to the Silver Oak cooperage, that is a foundation of the Silver Oak profile and brand … Silver Oak Cabernet Sauvignon is aged four years exclusively in this Missouri Oak before release … Cooper's Oak Winery and SILVER OAK Cooperage

We opened this producer’s Napa Valley label Cabernet from Viv’s birthyear vintage. We also still  hold the Alexander Valley and Bonny’s Vineyard labels of that vintage. 

At 34 years, while the label was a bit soiled, the foil, and most importantly the fill level and cork were still ideal. 

While past its prime, reaching the end of it optimal drinking window, showing a slight bit of haze or cloudiness, and taking on a bit of tartness in the aged fruit, this was still drinking nicely. 

Winemaker Notes - The 1991 Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon has a vibrant ruby-red color. It has a nose of bing cherry and red pepper. This wine is light to medium bodied with a medium length finish. Enjoy now. May need decanting due to light sediment.

This was rated a whopping 95 points by Robert Parker's Wine Advocate back in 1995, 93 rating from Wine Spectator, and 90 points by Wine Spectator. 

Blogger, wine writer Tom Lee publishes the Zinfandel Chronicles and featured this wine in 2018 giving it 91 points, and advising to ‘drink soon’.

https://zinfandelchronicles.com/2018/01/1991-silver-oak-cabernet-sauvignon-napa-valley-bottle-notes/

Garnet colored with a slight bit of rust color and cloudiness setting in, medium bodied, dark ripe black cherry and black berry fruits starting to give way to a slight tartness, with notes of tobacco leaf, herbs, dusty rose and spice notes finishing with hints of that signature sweet oak and soft tannins and glycerin. 

RM 88 points at this stage. Time to drink up. 

https://go.cellartracker.com/wine/21346

https://silveroak.com/

MR Pedestal Merlot Tribute Remembrance Dinner

Michel Rolland Pedestal Merlot Tribute Remembrance Dinner 

Readers of these pages might think I’m obsessive and make too much out of a bottle of wine or its label, and they might be right. But selecting and tasting a wine often brings back memories of friends, good times, travel, and evokes many stories. You be the judge.  

Tonight was such a case. Friday evening, end of a busy event filled week, I longed for an enjoyable casual sipping wine with dinner. Scouring the wine cellar I was looking at Merlot for its complex but velvety soft drinking, and pairing with food. 

Wife Linda grilled quality prime chopped beefsteak prepared in my favorite Pittsburgh-style (charred with hot pink center). We also enjoyed a plate of olives and fine olive oil produced by and gifted from our French friend Philipe from fruit from the tree in their backyard in the Luberon in Provençal France. Philippe brought a large container of their fine olive oil during his visit last fall. A visit to the Speziani family home was one of the drivers and highlights of our visit to Aix-en-Provence and the Luberon this past summer. Our relationship with them dates back to our hosting Philipe as a French exchange student in our home when son Alec was his sponsor back in High School.

I selected a bottle of Merlot from the Long Shadow’s Vintners Collection, crafted by the legendary master of Merlot, Michel Rolland, producer of and consulting winemaker to the world’s most iconic Merlot labels. We own several of his and his clients’ labels including his proprietary Michel Rolland Napa Cabernet, Chateau Clinet and Chateau Figeac, one of our signature birthyear labels we collect for our son’s birthyear.  

Long Shadows created their special Collection of wines, each crafted by a world renowned winemaker selected for their particular expertise in a specific varietal and style of wine. Michel Rolland was chosen to craft the Pedestal Merlot label. 

Michel Rolland was a French Bordeaux-based oenologist, with hundreds of clients across 13 countries as consulting winemaker to produce Merlot based wines. Wine Enthusiast memorialized Roland in a feature, ‘The Master Blender Who Turned Bordeaux into a Global Sensation Leaves the Wine World Forever Changed“, excerpted below.

The celebrated Bordeaux-based oenologist and winemaker who pioneered a style of wine that became fashionable in the 1990s and 2000s, died suddenly of a heart attack on March 20 at age 78.

