Forman Chardonnay and Den Hoed Red Blend

Forman Chardonnay and Den Hoed Limited Release Columbia Valley Cabernet for surf and turf dinner 

Sister and Bro-in-law Pat & Rodger came to town to join us for a rare Cubs-Yankees stand-off at our beloved Wrigley Field. 

Linda prepared a surf & turf dinner with King Salmon and tomahawk ribeye beefsteak with haricot verts and baked potatoes. 

With the salmon I opened from the cellar this robust Chardonnay. 

Forman Napa Valley Chardonnay 2017

This is from Forman Winery and Vineyards in Napa Valley, founded by winemaker Ric Forman in 1979. 

Ric got BS and MS degrees in Food Science at the notable U.C. Davis and went on to be founding winemaker and viticulturist at Sterling Vineyards, north of St Helena where he spent ten years before purchasing the Forman winery and vineyard property. 

The Forman property is located on Big Rock Road, off Old Howell Mountain Road, just off Silverado Trail above the landmark Meadowood Resort. 

The estate consists of 11 acres of vineyards that are divided into three parcels, each one planted to the four Bordeaux varieties, Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Merlot and Petit Verdot. 

The largest vineyards sits in a three-million-year-old riverbed which is comprised of gravel/sand deposits. Directly above the winery the steeply sloped plot is composed of more dense and larger volcanic rock, so much so that extensive dynamite explosions to break up the rock in order to enable planting on the site. 

Forman released the first Forman Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon in 1983 and the first Chardonnay in 1985. In 1988, they excavated the third wine cave in Napa Valley, which today has become commonplace in highly developed properties. 

We hold a half dozen vintages of this label, this being the oldest, opened as part of cellar inventory management. This 2017 release was rated 92 points by Antonio Galloni - Vinous who describes their style as “understated style by Napa Valley standards”. 

This release was sourced from the Rutherford Bench Rutherford Star vineyard located behind the Rutherford Grill. It was whole-cluster pressed and aged on its lees for 7 months in Burgundy barrels with no malolactic fermentation to preserve structural crispness and elegance.

Winemaker Notes - “A passion for a more austere Chablis style wine from this noble grape has been Forman's goal for more than 36 years. Since 1980 the Rutherford Star vineyard in the heart of the Rutherford Bench appellation has been the source of the Forman Vineyard Chardonnay. It has continued to produce consistent quality over the last 20 years. The wine emphasizes and develops a minerality which, with age, develops into a very racy and elegant food worthy wine.”

Golden straw colored, medium bodied, Chablis like, crisp, rather austere mineral driven with subdued tropical fruits, lemon citrus and apple notes with crisp acidity.

RM 90 points. 

https://go.cellartracker.com/wine/3145230

https://formanvineyard.com/

The grilled tomahawk ribeye beefsteak was thin sliced and served. 

For pairing with the steak, I pulled from the cellar a rare limited production Washington State Columbia Valley Cabernet for an ideal food wine pairing. We follow this winery and obtained this special release bottling at auction since this wine has a rather disparate lengthy family connection. 

We met the sister of the producers, the Den Hoed brothers, vintner farmers in Yakima Valley, Washington, at the wedding of our niece, who married their nephew. Den Hoeds grow grapes for several producers and also produce some limited release select labels of premium wines. 

For this release they partnered with Alan Shoup, founder of the Long Shadow’s Vintners Collection that we acquire as Club Members and feature often in these pages. The Den Hoed brothers and their partnership with Shoup, and this release were featured Wine Business News back then upon release. 

https://www.winebusiness.com/news/article/67838

From the Wine Business.com New Release - Sep 29, 2009: 

Washington Growers Bill and Andy Den Hoed Debut Den Hoed Wine Estates in Partnership with Allen Shoup and Rob Newsom

Long-time Columbia Valley grape growers, brothers Bill and Andy Den Hoed of Grandview, Wash.; Long Shadows founder, Allen Shoup; and Boudreaux Cellars owner/winemaker Rob Newsom will release their 2005 Den Hoed Marie's View red blend.

The partners have quietly worked on this project since establishing a joint venture in 2005. The wines are named for the Den Hoeds' parents, Dutch immigrants who first planted grapes in the Columbia Valley in 1956.

