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 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

Family dinner opens with Washington Columbia Valley Riesling

Family dinner opens with Long Shadows Washington State Columbia Valley Riesling 

Sister Jan and Bro-n-law Bill visiting from California with daughters Jenna and Krysta and her new grand-baby to meet the cousins, the family gathered at our house, and then at Erin's for family reunion dinners. Linda prepared beef tenderloin and ribs with asparagus, whipped potatoes and mac-n-cheese, salads and desserts.

We opened a broad diverse wine flight to accompany the dinner courses and selections. Son, Ryan brought a CDP and son Alec brought a Napa Syrah to round out the flight.

For a white wine offering I opened a newly discovered label from a producer portfolio we know well.

Long Shadows Poet's Leap Columbia Valley Riesling 2019

My review of this wine is almost embarrassing, as it sounds like a promotion for this label. Never-the-less, this was a nice surprise wine find discovery! 

We've written often in these pages about Long Shadows and their Vintners' Collection, crafted from selected winemakers from around the world. We collect this portfolio as members of their wine club but discovered this other label in the wine shop this week. This one, inspired by the great wines of Germany and legendary winemaker Armin Diel, Long Shadows winemaker Gilles Nicault crafts this Poet's Leap Riesling in the style of its original winemaker.

The consulting winemaker and varietal grape specialist for this label was Armin Diel, owner of the Schlossgut Diel in Germany's Nahe region. He came to Washington in 2003 to collaborate with the Long Shadows team to make a Riesling sourced from local grapes. The legendary German was responsible for the first release by Long Shadows in 2004 sourced from grapes from Sagemoor Farms and The Benches in the Columbia Valley. 

From that first vintage, Long Shadows' director of winemaking Gilles Nicault collaborated with Armin on Poet's Leap's vineyard selection, fermentation and blending to establish a consistent style for the wine. Gilles assumed winemaking responsibility for Poet's Leap in the fall of 2016, after Armin found it increasingly challenging to make the numerous trips overseas that the project required. Gilles continues to produce this label, crafting the same style wine the team originally aspired to produce.

"My emphasis was to preserve Poet’s Leap Riesling with as much freshness as possible with a small amount of residual sugar." - Armin Diel

The 2019 Poet’s Leap Riesling is a blend of two distinct vineyards from German clones from The Benches in the Horse Heaven Hills that provide s minerality and Sagemoor Farms in the Columbia Valley, just outside of the Tri-Cities, which contributes citrus aromas and flavors and appealing acidity. Production was 4,200 cases.

This release was awarded 93 points by Owen Bargreen, a rare consensus 92 points by Wine Enthusiast, Wine & Spirits, Jeb Dunnuck, James Suckling and International Wine Reviews, and 91points by Stephen Tanzer and Connoisseurs Guide.

Wine & Spirits cited it as the Year's Best US Riesling and Sommeliers Choice Awards cited it the Wine of The Year By The Glass.

Normally, we are not Riesling fans but this exceeded all expectations and was enjoyed by everyone that tried it, being what I call a 'crowd pleaser', and providing great QPR - (Quality Price Ratio) as well. Its definitely worth picking up this label for every day casual enjoyable sipping. 

Straw colored, light medium bodied, clean, crisp, complex, aromas of apple and lime, slightly off-dry with hints of lychee, peaches and baking spice with a subtle mineral and nicely balanced acidity on the textured finish.

RM 91 points. 

Interesting, I would not consider this a wine to lay down and hold, reviewer Stephen Tanzer writes, "This wine will age for a decade or more with the petrol notes increasing as time goes on. I cannot wait to taste this wine again in 5 and 10 years time."

Owen Bargreen writes, "The 2019 Poet’s Leap Riesling is another sensational effort that is truly one of the great wines of its kind made in Washington."  This is amazing and says a lot, considering Allan Shoup, CEO and Founder of Long Shadows was CEO and Chairman of Washington State Chateau St Michelle in Woodinville, the largest wine producer in the state, and the largest Riesling producer in the world! 

Connoisseurs Guide wrotes similarly, "it is thoroughly delicious now, yet, as evidenced by last September's report on Poet's Leap Rieslings dating back to the 2008 vintage, it is a wine with a marvelously long life ahead and should evolve famously for a good decade or more."

It's a textbook picture of Washington Riesling at its best. Editors' Choice— Wine Enthusiast

https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=3566695

https://longshadows.com/

@LongShadowsWine

I'll continue the rest of the wine flight review in a follow on post.