“Rolland was a master blender who developed the style known for its ripe fruit, extended maceration, low yields, and new wood, crafting wines that were soft, lush, and generous, with unusually high alcohol for the time. Some loved it, especially in the American market; others found it too heady and alcoholic. But everyone can agree that he changed the wine world forever.’

“Born in 1948, into a Libourne wine family, owners of Château le Bon Pasteur in Pomerol, Rolland grew up surrounded by Merlot vineyards. His career began in 1973 after he graduated from Bordeaux University’s Wine Faculty. Rolland became known as the original “flying winemaker,” traveling the world and advising wineries as far-flung as California, where he created the cult Cabernet style in Napa, Chile, and Argentina.”

It just so happened that this week, I also lost a dear friend, for whom I just recently traveled to Florida to visit in what turned out to be his final days. LLL, or L3 as we called him, grew up on 105th in the Beverly section of Chicago, and we reminisced about him growing up in his neighborhood amongst historic architecture of Frank Lloyd Wright and legendary associate Walter Burleigh Griffin. He was unaware of Griffin, and I was able to share the importance of the legacy and history of Griffin for whom 104th Place is today called “Griffin Way”, for the large number of turn of the century prairie style homes he designed and built there. Griffin is a key character of my tours that I give at the Frank Lloyd Wright Home and Studio in historic Oak Park. 

Below shows some of the historic Frank Lloyd Wright and Walter Burleigh Griffin homes in my friend’s old neighborhood. This is a screenshot from The Prairie School Traveler, an amazing source of prairie school architecture sites. 

Such is the backdrop of my selection of a special Michel Rolland label, as a dual tribute to two recently departed special individuals. 

Long Shadows Vintners Collection Pedestal Merlot 2017

I wrote about Long Shadows Vintners Collection in this blogpost, Long Shadows Cellars feature world class winemakers and Columbia Valley fruit, and this Pedestal Merlot and other Collection wines in several blogposts back in 2022 - Long Shadows Pedestal Merlot 2015, and Long Shadows Duo Showcase Katy Business Dinner, and Catch 35 Naperville Surf & Turf and Wine Dinner, excerpted here. 

Long Shadows Vintners' Collection 

I have written in these pages about Long Shadows, the brand portfolio of several labels, all crafted by world famous winemakers from fruits sourced in the Washington State Columbia Valley. This was the vision of Allen Shoup, former CEO of Chateau St Michelle, champion and evangelist for Washington State wines. He formed the brand and recruited a world famous winemaker for each varietal based label. 

As noted above, Michel Rolland, Pomerol vintner and consultant to many of the world’s top wineries, was selected to produce this Right Bank Bordeaux Blend wine. He is the 'Master of Merlot', winemaker to some of the leading Bordeaux labels from the Right Bank where Merlot is the predominant varietal in the blend as well as the Napa based Merlot based Red Blend release cited herein. 

We've long known about the brand and joined their club while visiting their tasting room hospitality center in Woodinville WA during our Seattle Wine / Dine Experience in 2018. We remain Vault Club Members of the allocated portfolio and get a case each quarter of two of the varietal based selections including this Pedestal label.

Long Shadows Vintners Collection Pedestal Merlot 2017

We know this wine well as I have several vintages of this label in our cellar collection, having been a wine-club member for close to a decade. As noted, we also know and hold several vintages of the winemaker Michel Rolland's flagship labels, legendary Pomerol Bordeaux and Napa Valley oenologist, vintner and consultant to some of the world’s best wineries. 

This was the best tasting vintage of this label I have had as this vintage selection and food pairing met my lofty expectations. As I write often in these pages, an optimal food/wine pairing amplifies the enjoyment of both. 

At nine years, the bottle was pristine and this is drinking at the apex of its drinking profile, but should continue to age for pleasurable drinking for perhaps another decade. 

This vintage release is a blend of 82% Merlot, 15% Cabernet Sauvignon and 3% Petit Verdot, that was aged 22 months in French oak barrels, with 86% being new.  

