The wines are created by respected winemaker Armin Diehl, owner of Germany's famous Schlossgut Diehl, and are inspired by great German wines.
The 2023 Poet's Leap Riesling is a beautiful, vivacious wine that displays aromas of white flowers and ripe orchard fruit, enhanced by subtle hints of flint.
The palate is bursting with freshness and brightness, with layered flavours of white peach, green apple and prominent minerality.
The finish is long and satisfying, leaving a balanced impression of lively acidity and refined sweetness.
The 2023 vintage is made primarily from grapes grown in the White Bluffs AVA, known for producing complex, balanced white wines.
This old vine Riesling from Sagemore's Gamache Vineyard offers bright acidity, hints of kumquat and an appealing minerality.
Bacchus Vineyards' German Riesling clone offers a slightly ripe style with hints of white peach.
Additionally, a small amount of Riesling from Dubleu Vineyard is blended in to give the finished wine a mineral feel and attractive stone fruit character, enhancing its aromatic intensity.
The low yields in 2023 resulted in a wine of high quality and powerful flavor.
Cool temperatures in the spring delayed bud break by a few weeks, but a sudden heat wave in May encouraged growth.
Stable, warm temperatures throughout July and much of August encouraged grape ripening.
However, veraison was late, requiring careful canopy management to ensure uniform ripening.
A brief, intense heat wave in late August caused harvest to get off to an unusually early start, but by mid-September the Columbia Valley had settled into a typical fall pattern of warm days and cool nights.
The favourable weather continued into late October, allowing the grapes the long hang time necessary for full physiological ripening.
The small amount of grapes hand-picked were selected and gently whole-cluster pressed to prevent bitterness, then fermented in stainless steel tanks at a lower temperature of 15°C to preserve the fresh fruit aromas and flavors.
After fermentation was complete, the winemakers carefully evaluated each lot to create perfectly balanced wines that showcase Riesling's clean, lively characteristics.
Long Shadows was founded in 2002 by Washington wine visionary Allen Shoop.
Shoop served as President and CEO of Chateau Ste. Michelle from 1984 to 2000, where he developed international winemaking partnerships with world-renowned Italian Piero Antinori (Col Solare) and German Dr. Loosen (Eroica Riesling).
Building on this success, Long Shadows was established to bring an elite group of great winemakers from the world's major wine regions to Washington State to create world-class wines that showcase the excellence of Washington State's Columbia Valley grape growing region.
Each winemaker partners individually with Shoop and the winery's resident winemaker, Jill Nicoll, to create their own quintessential, top-quality wine using their own vinification techniques and bottled in their own unique style.