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.
Blend: 65% Cabernet Sauvignon, 21% Merlot, 11% Petit Verdot, 3% Malbec
Professional Ratings
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Jeb Dunnuck
The 2015 Pirouette Red Wine is a Cabernet Sauvignon dominated cuvée that includes 21% Merlot, 11% Petit Verdot and 3% Malbec. It spent 22 months in 75% new French oak. Blackcurrants, dark chocolate, crushed rock, and graphite notions all dominate this rich, opulent, beautifully concentrated, layered red. It has enough tannin to warrant short-term cellaring and is going to keep for 10-15+ years.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Pure and fruit-driven, the 2015 Pirouette wafts from the glass with notes of ripe cherries and plums. On the palate, it's lavishly textural and velvety, with an ample core of juicy dark fruits and good balancing acids, its abundant tannins only asserting themselves on the finish. Ripe and generous, it's only deficiency is a lack of complexity. Of all the Long Shadows wines—Michel Rolland's included—this would be the most at home in contemporary Napa Valley. It's made by Philippe Melka and consists of 65% Cabernet Sauvignon, 21% Merlot, 11% Petit Verdot and 3% Malbec.
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Wine Enthusiast
This wine is a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon (65%), Merlot (21%), Petit Verdot (11%) and Malbec. The aromas are locked up on first pour, with notes of black cherry, cassis, cocoa, black currant, raspberry and high-toned barrel spice. The palate brings lithe fruit flavors, with firm lightly grippy tannins that need time to soften. It has all the stuffing but needs time in the cellar to come into its own. Best after 2025.
Long Shadows Vintners is a collection of seven ultra-premium wines, each built on the unique expertise of some of the world's most highly-regarded winemakers to showcase the viticultural quality and caliber of Washington State's Columbia Valley.
Founded by Washington wine visionary Allen Shoup in 2002, Long Shadows is the continuation of Allen's ongoing ambition to bring international recognition to the Columbia Valley. His idea for Long Shadows was as simple as it was complex. Recruit seven internationally acclaimed winemakers; give each access to Washington State's best grapes; and outfit a winery to the vintner’s exacting cellar specifications. The result, in effect, is seven stand-alone wineries, under one roof.
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 Michel Rolland (Pedestal Merlot) are active partners in their respective wines. Gilles now crafts Poet’s Leap Riesling and Saggi (Sangiovese/Cabernet Sauvignon) in styles that remain true to their original winemakers, Armin Diel and Giovanni Folonari respectively. Gilles crafts Chester-Kidder, a Cabernet Sauvignon/Syrah blend, independently.
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.
One of the world’s most classic and popular styles of red wine, Bordeaux-inspired blends have spread from their homeland in France to nearly every corner of the New World. Typically based on either Cabernet Sauvignon or Merlot and supported by Cabernet Franc, Malbec and Petit Verdot, the best of these are densely hued, fragrant, full of fruit and boast a structure that begs for cellar time. Somm Secret—Blends from Bordeaux are generally earthier compared to those from the New World, which tend to be fruit-dominant.
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.