Shoup led Chateau Ste. Michelle Wine Estates for twenty years and founded Long Shadows Vintners in 2002, a partnership of internationally acclaimed vintners. Newsom made his first ColumbiaValley wine in 1998. The Den Hoed family had considered winemaking for decades, but it wasn't until they began working closely with Shoup and his Long Shadows winemaking partners John Duval and Randy Dunn - who were buying grapes from the Den Hoeds - that the idea for Den Hoed Wine Estates took hold. 

Wallula Vineyard photo from Wine Business News

In 2008, Shoup and a group of investors formed a partnership that purchased 80% of the 750-acre Wallula Vineyard from the Den Hoeds (who kept 20% and a management contract). 

The Den Hoeds began carving this unique vineyard out of the "benches" of a steep, south-facing bluff in Washington State's Horse Heaven Hills in 1997. The property's elevation drops more than 1,000 feet from the top of the hillside down to the edge of the Columbia River, resulting in a vast assortment of micro-climates.

Shortly after purchasing the site, Shoup renamed the property "The Benches" and saved the name "Wallula Vineyard" for the earliest planted vines and a large biodynamic vineyard planted for Randall Grahm.

We first tasted and wrote about Den Hoed wines at chic upscale Canlis Restaurant in Lake Union, suburban Seattle, when we were together for our Seattle Culinary Wine Weekend.  

https://unwindwine.blogspot.com/2018/08/canlis-restaurant-seattle-extraordinary.html

Canlis Restaurant Seattle Extraordinary Wine Dine Experience

We then acquired some at auction and featured it in several posts in these pages:

Den Hoed Cabernet at Beach House Restaurant Kauai

Den Hoed Marie's View Walula Slope Horse Heaven Hills Columbia Valley Cabernet Sauvignon

https://unwindwine.blogspot.com/2023/03/den-hoed-maries-view-walula-slope-horse.html

Den Hoed at Son Ryan's for Bulls Play-in Game

Den Hoed Andreas Wallula Vineyard Horse Heaven Hills Cabernet Sauvignon 2005

As I wrote in previous posts. this is named for the patriarch founder, Andreas Den Hoed, who married Marie Den Hoed in 1956 and they planted their first vineyard on their property that year. After two years in the Army Andreas returned to the farm. 

In the early years, they paid the bills growing mint. He continued to plant more vineyards as resources allowed, expanding acreage almost every year. In 1988, their two sons Bill and Andy joined the business as partners in a new project, with acreage planted to vineyards. 

The father and sons team continued to expand in the Yakima Valley for the next 5-6 years. After several years of searching, in 1997, they purchased a 550 acre parcel of land bordering the Columbia River in the Wallula Gap. Since then the vineyard has earned a reputation as one of the finest in the region. It is sited in a picturesque growing location nestled high above the mighty Columbia River south of of the town of Kennewick. The wines produced from this vineyard have proven to stand the test of time and can stand up and hold their own against the best wines of the new world. 

Andreas is a limited production estate wine which celebrates their family history and showcases the Wallula Vineyard. It is a robust Cabernet Sauvignon crafted by Gilles Nicault of the notable Long Shadows Vintners Collection of wines that we collect as prime members of their club. We also discovered Long Shadows during that Seattle, Woodinville Wine Weekend. 

Canlis Lake Union night view

That was our first tasting experience of Den Hoed wines, and being priced below the median on the extensive Canlis winelist, we were dubious yet had high expectations. The Andreas met our most lofty hopes and expectations and was a highlight of our extraordinary meal.

So, how fitting it was that that Canlis dinner was a mini family affair as wife Linda and son Ryan joined me at this legendary family restaurant. Moreover, a subplot to the story, our niece Anna Long, married into the Van Hoed family, farmers, wine growers, viticulturists and winemakers from the famed Walula Vineyards in the central Washington wine region.

Tonight we opened another Den Hoed label, Marie's View from a vineyard so named on the Walula Slope in the Horse Heaven Hills Washington State Appellation. 

We discovered Long Shadows Cellars during that trip and since joining their club, we've acquired a vertical collection of a half dozen vintages of their premier labels of renowned producers crafting world class wines from Washington State fruit.

The winemaker is the local well known Rob Newsom of Boudreaux Cellars. 

This was a perfect complement, pairing with the grilled beefsteaks. 

This vineyard is named for Marie Van Hoed, wife of founder Andreas, mother of the current generation producers. 

This was awarded 92 points by Wine Enthusiast and 90 points by Robert Parker’s Wine Advocate. 

Den Hoed wines are packaged in an extra heavy bottles with the most incredible deepest punts (that indentation in the bottle around which sediment collects).  

