DEPARTMENT HEADER
Allen Shoup has opened
the door to a new
concept in winemaking,
not just for Washington
State, but for the world.
Here, he stands at the
winery’s Chihuly room
(named for glass artist
and Seattle resident
Dale Chihuly).
Wine
Dynasty
WASHINGTON STATE WINE PIONEER
ALLEN SHOUP CASTS A LIGHT ON GLOBAL
STAR VINTNERS FOR HIS VISIONARY
COLLABORATION PROJECT AT LONG SHADOWS
by Meridith May / photos by Joann Arruda
with notes from Anthony Dias Blue
october 2012 / the tasting panel / 93
Allen Shoup, Winemaker Gilles
Nicault and SWS Sr. VP, Fine
Wines, Jim Allen at The Benches
Vineyards in Walla Walla.
W
hat if you were to take the
all-star concept from sports
and apply it to making wine?
The result would be Long Shadows.
“My mentor was Bob Mondavi,”
confesses Allen Shoup. “He inspired
fine wine in California and worked tirelessly to help the world see fine wine as
part of that continuum of great cultural
pleasures that celebrated art, dance,
music fine dining, literature and poetry
or simply the beauty in nature. Bob felt
that each of these pleasures were reinforced by the other and gave life extra
meaning. He cast a long shadow over
94 / the tasting panel / october 2012
the industry.” But if Robert Mondavi
planted one seed that would inspire
Shoup’s future signature project, it was
the Napa icon’s brilliant plan to unite
with another celebrated vintner, Baron
Philippe de Rothschild, proprietor of
Château Mouton-Rothschild, to create
Opus One in 1978.
Shoup, as the former CEO of Ste.
Michelle Wine Estates, Washington
State’s dominant presence, was casting
his own long shadow over the wine
world, long before he conceived of his
current personal project. He brought
vintner Piero Antinori to Washington
State to craft American-grown “Super
Tuscan” Col Solare, melding the Italian
wine legend’s 700-year Tuscan family
culture with the wine currents of the
Columbia Valley and the marketing
clout of Ste. Michelle. Later, Shoup
was instrumental in devising a way
for Washington State Riesling to be
perceived in international terms
when renowned German winemaker
Dr. Ernest Loosen contacted Allen to
join forces with Chateau Ste. Michelle
for what would become a highly successful Columbia Valley dry Riesling
called Eroica.
Building Long Shadows winery was
an intuitive process for Shoup. “If we
could bring in wine dynasty types, not
as consultants, but as part-owners,
each for their own single particular
wine, then I knew we could get some
attention by creating signature wines.”
And attention they got. From day
one, wine critics were unveiling
90-plus scores, and the Long Shadows
name achieved cult status, with
By the time Shoup retired in
2000, he already had already formulated—and put into practice at Ste.
Michelle—the idea that the celebrity
winemaker could help the Washington
State wine industry grow outside its
borders in both reach and reputation.
“Washington has a young winemaking culture,” he points out. “We don’t
have generations of growers here and
rarely have our enologists and viticulturists gone through as many apprentices and formal education programs
as one has to do in California, or other
parts of the world.”
dramatic growth even in the face of
the recession. “We had profitable
years in ’06 and ’07,” Shoup tells THE
TASTING PANEL. “So we made more
wine for ’08, ’09 and ’10.” Although
sales dropped in half when fine wines
were nose-diving on- and off-premise,
Allen admits that they are finally back
in shape. “We are completely caught
up, but I feel like I lost three years of
my life.”
Nine Hats Sangiovese represents the nine winemakers collaborating at Long
Shadows. The 2008 Nine Hats blends in 17% Cabernet Sauvignon and 6% Syrah,
and is round and juicy, with cinnamon-coated red fruit. A charming and seductive
version of this Italian varietal. 1560 cases/SRP $25.
october 2012 / the tasting panel / 95
DEPARTMENT HEADER
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The Benches Vineyards of Horse Heaven Hills
Five miles of terraced riverbank vineyards along the meandering, mile-wide Columbia River in Walla Walla’s Horse Heaven
Hills appellation—an official AVA since 2005—are planted to
specific varietals for the many iterations of Long Shadows’
single wine/single world-acclaimed winemaker collection. All
the vines, grown on elevations from 900 feet to over 1,400 feet,
are phylloxera-free and planted on their own roots.
96 / the tasting panel / october 2012
DEPARTMENT HEADER
october 2012 / the tasting panel / 97
The
Each of the following partners/producers is invested in his particular wine project
with Allen Shoup. “They are not paid consultants,” insists Shoup. “They are not
paid a dime. They each have 25% equity—but that is only if the brand succeeds.”
Wine Dynasties
of Long Shadows
Chester-Kidder
Pirouette
Partner: Gilles Nicault
Partners: Augustin Huneeus and Philippe Melka
For this blend—named after his grandfather, Chester
Kidder, and his grandmother, Maggie Kidder—Shoup
selected Gilles Nicault to direct the winemaking process
to exhibit “how good Washington State wine can be.”
Although Nicault works with all the global winemaking
partners at Long Shadows, this is his own special project.
The Chester- Kidder 2007 is a blend of 60% Cabernet
Sauvignon, 25% Syrah, 14% Petit Verdot and 1% Cab
Franc. Nicault selects his grapes from top-quality fruit
throughout the Columbia Valley.