The 2017 Pedestal Merlot was predominately grown on the Wahluke Slope, a warm area of the Columbia Valley that produces Merlot with layers of fresh, dark fruit and beautiful aromatics. A small amount of Merlot from Dionysus Vineyard and The Benches was used to build layers and complexity. Red Mountain’s Tapteil Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon added backbone. Petit Verdot from Dionysus Vineyard contributed to the finished wine’s rich mid-palate.

This release was awarded 95 points by Jeb Dunnuck, 94 points by Wine Advocate and International Wine Reviews, 93P points and a Cellar Selection by Wine Enthusiast, and 92+ points by Stephen Tanzer.

Winemakers tasting notes - “Vibrant and deep in color, with a beautiful array of red and dark berries woven around a hint of well-integrated oak spice and refined tannins. Soft and rich on the mid-palate extending through a lengthy finish that leaves an elegant impression.”

Dark inky ruby purple in color, full bodied, bright vibrant opulent black raspberry and blackberry fruits with notes of cassis, spice, dark mocha chocolate, cigar box, black tea and hints of vanilla with a smooth polished medium silky tannin laced finish.

RM 94 points.  

https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=3581700

http://www.longshadows.com 

@LongShadowsWine

  

Pour Boys Veal Marsala Wine Dinner

Fabulous Wine Flight with Pour Boys Veal Marsala Wine Dinner ...

 We were invited to fellow ‘Pour Boy’, (our wine group), Dr, Dan, and Linda for dinner. 

They prepared Veal Marsala with buttered mashed potatoes, Brussels Sprouts, and Tomatoes with herbs, crustin and goat cheese. 

Before dinner there grilled shrimp, cheese and mango blintzes, and a medley of artisan cheeses with fresh fruits, nuts and assorted biscuits. 

Over the course of the evening we had a wonderful wine flight starting with a Willamette Oregon Pinot Noir, a Napa Valley Diamond Mountain Cabernet, and finishing with a special limited release Shiraz. 

I took from our home cellar a bottle of one of our favorite Pinots. Readers of these pages know we don’t do a lot of Pinot Noir, but this is a special bottle we keep in our cellar for special occasions. We discovered and first tasted this label during a weekend getaway in the city (Chicago) during an enjoyable memorable afternoon lunch on the patio overlooking the Chicago River at Smith & Wollensky.   

Domaine Serene Evenstad Reserve Willamette Valley Pinot Noir 2011 

This is from the estate of Grace and Ken Evenstad who settled in the Willamette Valley, Oregon in 1989 to craft  Pinot Noir wines equivalent to those of Burgundy from Oregon fruit. They established Domaine Serene, a 42-acre hilltop estate in the Dundee Hills in Yamhill County, effectively creating Oregon’s luxury wine industry. In 2001, they constructed a state-of-the-art, five-level, gravity-flow Pinot Noir winery. The notable Ken Wright, vintner and producer, was Domaine Serene's first winemaker.

In the ensuring years they acquired and developed several more vineyards in the area growing Domaine Serene to over 1,000 acres, with 300 planted to Pinot Noir and Chardonnay. Today they craft a portfolio of ultra-premium single vineyard designated labels, this reserve, an entry level cuvée, and also a line of Chardonnays, all sourced from individual estate vineyards.

In 2018, the couple was honored with Wine Spectator's Distinguished Service Award.

This ‘Evenstad Reserve’ label is the Domaine Serene flagship wine, a blend crafted from best select barrels each year to create a reserve wine that is consistent in both quality and flavor profile. The ‘Evenstad Reserve’ Collection has earned world-class accolades over the years, including Wine Spectator's #1 Pinot Noir in the World (2013) and #1 White Wine in the World (2016).

Domaine Serene aims for consistency and character in their flagship "Evenstad Reserve" Pinot Noir, a complex blend of fruit from different clonal selections and sites in the Dundee and Eola Hills. The 2011 was aged for 13 months in 55% new French oak. 

