Winemaker Notes
A blend of 86% Merlot, 8% Cabernet Sauvignon, 4% Petit Verdot and 2% Malbec.
An intense, fruit forward wine, bursting with dark cherries, ripe plum, dark chocolate and spice. Good concentration in the wine adds to its pleasing mouth feel; balanced acidity enhances its appeal. Supple tannins are well-integrated on the entry, across the mid-palate and throughout the long, layered finish.
Professional Ratings
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Connoisseurs' Guide
8% Cabernet Sauvignon; 4% Petit Verdot; 2% Malbec. If this finely crafted wine is just a bit closed, it nonetheless delivers a fair dollop of concentrated black cherry fruit together with rooty and creme brulee richness in its layered aromas. Its slight tightness continues in the mouth, yet here the wine unbends just a touch more and offers complete and convincing proof that the depth and concentration presaged by the wine's early smells are wholly at hand. Rich, extracted, amply tannic and, yes, somewhat drying today, this one has all the pieces in place to mature handsomely over the next decade.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2006 Pedestal features Michel Rolland who was at Long Shadows on the day of my tasting to do some blending. His wine is 86% Merlot, 8% Cabernet Sauvignon, 4% Petit Verdot and 2% Malbec aged for 22 months in 85% new French oak. Purple-colored, it offers an alluring bouquet of sandalwood, pencil lead, spice box, incense, black currants, and black cherry. Seamless on the palate, this plush wine has layers of ripe, savory flavors, well-concealed tannin, excellent aging potential, and a 60-second finish. It will provide much pleasure between 2013 and 2026.
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Wine Spectator
Dark and spicy, with a tarry edge to the blackberry and currant fruit, emerging on the never-ending finish with richness, polish and elements of spice, pepper and an extra whoosh of cherry. It all keeps sailing effortlessly. Best from 2011 through 2018. 1,877 cases made.
With generous fruit and supple tannins, Merlot is made in a range of styles from everyday-drinking to world-renowned and age-worthy. Merlot is the dominant variety in the wines from Bordeaux’s Right Bank regions of St. Emilion and Pomerol, where it is often blended with Cabernet Franc to spectacular result. Merlot also frequently shines on its own, particularly in California’s Napa Valley. Somm Secret—As much as Miles derided the variety in the 2004 film, Sideways, his prized 1961 Château Cheval Blanc is actually a blend of Merlot and Cabernet Franc.
A large and geographically diverse AVA capable of producing a wide variety of wine styles, the Columbia Valley AVA is home to 99% of Washington state’s total vineyard area. A small section of the AVA even extends into northern Oregon!
Because of its size, it is necessarily divided into several distinctive sub-AVAs, including Walla Walla Valley and Yakima Valley—which are both further split into smaller, noteworthy appellations. A region this size will of course have varied microclimates, but on the whole it experiences extreme winters and long, hot, dry summers. Frost is a common risk during winter and spring. The towering Cascade mountain range creates a rain shadow, keeping the valley relatively rain-free throughout the entire year, necessitating irrigation from the Columbia River. The lack of humidity combined with sandy soils allows for vines to be grown on their own rootstock, as phylloxera is not a serious concern.
Red wines make up the majority of production in the Columbia Valley. Cabernet Sauvignon is the dominant variety here, where it produces wines with a pleasant balance of dark fruit and herbs. Wines made from Merlot are typically supple, with sweet red fruit and sometimes a hint of chocolate or mint. Syrah tends to be savory and Old-World-leaning, with a wide range of possible fruit flavors and plenty of spice. The most planted white varieties are Chardonnay and Riesling. These range in style from citrus and green apple dominant in cooler sites, to riper, fleshier wines with stone fruit flavors coming from the warmer vineyards.