Country: | United States |
Region: | Washington (Columbia Valley) |
Winery: | Long Shadows Vintners |
Grape Types: | Cabernet Sauvignon Sangiovese Syrah |
Vintage: | 2008 |
Bottle Size: | 750 ml |
62% Sangiovese, 28% Cabernet Sauvignon, 10% Syrah. Among Tuscany's oldest and most prestigious wine families, Ambrogio and Giovanni Folonari teamed with Allen Shoup to produce a wine that showcases Washington State's terroir with plenty of Italian character. Saggi (meaning "wisdom") is a stunning blend of two outstanding Washington Sangiovese vineyards. Candy Mountain Sangiovese gives the wine its dark fruit flavors and appealing notes of anise. Dick Boushey's Yakima Valley Sangiovese, planted in 1992, adds vibrancy and liveliness. Because Cabernet Sauvignon has the potential to overtake Sangiovese, the Folonaris work closely with Sagemoor Vineyards to carefully select blocks of Cabernet they know from experience deliver elegant character and refined tannins. Syrah, also from Sagemoor, adds to the wine's dark color and rich mid-palate.
Review:
There are only a few Sangiovese-dominated wines from Washington, but they tend to be rock-solid. The 2018 Saggi Red Wine is a great example, revealing a ruby/semi-translucent color as well as notes of ripe cherries, leafy herbs, sandalwood, and dried flowers. Medium to full-bodied, it has plenty of richness, velvety tannins, and outstanding length. It opens up nicely with time in the glass and should have 10-12 years of longevity.
- Jeb Dunnuck (April 2020), 92 pts
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The “Vintners Collection” gift boxes includes all six of Long Shadows’ acclaimed red wines packaged together in a beautifully branded wood box. Each of these wines were inspired and crafted by a world-renowned vintner to showcase the viticultural quality and caliber of Washington state’s Columbia Valley:
Pirouette: Philippe Melka (Vineyard 29, Lail, Hundred Acre) & Agustin Huneeus, Sr.(Quintessa)
Feather Cabernet Sauvignon: Randy Dunn (Dunn Vineyards)
Pedestal Merlot: Michel Rolland (International Wine Consultant)
Chester-Kidder: Allen Shoup (Chateau Ste. Michelle, CEO) & Gilles Nicault (Woodward Canyon)
Sequel Syrah: John Duval (Penfolds Grange, Plexus, Entity)
Saggi: Ambrogio & Giovanni Folonari (A & G Folonari Tenute, Tuscany)
Long Shadows Chester Kidder is made from 60% Cabernet Sauvignon, 25% Syrah and 15% Petit Verdot
Allen Shoup named this 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.
Select Cabernet Sauvignon lots underwent an extended maceration of 40 days to produce supple yet firm tannins that stand up to 30 months of barrel aging in tight-grained French oak barrels (85% new). The extra time in barrel helped to integrate the fruit, enhance the mid-palate with an extra layer of complexity, and provide an appealing earthiness to the finish.
Review:
The Cabernet Sauvignon-dominated 2017 Chester Kidder is another more closed, reserved wine that's loaded with potential. Cassis, toasted spices, violets, and leafy herb notes give way to a rich, full-bodied red that has ripe, velvety tannins, a rounded, mouth-filling texture, and one heck of a great finish. Give bottles 3-5 years if you can and it should be very long lived.
-Jeb Dunnuck 93 Points
Long Shadows Chester Kidder is made from 60% Cabernet Sauvignon, 25% Syrah and 15% Petit Verdot
Allen Shoup named this 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.
Select Cabernet Sauvignon lots underwent an extended maceration of 40 days to produce supple yet firm tannins that stand up to 30 months of barrel aging in tight-grained French oak barrels (85% new). The extra time in barrel helped to integrate the fruit, enhance the mid-palate with an extra layer of complexity, and provide an appealing earthiness to the finish.
The 2018 Chester-Kidder Red Wine is based on 64% Cabernet Sauvignon, 28% Syrah, and the rest Petit Verdot that spent 30 months in 85% new French oak. It's another brilliant wine from this team and has vibrant plum and darker, almost blue fruits as well as spicy oak, chocolate, graphite, and scorched earth aromas and flavors. Balanced and medium to full-bodied, with a terrific sense of freshness as well as building tannins, it's going to benefit from 2-4 years of bottle age and have two decades of longevity.
-Jeb Dunnuck 94 Points
Long Shadows Cymbal Sauvignon Blanc is made from 100% Sauvignon Blanc.
Tasting notes: Wonderfully vibrant and aromatic, with notes of lemongrass, passion fruit and a hint of honeysuckle. Flavors of mango, fresh herbs and white peach, come together seamlessly across a textured palate and lengthy finish.