“Allen challenged me to make Chester-Kidder,” Nicault
points out. “I love a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon and
Syrah. It’s a great combination of backbone, darkness and
spice. Aged 30 months in tight-grained French oak barrels,
the red blend is an athlete, a serious study —well bred
and structured — that offers up an explosive yet complex
mouthfeel and delivers a pleasurable impression of red tea,
black coffee and the deepest, darkest black cherries. 1015
cases/$50
When Allen Shoup partnered
with wine legend Agustin
Huneeus, whose history leads
from Paul Masson to Quintessa
with numerous stops along the
way, to make an outstanding
red blend, Huneeus asked that
Bordeaux winemaker, Napa
Valley consultant and degreed
geologist Philippe Melka be a
part of the collaboration.
The result is Pirouette, a turn for
the best of Old World and New
World style and technology. The Pirouette 2008 is a
Cabernet-Merlot that also combines Cab Franc and Petit
Verdot for a flavor profile that can compete with any of
the world’s most revered Bordeaux blends. It is a textural
dream, dark fruit and darker chocolate aiming towards
the exquisite. 1,234 cases / $50
Feather
Partner: Randy Dunn
French-born Gilles Nicault is the in-house winemaker at Long
Shadows. He has been making wines in Washington State
since 1996 and began working with Allen Shoup in 2004. A
fan of Rhône varieties, Nicault is planning a Grenache/Syrah/
Mourvedre project in the near future, utilizing the stellar
Mourvèdre grown on the steep Benches Vineyard.
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Napa Valley is secure in its
merits, its recognition and
its world-class status all
because of the character
of its Cabernet Sauvignon.
One of the winemakers who
has helped Napa Cab earn
these honors is Randy Dunn,
who brings more than four
decades of winemaking
experience to the Columbia
Valley to craft Feather, his
only wine made outside California.
Feather 2008 Cabernet Sauvignon is aged for 22 months
in Vicard French oak barrels; it is supple and structured
with remarkable depth. 1,874 cases/$55
Saggi
Poet’s Leap Riesling
Partner: Germany’s Armin Diel
While Riesling from the Mosel tends towards delicate,
tight-rope acidity, Riesling from Germany’s Nahe region
additionally accesses a depth of stone fruit and floral tones.
The result of the Long Shadows partnership with winemaker Armin Diel, one of Germany’s most acclaimed
Riesling producers, Poet’s Leap 2011 speaks to Diel’s
Nahe style, with the added element of German clones
planted in unique Columbia Valley growing regions.
Long Shadows’ own Sonnet Vineyard at The Benches
(40%) delivers a flinty character; Yakima Valley’s Phil
Church Vineyard (26%) adds citrus and liveliness; and
the Weinbau Vineyard and old-vine Dionysus Vineyard
showcase fresh summer peach and its luscious texture.
12.3% alcohol/3,895 cases/$20
Partners: Ambrogio and
Giovanni Folonari
Ambrogio Folonari was instrumental in keeping his family’s
fine Tuscan estate in order, with
family roots dating back to the
1700s. He and his son Giovanni
were also the former owners of
Ruffino wine company. Together,
they own Ambrogio e Giovanni
Folonari Tenute, primarily producing Tuscan “grand crus.” In the 1980s, Ambrogio created
Cabreo, a unique combination of tradition and innovation
a blend of traditional Sangiovese and Cabernet Sauvignon,
which was one of the country’s first Super Tuscans.
Like Cabreo, Long Shadow’s Saggi 2008 is a blend of
Sangiovese (45%) and Cabernet Sauvignon (40%) with a 15%
addition of Syrah, a Super Tuscan–style blend (perhaps a
“Wa-Tuscan”) for the Columbia Valley. It is an open spice rack
with intense flavors of dense soil and black cherry on a supple
texture. A shot of espresso cleans the palate on the finish.
The Folonaris selected the exact site they wanted for the
three varietals and Horse Heaven Hills was an ideal appellation for most of the Sangiovese grapes. 1236 cases/$45
Sequel
Partner: John Duval
The 2011 Poet’s Leap Riesling is paired with crab cakes
at Blueacre Seafood in Seattle.
Pedestal
Partner: Michel Rolland
If any single living winemaker should be standing
on a pedestal, it is Pomerol
wine “composer” and international consultant Michel
Rolland. “When Michel
asked for French oak upright
tanks for his Merlot project,
Pedestal, well, we did not
hesitate to accommodate
him,” admits Shoup. “Believe
me, it panned out when we
received the amazing accolades for this wine.”
Aromatic and supple, Pedestal 2008 Merlot is round and
lush, with soy-sauce covered blackberries amid earthen
clay and ripe figs. This perfumed beast is concentrated
and layered. 2012 cases/$55
When John Duval, the man
who was the winemaker for
Australia’s iconic Penfolds
Grange for 16 years, came
to the Columbia Valley, he
instinctively sought out
Syrah. At the time, the best
fruit was already contracted,
so Duval told Shoup that he
would have to postpone the
project. But Shoup’s longlived relationship with Columbia Valley growers
proved fortunate, and he found the right fruit that
would bring Duval back to Washington State to
develop Sequel. “This is John’s sequel—the continuation of his life’s work with Syrah,” says Shoup.
The Sequel 2008 is that metaphorical deep, mysterious beauty that carries amorous aromas of anise,
patchouli and other exotic spice. Savory black
pepper and a wreath of violets adorns her further.
1,025 cases/$50
Allen Shoup at his Walla Walla Winery, a study
in modern architecture. He is pictured with
his eponymous wine, Shoup, an ultra-smallproduction Cab/Merlot/Malbec blend accented
with Petit Verdot, a variety that is unusual in
Washington State. It possesses violets in
black ink, laced with an earthen core.
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