Producer’s Notes: "A true illustration of the art of blending, the Evenstad Reserve® Pinot Noir is a wonderfully complex wine that delivers an array of red fruits, caramel, baking spice, vanilla, dried flowers, and potpourri. On the palate, this elegant wine shows a harmonious balance of structure, richness and acidity with soft tannins and a clean, lingering finish. With clonal variation and site driven diversity, we are able to craft this wine to our precise and exacting standards year after year."

At fourteen years of age, this was at, but likely nearing the end of its prime drinking window. The label, foil and most importantly, the cork and fill level were pristine. 

This release was awarded 92 points by James Suckling and 91 points by Wine Enthusiast. 

Ruby colored medium bodied, smooth and elegant with bright ripe red berry fruits, floral, earthy, dusty rose petal, tangy acids and smooth polished fine tannins on the finish.

RM 91 points. 

https://www.domaineserene.com/shop/2011-domaine-serene-evenstad-reserve-pinot-noir-15l

With the dinner course we had this Napa Valley Diamond Mountain Cabernet.

Diamond Creek Napa Valley Diamond Mountain Red Rock Terrace Cabernet Sauvignon 2015 

We visited the magnificent Diamond Creek Vineyards and Winery back in 2011 as featured in this post - Diamond Mountain Wine Experience - Diamond Creek Vineyards.

We then tasted and acquired this wine together at the Diamond Creek Winery Chateau 2015 vintage release party on Diamond Mountain during our Napa / Sonoma Valley Wine Experience back in 2017- as featured in this blogpost -  Diamond Creek Open House 2015 Release Tasting.

Diamond Creek Red Rock Terrace Cabernet Sauvignon is one of four single vineyard designated lablels made by Diamond Creek with the Cabernet Sauvignon variety from estate vineyards on Diamond Mountain in nortern Napa Valley.

Known as the first Californian winery to bottle 100% Cabernet Sauvignon wines from the same plot, Diamond Creek Vineyard is a benchmark for great winemakers. Founded in 1968 by Al Brounstein and his wife Adele Boots, this project started with identifying the differences in the soil composition and the slope of the terrain when planting the vines. They ended up with four vineyards with very special characteristics: Volcanic Hill, Red Rock Terrace, Gravelly Meadow, and Lake Vineyard - four unique plots with four distinctive exclusive wines with a marked character of their own. 

Following the death of the founders, the winery was acquired in 2020 by the exclusive Maison Louis Roederer.

Diamond Creek Red Rock Terrace Cabernet Sauvignon comes solely from the small Red Rock Terrace plot of less than 3 hectares of vineyards planted in reddish soils with a high iron content. Throughout the year they enjoy a warmer climate and are meticulously cultivated through environmentally friendly agriculture.

In the winery, once the best grapes have been selected to make Diamond Creek Red Rock Terrace Cabernet Sauvignon, they are crushed to ferment and macerate at a controlled temperature. The wine is then aged in 225-litre wooden barrels for about 18 months.

Diamond Creek Red Rock Terrace Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon 2015

We tasted this wine as part of the three labels vintage release tasting at the release party and it immediately became my favorite, and the benchmark against which the others were compared. This was the most vibrant and expressive fruit of the three, although the others' fruit gave way to more complexity with layer of accent flavors.

This release was awarded 99 points by Robert Parker’s Wine advocate in 2018, and 94 points Vinous and 93 points by Wine Enthusiast.

Two months ago in November, 2025,  Antonio Galloni wrote, “the 2015 has aged exquisitely”. While the legendary long lived anticipated maturity is projected to be 2032-2052, tonight this was spectacular and hard to imagine it will improve more with further aging. In 2018, Lisa Perrotti-Brown of Robert Parker gave it 99 points and projected anticipated maturity from 2020-2044.

Like that memorable tasting at the winery, tonight, this was fabulous, even better having aged ten years in bottle. 

