Long Shadow’s Pirouette Red Blend at Sullivan’s Steakhouse Naperville
To celebrate a major business transaction, we went out to dinner at Sullivan’s Steakhouse, Naperville. We both ordered steaks and from the wine list, a Red Bordeaux varietal blend from a notable producer and winemaker.I ordered the signature 8 oz filet of beef with a side of garlic mashed potatoes.
Linda ordered the simple price fixe menu, a six ounce filet which came with Bordelaise sauce and a side of garlic mashed potatoes. Had we known it came with the potatoes, it would’ve saved us ordering a redundant duplicate order of such! Equally disturbing was the fact her filet seemed to be a larger portion and nicer cut than mine. C’est la vie.
I was seriously considering ordering a lobster tail as a side to my steak, but opted for the lobster tempura starter instead, which provided us each a small tail. The impetus for this was to compare with lobster spring roles that we had as a starter at Bijoux Restaurant in Destin last fall. The spring rolls were much better! I would suggest a pass on the Sullivan’s tempura.
The highlight of the dinner was our wine selection from the Sullivan wine list. This was a perfect pairing with the grilled beefsteaks.
Long Shadows Vintners Collection Pirouette Red Blend 2014
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. We’ve featured Long Shadows and their vintners collection, and our visit to their hospitality center and tasting room in Woodinville (WA) in these pages.
We’re members of the Long Shadows wine club and hold nearly a decade of vintages of their various label releases. Checking out cellar inventory, we hold every vintage of this label going back to the year following this vintage, hence this was an obvious choice to find this aged vintage release of this label.
This label is the collaboration of two legendary winemakers, Philippe Melka and Agustin Huneeus, Sr. teamed to combine the heritage of old world winemaking with the advancements of new world technology, using small lots from Washington State’s finest vineyards to craft this exotic red blend.
Agustin Huneeus entered the wine business in Chile in 1960 to lead Concha y Toro, a company he grew to become Chile’s largest winery. In 1971, he moved to New York, then later to California, continuing in the wine industry before becoming a partner and president of Franciscan Estates in 1985.
In addition to building Franciscan, he also built well-known California wineries Estancia and Mount Veeder and Veramonte Winery in Chile. In 1999, he left Franciscan to establish Huneeus Vintners, a portfolio that includes Napa Valley’s Quintessa where he worked with talented winemaker Phillip Melka.
The 2016 Pirouette is partially crafted 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.
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 earning a master's degree in agronomy and enology, he worked at some of the most famous wineries in the world: Château Cheval Blanc, Pétrus and Château Haut-Brion, among others. There he developed a passion for and expertise in cabernet-based blends.
He then went on to working at prestigious wineries in Australia, Italy, California.
In 1994, Philippe settled in Napa Valley where he developed his reputation making wines for such celebrated wineries as Hundred Acre, Quintessa, Bryant Family, Seavey, Constant, Lail, Dana Estates and Vineyard 29 before joining the dream project partnering with Agustin Hunneus from Quintessa and Allen Shoup at Long Shadows.
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 Oak.
The Pirouette Vintners' Collection label collaboration was launched with the inaugural 2003 vintage.
Philippe Melka, named one of the top nine winemakers in the world by Robert Parker, used small lots from Washington State's finest vineyards to craft this enticing red blend. Seeking to create a wine with complexity and layers, the winemakers chose a diverse selection of Columbia Valley vineyard sites, each contributing unique characteristics to the blend.
The 2014 Pirouette checks in as a blend of 57% Cabernet Sauvignon, 18% Petit Verdot, 17% Merlot, 7% Cab Franc and a splash of Malbec.
This Cabernet Sauvignon dominant wine, sourced primarily from Red Mountain, displays structure, richness and a focused mouthfeel that has come to characterize Red Mountain Cabernet. Dionysus Vineyard’s Petit Verdot adds layers of complex aromas and flavors. Weinbau Vineyard (Wahluke Slope) Merlot adds bright, red and black fruit intensity.
Aged 22 months in French oak barrels (75% new) before bottling, unfiltered and unfined.
Winemaker Notes - “Deep in color and complexity, this wine combines expressive red fruit aromas with dark chocolate and blueberry flavors accented by hints of oak spice that evolve across the palate. A juicy yet beautifully balanced wine with a rich mouthfeel and persistent finish.’
“The growing season started early in 2014 and the dry, warm conditions that characterized spring set the stage for another hot summer season. Temperatures were consistently warm throughout June and July, hastening an early start to harvest, but the Columbia Valley’s balmy fall days and cool autumn nights allowed the grapes to reach full physiological maturity while preserving the fruits’ natural acidity and yielding high quality grapes across the board. In short, 2014 was a picture-perfect vintage that produced remarkably rich, flavorful wines.”
This 2014 release was awarded 94 points by Robert Parker's Wine Advocate and called it “a killer wine from this estate, and possibly the best to date”. Wine Enthusiast gave it 91 points.
Inky dark garnet colored, full-bodied, complex, round, rich, forward, super ripe sweet blackberry and black currant fruits with notes of graphite, spice, dark mocha chocolate, smoke and herbs with ripe tannin on a lingering. The sweetness is almost off-putting.
RM 93
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