 

Long Shadows Sequel Syrah 2016

Long Shadows Sequel Syrah 2016

 

With son Alec and Vivianna over for dinner to watch the Indiana Hoosiers compete in the NCAA National Championship, we grilled ribeye steaks with home grown seasonal asparagus tips and sweet potato fries. As with the other evening, Linda prepared a perfect Pittsburgh style char, served over French Bread and topped with the asparagus and homemade Hollandaise Sauce. 

 

Alec and Viv brought over some classic selections of Murray's Cheese from Greenwich Village, New York City, Murray's Blue and Murray's Moliterno Al Tartufo pecorino, aged for six months before earthy black truffle is added, that they served at their hosted dinner last week. 

 

We opened this classic Long Shadows Syrah from our club allocation cellar collection.

 

This is part of the Long Shadows Vintners Collection - a portfolio of wines, each crafted by a world renowned winemaker, noted for each particular varietal selection. We gained appreciation for the Long Shadows program during out visit to their tasting room during our our Seattle Culinary and Washington Wine Tour back in 2018 -  https://unwindwine.blogspot.com/2018/08/long-shadows-cellars-feature-world.html.

This is the Syrah varietal member of the collection and was crafted by legendary John Duval who was winemaker for Australia’s iconic Penfolds Grange for 16 years. John Duval came to Washington State's Columbia Valley in 2003 as the “sequel” to his life’s work with Syrah. 

 

Long Shadows Vintners Collection Columbia Valley Sequel Syrah 2016

This is a fun wine that we enjoy and started collecting, not only because of the QPR - quality price ratio of these Washington State sourced wines, but also due to the extraordinary portfolio of legendary winemakers' handicraft. Lastly, this particular wine is sourced from vineyards of a distant family connection, our niece married into the Den Hoed family, boutique producers and vineyard owners and grape growers for Long Shadows and several other leading brands and labels.   

 

Winemakers' notes: Yakima Valley’s Boushey and Den Hoed Grandview Vineyards comprise 50% of this blend and give the 2016 Sequel its bright, vibrant character. Bacchus Vineyard Syrah (25%), grown on a south-facing block planted in 1993, adds black fruit character and richness. A Shiraz clone from Sonnet Vineyard at the Benches brings blueberry notes to the wine, and a small amount of Red Mountain area Syrah adds to the wine’s dark, brooding character. Dionysus Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon provides added backbone. 

 

The blend is 93% Syrah and 7% Cabernet Sauvignon.

Winemaker's notes: The 2016 Sequel Syrah has a dark, garnet color with enticing aromas of black fruits, sweet spice, fresh espresso and roasted meats. Expressive on the palate, this is a complex and layered wine with vibrant flavors of ripe figs, wild blackberries and a hint of olive tapenade that linger on the finish.

 

https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=3096199

 

https://longshadows.com/  

https://twitter.com/longshadowswine

 

@LongShadowsWine

 

 

Barking Frog at Willows Lodge Wine Dine Experience

Barking Frog at Willows Lodge Wine Dine Experience


Our final culinary dining experience during our Seattle Culinary and Washington Wine Tour was dinner at the Barking Frog restaurant in the Willows Lodge resort.

Barking Frog is the fine dining establishment in the Seattle wine country suburb of Woodinville, home to, reportedly, over a hundred wine tasting venues.

Once again, it was a delight to have son Ryan along with us for the trip to share the experience.

We scored a dinner reservation from local Somm and wine room manager at one of the premier tasting rooms.

Barking Frog have an excellent wine list but we took one bottle BYOB, that son Ryan obtained from the Library collection at Long Shadows cellars, a 2004 Pirouette Bordeaux Blend.  This label was one of the wines we tasted and acquired at Long Shadows, one of their Vintners Collection Winemaker Series featuring world class winemakers collaborating to showcase the best art of the possible from Washington State vineyards.

Pirouette Bordeaux Blend is crafted by Augustin Hunneeus, Sr and Philippe Melka, noted for Napa Valley leading wine labels. We hold this wine in our cellar back at home but had not yet tasted this vintage. We also hold many other Philppe Melka labels from his own Melka brand as well as many others for which he is consulting winemaker.

Like we did for our other culinary ventures this week, we chose the Price Fixe tasting menu to follow the chef's suggestion for the pairings and courses.

Here were our course selections:

• Seared Hudson Valley Foie Gras
• Heirloom tomatoes with basil, urfa biber, cherries/buratta and noble xo
• Asparagus with farro fries, parmesan tuile, spring herbs and lemon tarragon aioli
• Atlantic Sea Scallops with artichoke, fava beans, cipollini onions, onion soubise and porcini nage
• Beef  ribeye  w/ whipped potatoes,  asparagus and sauce chasseur
•  For the final course, Linda had the Vanilla Bean Creme' Brulee and I had the Trio of Sorbets

From the winelist we ordered a sparkling wine starter and a dessert wine for the finale.