Deep garnet-purple colored, medium full bodied, rich, round, structured, complex, layered blackberry, black raspberry and plum fruits with earthy notes of herbs, graphite, creme de cassis, dark mocha chocolate, cinnamon spice and licorice, hints of vanilla and cedar, with super ripe, fine-grained tannins on a polished finish. 

RM 95 points. 

https://go.cellartracker.com/wine/3430910

https://diamondcreekvineyards.com/red-rock-terrace/

https://diamondcreekvineyards.com/

With dessert, Dan opened another 2015 vintage, this special limited release Shiraz/Syrah from Washington State. 

Long Shadows Vintage Select Bin 898 Columbia Valley Syrah 2015

Dan acquired this limited release label crafted by legendary winemaker John Duvall, winemaker of the iconic Penfolds Grange Australian Shiraz. Duvall was recruited by Long Shadows to produce “Sequel” as part of the Vintners Collection series of master winemaker labels. 

We discovered Long Shadows and joined their wine club during our visit to the Long Shadows Cellars winery visit - featuring world class winemakers and Columbia Valley fruit, as part of our Seattle Culinary and Woodinville and Washington Wine Tour was a visit to the Long Shadows Wine Cellars tasting room back in 2018. 

This highly allocated limited release bottling was available only through the Long Shadows wine club - 125 cases were produced. It was rated 94 points by Wine Advocate and 93 points by Owen Bargreen.

This is a unique blend of 83% Syrah and 17% Cabernet Sauvignon.

Dark garnet inky purple colored, full bodied, dense, concentrated, complex structured blackberry, plum and black raspberry fruits with creosote, tobacco leaf, floral, clove and cinnamon spice notes on a tangy tongue puckering finish. 

RM 93 points. .  

https://www.cellartracker.com/w?3383466

https://longshadows.com/library/sequel-bin-898/15399

 

Pour Boys tasting red wines with blue cheese assortment

Pour Boys Wine Weekend Kick-off continues with red wine tasting with blue cheese assortment 

Following our Pour Boys Wine Weekend Kick-off Dinner, early dinner on the eve of our Pour Boys ‘Winers & Diners’ Gala Wine Dinner, we came home and had a relaxed evening socializing, catching up, and sipping some wines with artisan cheeses and fresh fruits. 

Inspired by the special feature in the current issue of Wine Spectator on blue cheeses paired with wines, I had gone out and picked up selection of Murray’s Blues - Cotswald, Cave Gorgonzola, Blue Stilton and Smokehaus Blue. We enjoyed these with assorted biscuits/crackers and fresh berries, pears and apples. 

All of these were fabulous and enhanced the wine pairing with the red wines. I especially liked the Cotswald and the Blue Stilton! 

We have many wines in our cellar acquired with fellow Pour Boy Bill, or tasted at special tastings or wine producer visits together. So it is that we pull these to revisit with Bill when the occasion arises. One such wine is from Arns on Howell Mountain that we visited together during our Napa Wine Experience in 2013 as featured in this blogpost - Arns Napa Valley Estate Vineyards Visit. We tasted and acquired this label at the winery that day.

Here we are with John Arns in the Arns Winery and Vineyarda barrel room. 

Arns "Estate Grown" Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon 2007 

We first discovered Arns in Washington DC at Andy Bassin’s MacArthur Wines. Co-producer Sandy Belcher hails from Virginia and would take wine back to supply MacArthurs during her pilgrimages home. 

This release was part of the flight of Arns Cabs we tasted and subsequently acquired at the winery during our visit in 2013. 

This release was rated 92 points by Robert Parker’s Wine Advocate, and 90 points by Connoisseur’s Guide, 89 points by Wine Enthusiast.

Dark garnet colored with purple hues, medium to full-bodied, focused, concentrated, structured blackberry and blackcurrant fruit flavors with notes of dark mocha chocolate, cassis and expresso on a lingering tannin laced finish. 

RM 91 points. 

https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=2445860

Another joy of having a cellar collection is to share favored wines with friends. Trolling the cellar, Bill came across and was eager to try this producer label which we opened to enjoy with the cheeses and fruits. 