The Den Hoed Wine Estates partnership sourced grapes from small blocks in the Wallula Vineyard section of The Benches. 

The 2005 Marie’s View spent 24 months in French and American oak. A mere 136 cases were produced.

Newsom made the 2005 Marie's View, a blend of 36% Syrah, 24% Cabernet Sauvignon, 16% Merlot, 12% Cabernet Franc, and 12% Sangiovese. 

Densely colored inky garnet purple, medium full bodied, concentrated, firmly structured, full round black berry, black currant and plum fruits with notes of creosote, cassis, cedar and hints of pepper with a vibrant acid backbone and firm tannins on a pleasurable lasting finish. 

RM 92 points.  

https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=2799196

https://www.denhoedwines.com/

https://go.cellartracker.com/wine/3505677

Pirouette Red Blend with Tomahawk Ribeye

Pirouette Red Blend with Tomahawk Ribeye

Saturday night dinner, we grilled out and ate on the patio, one of our favorite meals, grilled tomahawk ribeye beefsteaks with baked potatoe, asparagus and sweet corn. 

Linda masterfully achieved the perfect preparation of the steak, “Pittsburgh Style”, as its called, charred on the outside for extra flavor, a hot pink center.

For an ideal wine pairing to complement the dinner.I pulled from the cellar a Washington State Bordeaux varietal blend. 

Long Shadows "Pirouette" Columbia Valley Bordeaux Blend 2017

We hold nearly a decade of vintages of this label as part of our Long Shadows club allocations so as part of cellar inventory management, I pulled the oldest vintage release. I’ve written about earlier vintages of this label in earlier blogposts - Long Shadows Pirouette 2016 with beef roast, Long Shadows Duo Showcase Katy Business Dinner, and Long Shadows Pirouette 2014 at Sullivan’s Steakhouse.

. 

As I wrote in those earlier blogposts, 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 by legendary winemakers Philippe Melka, named one of the top nine winemakers in the world by Robert Parker, in collaboration with Agustin Huneeus, Sr.. another legendary wine producer. I;ve written about about Philip Melka numerous times in these pages including that recent 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, 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 our cellar inventory, we hold nearly a decade of vintages of this label so we pulled the oldest in our holdings. At nine years of age, this is likely at the apex of its drinking window.

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

https://longshadows.com/

@LongShadowsWine

@unwindwine

Tomahawk Ribeye and Vintage Wines for Celebration dinner

Tomahawk Ribeye and Vintage wines for Celebration dinner 

We hosted son Sean and d-in-law Michelle and family for a mini-celebration dinner for a recent business and career milestone that will be announced soon. I pulled from the cellar a birthyear vintage bottle for both his and Michelle’s birthyears - two big reds to accompany the grilled tomahawk ribeye beefsteak. 

Linda also prepared sweet corn, roasted potatoes, a medley of mixed vegetables, and Sean prepared baby artichokes. 

Dunn Vineyards Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon 1985 

If you’re acquiring wines to commemorate a special vintage year for a future date, such as a birthyear, you select a producer with a track record for producing long lived wines, and select wine from a region that had a good harvest of quality fruit suitable for producing long-lived wines. 

Hence we hold a collection of such wines from Randy Dunn, the legendary, independent Napa Valley winemaker known for pioneering producing powerfull structured, age-worthy Cabernet Sauvignons. His 1985 Cabernet Sauvignon has shown longevity, maintaining incredible freshness and structure even four decades after harvest.

Randy Dunn helped shape the modern identity of Napa Valley. After studying enology at UC Davis, Dunn became the first head winemaker at Caymus Vineyards in 1975 where Caymus launched its legendary ultra-premium Special Selection Cabernet.

In 1978, Dunn and his wife Lori bought property atop Howell Mountain where he was instrumental in getting established the Howell Mountain AVA, which in 1983 became Napa’s first official sub-appellation.

While modern Napa moved toward micro-sorted, plush, high-alcohol wines, Dunn maintained his traditional style, crushing fruit with bits of stems intact for raw structure, and aging wines no less than thirty months in oak, crafting balanced, elegant, lower alcohol wines designed for the dinner table.

Dunn Vineyard’s Howell Mountain property is planted with 24 acres of Cabernet vines aging between 10-37 years.