What a treat, our second Inniskillin Ice Wine in as many weeks!  Ryan had the Sauterne which, while wonderful, was not a match for the Inniskillin. 

Inniskillin Niagara Estate Riesling Icewine 2015

Château Roûmieu-Lacoste Sémillon-Sauvignon Blanc Blend 2015

Our Dinner Plates:

Hudon Valley Foie Gras

Heirloom tomatoes with basil

Asparagus with farro fries

Beef Ribeye

https://www.willowslodge.com/barking_frog/

Long Shadows Cellars feature world class winemakers and Columbia Valley fruit

Long Shadows Cellars feature world class winemakers and Columbia Valley fruit

A major highlight of our Seattle Culinary and Washington Wine Tour was a visit to the Long Shadows Wine Cellars tasting room. Long Shadows is an extraordinarily and unique concept in collaboration between world class distinguished wine makers and grape growers in the Washington Columbia Valley. 

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. 

After retirement from Chateau St Michelle he founded Long Shadows to produce world class ultra-premium wines in Washington. 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 varietal grape. Marketed under the Vintners Collection, each of the Long Shadows labels in a testament to the legend of the winemaker for each label based on each varietal. The winemakers and their wine labels are:

Randy Dunn and Feather Cabernet Sauvignon - Randy has been producing Dunn Family Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon in the Napa Valley for three decades. 

Philip Melka and Augustin Huneeus - Noted for Napa Valley leading wine labels, they produce a Washington State Bordeaux Blend under the label Pirouette. 

Philip was named by Robert Parker as one of the Top Ten Winemaker Consultants in the World. He earned his handicraft at legendary Chateau Haut Brion and has consulted for notable Napa labels including Gemstone, Hundred Acre, Lail, Seavey, Vineyard 29, Bryant Family Vineyards, Caldwell, Cliff Lede, Dalla Valle, and with Augustin at his well known Quintessa.

 

This is the Syrah varietal member of collection and was crafted by legendary John Duval who was winemaker for Australia’s iconic Penfolds Grange for 16 years. John Duval came to Washington State's Columbia Valley in 2003 as the “sequel” to his life’s work with Syrah. 

Saggi is a Super Tuscan style blend produced by Ambrogio and Giovanni Folonari, producers from one of Tuscany's leading wine families dating back to the 1700's. 

Pedestal Merlot is a Merlot produced by Michael Rolland, PhD and winemaker for or advisor to some of the world's most exclusive wineries across Bordeaux including top producers Clinet, l'Evangile, and Ausone in St Emilion and Pomerol.

Rolland's has been involved in notable projects outside of Bordeaux including some of the highly regarded Napa Valley wineries including Dalla Valle Vineyards, Jericho Canyon Vineyard, Harlan Estate, Staglin Family Vineyard, and Bryant Estate. 

Lastly, Chester Kidder, a new world blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Syrah and other Bordeaux varietals. Named after Allan Shoup's grandparents, Charles Chester and Maggie Kidder, this wine is crafted by Long Shadow's director of winemaking Gilles Nicault. Gilles is also the winemaker for the Den Hoed wine label that we tasted during this trip with one of our culinary gourmet meals.

We've known the Long Shadows brand and have collected the Pirouette and Feather labels since the earliest vintages. We're long time fans of both Randy Dunn and Phillip Melka, producer of those labels. We hold more than a dozen vintages of Randy Dunn's Napa Valley and Howell Mountain Cabernets dating back to the early 1980's. We hold nearly a dozen vintages of Philip Melka wines marketed under numerous labels. 

The tasting at Long Shadows of the most recent releases prompted us to join their highest participating level club to ensure allocation of each vintage of each of these labels going forward. 

Long Shadows Vintners Collection

Julia’s Dazzle Rose’ 2017

Long Shadows Wineries Riesling Poet's Leap 2017

Pedestal Columbia Valley Merlot 2015 by Michel Rolland
Blended w/ Cabernet sauvignon, Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot

Feather Columbia Valley Cabernet Sauvignon 2015 by Randy Dunn

Pirouette Bordeaux Blend 2015 by Augustin Hunneeus, Sr and Philippe Melka
Cabernet Sauvignon 65%, Merlot 21%, Petit Verdot 11%, Malbec 3%

Chester Kidder Columbia Valley Red Wine Cabernet Sauvignon 2015 by Gilles Nicault
Cabernet Sauvignon, Syrah, Merlot

Sequel Columbia Valley Syrah 2015 By John Duvall, renowned winemaker for Penfolds Grange

More to follow ...