Long Shadows Vintners Collection Pirouette 2017

We’re members of the Long Shadows wine club and hold nearly a decade of vintages of their various label releases.

Checking our cellar inventory, we hold nearly a decade of vintages of this label so we pulled one of the oldest in our holdings, and one year adjacent to a recent earlier release tasting. We supplemented our wine club allocation with several bottles of this label acquired at auction, which we opened tonight. 

As I wrote in a recent blogpost - Pirouette Red Blend at Sullivan’s Steakhouse Naperville, this is one of our favorite labels for a Bordeaux varietal red blend, a sleeper, not well known or sufficiently regarded, given the pedigree of the winemaker and the quality of the product. 

This is the Bordeaux varietal red blend from the Long Shadows Vintners's Collection that features world class winemakers and Washington State Columbia Valley fruit. 

This label is produced in collaboration with legendary winemakers Philippe Melka, named one of the top nine winemakers in the world by Robert Parker, and Agustin Huneeus, Sr., another legendary wine producer. 

We visited their initial collaborative project, August Huneeus’ Quintessa Vineyards, crafted by Philippe Melka, as part of our Napa Valley Wine Experience back in 2003.  

I’ve written about Philip Melka numerous times in these pages including that tasting at Sullivan’s Steakhouse post and previously - Château Boswell Napa Valley Estate Reserve Red Wine 2016. I featured Huneeus in a recent blogpost here - Faust Napa Cab with St Pat’s Dinner.

We’ve featured Long Shadows and their vintners collection in these pages, including our visit to their hospitality center and tasting room in Woodinville (WA), as part of Seattle Wine and Dine - Washington State Wines Tastings in Woodinville.

The 2017 Pirouette is a left-bank Bordeaux blend of 58% Cabernet Sauvignon, 20% Merlot, 13% Malbec, and the rest Petit Verdot, crafted from small lots from Washington State's finest vineyards.  It was aged 22 months in French oak barrels with 85% being new.

 

Winemaker notes - “The Cabernet Sauvignon, primarily sourced from a collection of Red Mountain’s best vineyards, gives Pirouette the structure and textured richness that has come to characterize this acclaimed growing region. A small percentage of old vine Cabernet from Sagemoor Vineyard, planted in 1972, adds complexity. Merlot brings juicy richness to the finished wine. Malbec from Sonnet Vineyard in the Horse Heaven Hills adds spice. Finally, Dionysus Vineyard’s Petit Verdot enhances the wine’s color and contributes to the wine’s layers of intense aromas and flavors.’

“The 2017 Pirouette has an expressive nose with a firm core of dark fruit and mocha flavors, displaying a layered concentration of black cherry and well-integrated oak spices. Vibrant and full-bodied across the mid-palate, this is a texturally pleasing wine with a broad and lengthy finish.” 

This was a blockbuster release, rated 96 points by Jeb Dunnuck and International Wine Report, 94 by Robert Parker’s Wine Advocate and 93 by Steve Tanzer.

Dunnuck wrote - “It can be drunk today but will develop additional complexity with 3-4 years of bottle age and keep for two decades or more.”

Dark ruby colored, full bodied, vibrant expressive expressive vibrant blackberry, plum and black currant fruits with savory accents of cinnamon and clove spice, bitter dark chocolate and crème de cassis with smooth polished tannins on a sumptuous finish.

RM 94 points. 

https://www.cellartracker.com/w?3581703

https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=3581703

https://longshadows.com/library/pirouette/6951

https://longshadows.com/

@LongShadowsWine

@unwindwine

https://unwindwine.blogspot.com/2025/04/big-reds-with-tomahawk-beefsteaks.html?spref=tw

Pirouette BYOB with Familiar Favorites at Entourage DG

Pirouette BYOB with Familiar Favorites at Entourage DG 

Seeking pre-weekend early Friday dinner, we dined at Entourage Entourage DG (Downers Grove) Downers Grove, intent of enjoying some of our familiar favorite Entourage dinner selections as featured in these pages in earlier blogposts. 