We’ve written about Randy Dunn and select wines before in these blogposts -  

Dunn Vineyards and Caymus #40 Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignons, 

Dunn Vineyards Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon 1999

We visited the Dunn Vineyards estate up at Angwin on Howell Mountain during our Napa Valley Howell Mountain Wine Experience back in 2008. We were hosted by Kristina Dunn that day but we had the privilege to meet winemaker, producer, patriarch and Napa Valley pioneer Randy Dunn. 

While not one of the larger holdings in our cellar in terms of number of bottles, it may be one of our broadest holdings in terms of number of vintages in our vertical collection of this label, and the flagship premium label Dunn Howell Mtn Cab.  We also collect Randy Dunn's "Feather" label that he produces for the Long Shadows Vintners Collection Series in Washington State. 

Our Cellartracker records indicate we have a vertical collection of several mixed cases of each label from almost two dozen vintages dating back to 1981. 

Selections from Vertical Collection of Dunn Napa Valley Cabernets

With Randy Dunn at Dunn estate high atop Howell Mountain.

Dunn is known for age-worthy long-lived Napa Cabernets, especially the premium Howell Mountain label.  Robert Parker tasted both Dunn labels at ten years of age in 1996 and wrote: "Two of the most impressive wines in these tastings, both of Dunn's 1986s tasted like 3-4-year old Cabernets rather than 10-year old adolescents.... Rich, pure, and youthful, this 1986 is accessible now, but will unquestionably last another 20+ years." That would bring this wine to 2016 and here we are five years later. 

Dunn Vineyards Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon 1985 

Back in the 1980’s this vintage release was rated 94 points and “Top 100 Wines of 1988” by Wine Spectator, and 93 points by John Gillman as late as 2021.

Amazingly, at 40 years of age this 1985 Napa Cabernet Sauvignon is still holding its own showing some but little sign of diminution from age. The fill level, foil, label and most importantly the cork, were all in good, acceptable condition. 

The bottle still has the pricetag sticker on the bottle showing $54.95, which would've been the purchase price back on release in the late 1980's. 

In his 2021 review of this label, John Gilman wrote, “I last drank the 1985 Napa cabernet from Randy Dunn back in early 2018 and felt it was starting to turn the corner. However, at one of our most recent tastings, it was back in its tannic suit and tie and demanding to be left alone in a cool corner of the cellar for another ten-plus years.’ 

“The potential here remains exceptional, but I was hoping to see even a bit more softening of the tannins, rather than a still closed and cantankerously-structured wine!” 

“The bouquet is excellent, wafting from the glass in a complex blend of cassis, sweet dark berries, stony soil tones, cigar smoke, incipient notes of petroleum jelly, pretty spice tones, a touch of road tar and cedary oak. On the palate the wine is deep, full-bodied and still pretty clenched in its tannic chassis, with a lovely core, excellent soil signature and grip, firm, chewy tannins and a long, nascently complex and still very promising finish. Was my last bottle more forward, or is this bottle from a particularly cool cellar? I am not sure, but this most recent bottle needs still more time in the cellar before it starts to drink with generosity. Someday, it should be a terrific bottle of wine! (JG) 93+” 

Wine Spectator wrote of this release - “Intense and concentrated, packed with ripe cassis, cherry and currant flavors that are rich and elegant. The acidity and tannins are crisp and juicy, offering great potential for the cellar.” 

This was dark garnet colored, medium bodied, tangy dark blackberry and black raspberry fruits holding on, accented by notes of tobacco, spice, leather, hint of graphite, espresso and cassis with nicely integrated tannins on a round lingering finish. 

RM 90 points. 

https://go.cellartracker.com/wine/18231

http://www.dunnvineyards.com/

@dunn_vineyards  

Marston Cellars Napa Valley St Helena Petit Syrah 1984 

This is the last bottle from the 1984 vintage that we hold in our cellar, since it was not a collectable year, nor a birthyear of note at that time. I wrote about this label back in 2018 in this blogpost which I repeat excerpts here. 

My notes from an earlier review of this wine back in 2004 on this label's vintage twentieth anniversary.

"Dec 31 - Marston (Family) Vineyard Napa Valley Petit Syrah 1984 (Bottle 790 of 812) - RM 90 - Today, 'Family' is part of the name and the winery provides cabernet fruit for Beringer Private Reserve. Not many 20 year olds down in the cellar (since the 84 Bordeaux's are long gone being a short lived vintage) but pulled this one out on the last day of 04... Surprising body, structure and backbone with inky purple colour. Intense currant, black cherry, cedar anise and plum with a firm tight long full finish. Amazing staying power and life left - thankfully I have at least one more ... 2014?