Over the years, Gilles and Allen have experimented with small quantities of uniquely styled wines for their personal and family enjoyment. A few of these wines became too good not to share with their “extended family”, including the Cymbal Sauvignon Blanc.
Sauvignon Blanc from three distinct vineyards combined to give this wine its wonderful vibrancy and complex flavor profile. Gamache Vineyard (planted in 1985) is located on a gently sloping hillside in close proximity to the Columbia River. The site benefits from the cooling effect of the river to give the wine fresh acidity. Boushey Vineyard also contributes liveliness and lemongrass character. Bacchus Vineyard Sauvignon Blanc (planted in 1972) is a warmer site, producing a riper style wine that provides a distinct passion fruit character to the
finished blend.
Long Shadows Cymbal Sauvignon Blanc is made from 100% Sauvignon Blanc.
Tasting notes: Wonderfully vibrant and aromatic, with notes of lemongrass, passion fruit and a hint of honeysuckle. Flavors of mango, fresh herbs and white peach, come together seamlessly across a textured palate and lengthy finish.
Over the years, Gilles and Allen have experimented with small quantities of uniquely styled wines for their personal and family enjoyment. A few of these wines became too good not to share with their “extended family”, including the Cymbal Sauvignon Blanc.
Sauvignon Blanc from three distinct vineyards combined to give this wine its wonderful vibrancy and complex flavor profile. Gamache Vineyard (planted in 1985) is located on a gently sloping hillside in close proximity to the Columbia River. The site benefits from the cooling effect of the river to give the wine fresh acidity. Boushey Vineyard also contributes liveliness and lemongrass character. Bacchus Vineyard Sauvignon Blanc (planted in 1972) is a warmer site, producing a riper style wine that provides a distinct passion fruit character to the
finished blend.
The Folonaris are among Italy’s oldest and most prestigious Tuscan wine families with a winemaking history dating back to the late 1700s.
Long Shadows Saggi Red 2008 is made from 45% Sangiovese, 40% Cabernet Sauvignon, ,15% Syrah
Vintage: The 2008 growing season was cooler than usual, delaying veraision by a few weeks, but meticulous care in the vineyards kept the vines in balance and set the stage for an excellent vintage. With the arrival of picture-perfect weather conditions in September and October, marked by warm days and cool nights, the grapes ripened beautifully. The resulting wines are luscious, offering bold flavors and balanced acidity.
Winemaking: Sangiovese is a delicate grape that requires gentle handling to avoid green flavors in the finished wine. The fruit for the 2008 Saggi was hand-picked and fermented in small, twoton tanks for 25-35 days, providing a delicious richness across the mid-palate. Following fermentation, the Sangiovese was aged 18 months in new (55%) and used (45%) French oak barrels then blended with select Cabernet Sauvignon lots to provide added structure. A small amount of Syrah was included to contribute color and dimension.
Vineyards: The Columbia Valley’s warm days and cool nights offer an ideal climate for preserving Sangiovese’s delicate flavors, acidity and balance. The 2008 Saggi relies heavily (63%) on grapes from the acclaimed Horse Heaven Hills appellation. Candy Mountain (22%) contributes ripe, wild strawberry aromas and flavors. Dick Boushey’s Yakima Valley vineyard (15%) gives the wine balance and freshness while preserving the elegant red currant characteristics of the Sangiovese.
Tasting notes: Red currants and ripe, wild strawberries meld with oak spice and an attractive hint of earthiness in this vibrant wine. Well-integrated tannins provide a velvety mouth-feel, layers of structure and a long, pleasant finish.
"Bright, deep red. Sexy aromas of black cherry, violet, licorice and toasty oak. Juicy, vibrant and quite tight, with a restrained sweetness to the blackberry and licorice flavors. Finishes broad but with a light touch, with suave, tongue-dusted tannins and sneaky persistence"
- Stephen Tanzer's International Wine Cellar, 92 pts
"The 2008 Saggi is composed of 45% Sangiovese, 40% Cabernet Sauvignon, and 15% Syrah aged for 18 months in 55% new French oak. The wine was made by Ambrogio and Giovanni Folonari of Tuscany. Earthy minerals, cedar, smoke, cherries, and blueberries inform the nose of an elegant, smooth-textured, spicy wine that has enough structure to evolve for 2-3 years. It will offer peak drinking from 2013 to 2023."
- Wine Advocate, 91 pts
Long Shadows Vintners
Founded by Washington wine pioneer Allen Shoup, Long Shadows Vintners is a collection of ultra-premium wineries comprised of internationally acclaimed winemakers from the major wine regions of the world. Each winemaker is a partner in a unique winery dedicated to producing a single Columbia Valley wine representing a 'best of type' that reflects the winemaker's signature style and the viticultural excellence of Washington State's Columbia Valley.
