Adelsheim Vineyard Chardonnay Staking Claim is made from 100% Chardonnay.
Review:
-James Suckling 92 Points
#32 Wine Spectator Top 100 of 2023
Delicate red in color. The incredibly expressive bouquet offers notes of sandalwood, herbs de Provence, and Red Delicious apples. On the palate, freshly picked red huckleberries provide tart and lasting succulence with a hint of baking spice. The sandy soils of the Chehalem Mountains offer salinity and minerality on the finish that is complemented with dark cherry and rhubarb.
Review:
-Wine Spectator 95 Points
-Wine & Spirits 95 Points
-Decanter World Wine Awards 96 Points
The aging is as Mounir ages his Burgundies: extremely long, never racked, no fining, no filtration. It would be easy to say that we expected the experience running one of Burgundy’s leading producers, Lucien Le Moine, would show in Mounir’s wines. But the actual results need to be tasted to be believed and understood: a wine with beguiling fruit and savory richness, yet extraordinary finesse and detail.
Mounir Saouma likes to describe Châteauneuf-du-Pape as a mosaic, with all the wild traditions and differences together making for very different interpretations. Omnia, Latin for “all,” is his attempt to encompass the entire region’s terroir and winemaking history (and perhaps future) in one glass. The fruit comes from 9 vineyard parcels across all 5 of the Châteauneuf communes, Châteauneuf-du-Pape, Courthezon, Sorgues, Bedarrides and Orange (in early vintages, when the Saoumas did not have all the vineyards they have today, they would purchase fruit; today, Rotem & Mounir Saouma is 100% Estate). The wine is then vinified and aged in foudres, cement and 500 liter barrels – a little bit of everything.
2019 was another warm and dry vintage in the southern Rhône, marked by insistent drought and repeated heat waves during the season. With little disease pressure or frost, the crop was close to normal size, but bunch and berry-size was reduced during the growing season by the lack of water. The grapes were thus concentrated and rich in sugar and acidity, although potential alcohol levels were often quite high. Vineyards at higher elevations – Châteauneuf du Pape and Gigondas in particular — handled the heat better, and the wines from those AOPs are rich yet also remarkably fresh and energetic. Despite the initial concerns about the growing season, 2019 looks to be a watershed vintage in the Southern Rhône, producing rich wines with exceptional concentration and aging potential
Inviting aromas of sliced strawberries, red cherries and rose. Full-bodied with vibrant acidity and succulent fruit. Fine, structured tannins are vertically aligned with the fruit. More dark-fruited than the nose lets on and entirely delicious. I love the subtle spice here.
-James Suckling 94 Points
Very refined, with silky and fine-grained structure carrying alluring bergamot, rooibos tea, incense, dried cherry and lightly mulled raspberry notes along. A long sanguine thread weaves through the finish. Hard to resist now with so much charm, but this will benefit from cellaring. Grenache, Syrah and Mourvèdre.
-Wine Spectator 94 Points
Long Shadows Pirouette Meritage is made from Cabernet Sauvignon.
Pirouette is a classic Bordeaux blend – the 2021 is 55% Cabernet Sauvignon, 36% Merlot, 7% Petit Verdot and 2% Malbec. Philippe Melka, named one of the top nine winemakers in the world by Robert Parker, drew on small lots from Washington State's finest vineyards to craft this red blend. Hand-harvested Cabernet was fermented in 400L French oak barrels, gently rolled throughout fermentation to integrate the oak with refined dark fruit and give the wine its silky mouthfeel; the balance fermented in stainless steel, with select lots given longer skin contact for color and mid-palate. The finished wine aged 22 months in French oak (80% new) before bottling unfiltered and unfined.
Review:
"The 2021 Pirouette is Philippe Melka's take on Washington State Bordeaux varieties, and it's based on 55% Cabernet Sauvignon, 36% Merlot, 7% Petit Verdot, and 2% Malbec. Ripe black and blue fruits, leafy herbs, violets, tobacco, and a kiss of some chocolaty oak all emerge from this beauty, and it hits the palate with medium to full-bodied richness, a broad, layered mouthfeel, velvety tannins, and a stunning finish. It certainly makes the most of the vintage and it's up with the crème de la crème of this vintage."
- Jeb Dunnuck 96 Points