From the Marston (Family) Vineyard website - Over the last 25 years, the Marston Vineyard has produced numerous award winning wines.Andre Tchelistcheff helped craft small quantities of Cabernet Sauvignon, Petite Sirah, and Zinfandel in the early 1980’s. Sean Thackery produced legindary Petite Sirahs from the Marston Vineyard in the early 1990’s winning Best Red Wine in the world. For the last decade Beringer has been responsible for the vineyard. Cabernet Sauvignon from Marston Vineyard is in the Beringer Private reserve Cabernet. Marston Vineyard designated Cabernet is also made by Beringer. The year 1998 marked the beginning of a new era for Marston Family Vineyard. The first Marston Family Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon was made by one of our favorite and noted winemakers, Philippe Melka."

We missed pulling this wine in its thirtieth anniversary year, 2014, but here we

are four years later. At thirty-four this is still holding its own showing surprising vibrancy and resilience and no signs of diminution from age. And my earlier notes indicating we still held a bottle missed the fact we were holding two. Hence, after drinking this one, we still hold one more. As shown on the rear label of this wine, released from library in 1998, it was built for long term cellaring. It is standing up to that objective indeed!

According to the Marston Family website today regarding their wines, each vintage will remain “forever limited” to 600 cases and is produced from selected blocks on the property. According to the handwritten serial numbers on these bottles, exactly 812 bottles were produced of this wine.

Marston Family Vineyards dates back to Michael and Alexandra Marston purchasing the property back in 1969 as part of a consortium. then acquiring the remaining ownership in 1976. Back in 1969, many of the original vineyards dating back to the turn of the century were still in production.

Over the next four decades, Marston Family Vineyardhad a line of legendary winemakers who produced numerous award winning wines. In the early 1980’s, Philip Togni and the late Andre Tchelistcheff crafted small quantities of Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa Rhone (this Petite Sirah) and Zinfandel.
This vintage was among the vintages from 1982 – 1986 that were overseen by legendary André Tchelistcheff, who was considered America’s most influential post-Prohibition winemaker, and was notable for his contributions toward defining the style of California’s best wines, especially Cabernet Sauvignon. Called the “Dean of American winemakers”, industry giants such as Robert Mondavi and Louis Martini considered him their mentor.

Noted winemaker Sean Thackery produced legendary Petite Sirahs from the Marston Vineyard under his Sirius label through the early 1990’s including winning “Best Red Wine in the World” with the 1992 (some records say 93) vintage.

Noted winemaker Philippe Melka and his team managed the property and winemaking for a dozen vintages up until 2010. During this time they began replanting certain blocks of the vineyard, and in 1998 released the first vintage under the current label. 

The release of the 2010 vintage marked the first release of current winemaker, Marbue Marke who continues to this day.

Marston Family Vineyards sit on the most southern slopes of Spring Mountain on the western slopes of Napa Valley above the town of St Helena. The original vineyards date back to the late 1800s and over the years were planted with as many as eleven different varietals, including Johannesburg Riesling, Pinot Blanc, Petite Sirah, Zinfandel, and Cabernet Sauvignon. This 1984 vintage of the Marston Petite Sirah was sourced from a small 3-acre plot on the property where some of those first plantings were done back as early as 1890.

As noted, this was our last remaining bottle.

Previous owner Al Menasco became a pioneer in developing new vineyard practices. He experimented with different types of vineyard spacing and planted a dozen varieties of grapes in different soil types and micro climates on the property. He kept meticulous records to discover the optimum growing conditions for these varietals.

Over the years, the family whittled the vineyard’s focus from eleven varietals to one, and the Pettit Sirah vines, like the others were replaced with Cabernet Sauvignon which is the sole focus of property today.Today the vineyards comprise about 10 percent of the 500 acres of heavily forested land on terraced hillsides that range in elevation from 700 to 1,100 feet just above the fogline resulting in extended hours of sunlight. The additional sunshine coupled with the lower temperatures allow the fruit to ripen more slowly and uniformly, which ultimately enhances the wine’s concentration, complexity and texture. Furthermore, the rocky, mountain soils limit the vigor of the vines contributing to their fruit's richness and concentration.

We have one remaining bottle of this 1984 vintage release. Based on its storied history and amazing stamina and longevity, we'll look forward to a suitable and appropriate occasion to open it - clearly an OTBN candidate in the next few years! 

https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=389018

http://www.marstonfamilyvineyard.com/

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/