They construct wines in their own style, and with their own complexity, while striving to improve upon their singular benchmarks. Beginning with the 2003 crush, they are crafting signature wines that carry great promise for years to come.
They have devoted hundreds of hours sampling the many wines originating from the most important vineyards, and chose those particular vineyards that fit the desired style and type of wines each hopes to create. Grapes from every sub-appellation of the Columbia Valley were selected to take the fullest advantage of the region’s individual microclimates and terroirs.
"Long Shadows is the brainchild of Alan Shoup, longtime CEO of Chateau Ste-Michelle. It is a consortium of seven different labels, each with its own star winemaker who has a 25% share in the brand. The concept is that each “is dedicated to producing a single Columbia Valley wine representing a ‘best of type’ that reflects the winemaker’s signature style.” For the second straight year, every wine in this portfolio has achieved an outstanding rating. For this, the credit goes to Alan Shoup who put it all together."
- Wine Advocate (Issue 177, July 2008),
Weingut Prager Achleiten Riesling Smaragd is made from 100 percent Riesling.
Franz Prager, co-founder of the Vinea Wachau, had already earned a reputation for his wines when Toni Bodenstein married into the family. Bodenstein’s passion for biodiversity and old terraces, coupled with brilliant winemaking, places Prager in the highest echelon of Austrian producers.
Smaragd is a designation of ripeness for dry wines used exclusively by members of the Vinea Wachau. The wines must have a minimum alcohol of 12.5%. The grapes are hand-harvested, typically in October and November, and are sent directly to press where they spontaneously ferment in stainless-steel tanks.
Achleiten sits east of Weißenkirchen and is one of the most famous vineyards in the Wachau. The steeply-terraced vineyard existed in Roman times. Some sections have just 40 cm of topsoil over the bedrock of Gföler Gneiss, amphibolitic stone, and slate. “Destroyed soil,” as Toni Bodenstein likes to say.
Tasting Notes:
Austrian Riesling is often defined by elevated levels of dry extract thanks to a lengthy ripening period and freshness due to dramatic temperature swings between day and night. Wines from Achleiten’s highly complex soils are famously marked by a mineral note of flint or gun smoke, are intensely flavored, and reliably long-lived.
Food Pairing:
Riesling’s high acidity makes it one of the most versatile wines at the table. Riesling can be used to cut the fattiness of foods such as pork or sausages and can tame some saltiness. Conversely, it can highlight foods such as fish or vegetables in the same way a squeeze of lemon or a vinaigrette might.
Review:
The 2020 Ried Achleiten Riesling Smaragd offers a well-concentrated, fleshy and spicy stone fruit aroma with crunchy and flinty notes. It needs some time to get rid of the stewed fruit flavors, though. Full-bodied, fresh and crystalline, this is an elegant, complex and finely tannic Riesling that needs some years rather than a carafe to polymerize the tannins and gain some finesse. Tasted at the domain in June 2021.
At Prager, I could not determine that 2020 would be inferior to the 2019 vintage; on the contrary, the 2020 Smaragd wines fascinated me enormously in their clear, cool, terroir-tinged way. A 38% loss had occurred mainly because of the hail on August 22, although predominantly in the Federspiel or Riesling vineyards. There was no damage in the top vineyards such as Ried Klaus, Achleiten or Zwerithaler. "Interestingly, the vines are in agony for about two weeks after the hail. There was no more growth, no development of ripeness and sugar," reports Toni Bondenstein. The Veltliner then recovered earlier, while even picking a Riesling Federspiel in October was still a struggle. "Why Riesling reacted more intensively to the hail, I don't know myself either," says Bodenstein. Whole clusters were pressed to preserve acidity and to compensate for the lower extract, and compared to 2019, the 2020s were left on their lees longer. In June, however, the 20s in particular showed outstanding early shape.
-Wine Advocate 94 Points
Light yellow-green, silver reflections. Yellow stone fruit nuances with a mineral underlay, notes of peach and mango, a hint of tangerine zest, mineral touch. Juicy, elegant, white fruit, acidity structure rich in finesse, lemony-salty finish, sure aging potential.
-Falstaff 95 Points
Hailing from over two dozen vineyards across the beautiful Golden State, the Turley Juvenile is more of a clear bellwether for a vintage than any other wine we make. Fragrant, lifted aromas of ripe dark fruits like black raspberry and blood orange on the nose. Superb balance between acidity, tannin, and spice, with a succulent, profoundly satisfying texture.
Review:
A jammy bomb of fruit, offering cherry pie and ripe raspberry flavors accented with toasty spice and briar notes as this energetic Zin zips along the zesty finish.
-Wine Spectator 93 Points