In the end, we ordered these same two entrees as with  a previous visit - Fontanafredda Barolo with Meatloaf at Entourage DG, as excerpted below.

It would’ve been nice sitting outside on the street front tables watching the workers and vendors set up the tents and the stands for this weekend’s Downers Fest, before the madness set in, but the skies opened with cloudbursts and thunder outside just as we were arriving. 

Taking advantage of their call ahead ‘priority’ seating option, we were promptly seated inside. With somewhat limited seating, and growing popularity, it’s becoming a tough seat for dinner so mid-afternoon is a smart time to visit Entourage for easier access seating, such as was the case today, in the dining room and at the bar.  

I’m almost reticent to share this secret as I don’t want to have to compete with bigger crowds for a table at this venue but I’d be remiss to not mention “‘Social Hour at Entourage DG!”,  Where Small Plates, Specialty Cocktails, Wines by the Glass and Beer are 1/2 off! Weekdays from 3PM - 5PM Sun - Thurs 8PM to close / Fri - Sat 9PM to close.” 

Reader’s of these pages know we’ve featured Entourage often, as it has become one of our favorite go to dining destinations in the western suburbs of Chicago in recent months, as shown in some of the links below - 

Spectacular dining experience at Entourage Restaurant Downers Grove

Lunch/Dinner Redux at Entourage DG

Plumpjack Reserve Napa Chardonnay at Entourage Restaurant Naperville

Signorello Hope’s Chardonnay BYOB at Entourage DG

Mother’s Day Eve Dinner - BYOB @ Entourage DG

Exec Team (Reunion) Dinner At Entourage DG

Taking advantage of the Social Hour, ‘early bird’ specials, we ordered the Rosemary Focaccia Bread - “Made Fresh Daily”, served with Mediterranean Olives and Sea Salt Butter. While it may be easy to discount this as a simple bread plate, it’s delicious! 

Additionally, prior to our main course, we enjoyed the Roasted Beets and Whipped Goat Cheese Salad - Arugula, Baby Gem with Spicy Pecans, Fennel, Hot Honey and Grapefruit Citrus Vinaigrette. As always, this was delicious - a wonderful pairing of flavors.

As intended when we set out for Entourage tonight, I ordered what is one of my favorite dishes on the menu, their signature Wagyu Meatloaf Sundae - Truffle + Parmesan Whipped Potatoes, Brioche, Wild Mushroom Gravy,  Vegetable Succotash topped with Crispy Onions.

This signature entree continues to be amazing, delicious and ample in portions - enough for a follow on take home meal. Two huge slices of meatloaf, and not enough of the delectable pomme puree’! But where would you put it in that tower, or what they call a ‘Sundae’!

Last time we ordered this, we actually ordered an extra to take home for a follow-on meal.  

Linda had what has become one of her favorite go-to dishes - the Spicy Shrimp & Jalapeno Grits - Blackened Wild Shrimp, Andouille Sausage, Charred Jalapeno, Charred Corn, Baby Peppers and Creole Cream.

This was equally delicious, but it’s too spicy for my tastes, okay for hers, although she set aside the Jalapeno’s. Nice portion size for a ‘small plate’.

Often, we bring two bottles of wine, a red and a white, to offer two choices based on what we end up ordering. 

Tonight, we brought from our home cellar just one BYOB special bottle that was an ideal pairing with my Waygu beef meatloaf. 

Long Shadows Vintners Collection “Pirouette” Columbia Valley Red Blend 2009 

Having just received the latest release of this label, as part of our wine club allocation shipment, I pulled the oldest vintage of this label to drink, as part of cellar inventory management rotation, from the nearly dozen vintages of this label that we hold in our cellar. We’ve actually supplemented our collection of this label with additional bottles from auction house Wine Bid (as shown below).

As part of the Vintner’s Collection portfolio, world class winemakers are selected to work in collaboration with Long Shadows to produce world class wines, sourced from fruit from the finest selected vineyards in Washington State Columbia Valley. 

This special bottling label is crafted by legendary winemakers Philippe Melka and Agustin Huneeus, Sr., teamed to combine the traditions of old world winemaking, the advancements of new world technology, and small lots from Washington State's finest vineyards to craft this red blend.

Pirouette is made by Philippe Melka, named one of the top nine winemakers in the world by Robert Parker, selected to produce this signature label for the Winemakers Collection.

We have long been fans of Philippe Melka and his signature labels Matisse and 'CJ', named for his children, and for his consulting winemaker contributions to a dozen of notable high end brands across Napa Valley.

While we had owned the various labels over the years, we really discovered Long Shadows at the Long Shadows Wine Cellars tasting room during our Woodinville Wine Experience. We joined their club and have been taking regular shipments of the collection ever since. They provide remarkable wines at great value relative QPR. 

Philippe Melka, widely recognized as one of the leading craftsmen of his trade, graduated from the University of Bordeaux, France, where he received a degree in geology in 1989. After taking a course in Terroir and Viticulture, he aspired to become a winemaker. After earning a second degree in Agronomy and Enology, he applied what he learned working at prestigious wineries in Australia, Italy, California and France, including some of the world's most revered producers, Petrus, Haut Brion and Dominus, among others.

In Napa Valley, Melka honed his craft while contributing to the production of several highly acclaimed wines from a number of the most elite estates including Marston, Seavey, Constant, Lail, Bryant Family, Caldwell, Quintessa (which is owned by collaborator in this label, Augustin Hunneus), Hundred Acre, and Vineyard 29.

Today, Philippe Melka and his wife, Cherie, reside at Melka Cellars in Napa Valley. Cherie is an accomplished wine professional and laboratory manager at Silver

This is one of our favorite, best drinking labels in our cellar, ideal for our red meat selections, a red Bordeaux varietal blend, that is more moderate in the blend than a Cab Sav predominate Left Bank, or a Merlot predominate Right Bank. This is a blend of  57% Cabernet Sauvignon, 27% Merlot, 13% Cabernet Franc, and 3% Malbec sourced primarily from Red Mountain in the Central Columbia Valley.. 

The Cabernet Sauvignon is from Red Mountain Vineyards, manifested in this wine in the structure and textured richness characterized by the grapes from this acclaimed growing region. From the Dionysus Vineyard, Petit Verdot adds layers of complex aromas and flavors. The remainder of the blend is from select Wahluke Slope vineyards. The Merlot brings juicy richness to the finished wine; Cabernet Franc adds a hint of earthiness; and Malbec contributes appealing spice and beautiful color.

This wine fermented in 400-liter wood barrels with wild yeasts. . 

This release was packaged in a painted bottle, while later vintages had the traditional printed paper labels.  

Winemaker Notes - “The 2009 Pirouette offers vibrant aromas of black cherry, violets, and incense that leap from the glass. Ripe currant flavors, hints of black olive, roasted coffee bean and vanilla nuances provide layers of depth, with excellent structure and polished tannins contributing to its lengthy finish.”

This release was rated 95 points and Cellar Selection by Wine Enthusiast, 93 by Vinous, and 91 points by Wine Spectator, Robert Parker’s Wine Advocate and Connoisseur’s Guide. 

Dark garnet colored, medium full bodied, elegantly polished, smoothly textured, a symphony of finely integrated layers of ripe blackberry and black cherry accented by notes of dark chocolate, cassis, spice and a nice complement of oak with silky tannins and soft mouthfeel on a lingering vibrant finish.

Dark garnet colored, full bodied, concentrated, intense, rich, round ripe black raspberry, blackberry and black currant fruits accented by bright sprites of cassis, dark chocolate, dark spices and herbs, complemented by notes of sweet oak, finishing with lingering perfume, length and seizing tannic grip. 

RM 93 points. 

https://www.cellartracker.com/notes.asp?iWine=1443779

https://longshadows.com/