Long Shadows Winery Tasting

We love a lot of things about Wichita, but one of those many things is the many wine tasting and wine education opportunities here. If you don't already know, Mark Arts offers frequent wine tasting classes put on by Jamie Stratton from Jacob Liquor. Recently, he had a tasting of wines from Long Shadows Winery in Walla Walla, Washington.

The evening lineup

This is a real interesting winery, because the premise is collaborating with famous winemakers from around the world and giving them access to some of the best grapes in Washington to see what they can do. Genius! Washington is making some absolutely dynamite wine, and adding word-class winemakers to the mix is absolutely brilliant.

It was a real treat to get to taste some of these delicious wines with Jamie, who does a great job of educating you about the wine and walking you through tasting it as well. And who doesn't love tasting six gorgeous Washington wines?

Lovely

Poet's Leap Riesling, 2023

Per the Long Shadows website, this wine is "inspired by the great wines of Germany and winemaker Armin Diel." German Rieslings are typically varying degrees of sweet, and there is sweetness in this Riesling--but not too sweet, so it's really quite crisp and light and delightful. Riesling from Germany also tends to have a unique, petrol note to it (that sounds awful, but it's not), and again, that note is softer here. But this wine is deliciously fruity, with limes and white peaches, as well as a mineral quality that reminded us of that minerally sense you get when standing at the base of a waterfall. Personally, we're not huge drinkers of Riesling, but we could drink a lot of this, particularly on a warm summer day.

Saggi, 2017

This wine is a fun blend of Sangiovese and Cabernet. That being the case, Long Shadows worked with Tuscan winemakers Ambrogio and Giovanni Folonari, as Sangiovese is native to Tuscany. Sangiovese is the grape that makes Chianti, a wine known for pairing well with red pasta sauce and pizza, and this wine does have some notes of a sweet red pasta sauce to it! It also reminded us of red strawberries, but also blackberries (courtesy of the Cabernet). It's warm and easy to drink, lighter than a Cab, since Sangiovese makes a lighter wine. There's some light oak in this to, with notes of dill and vanilla.

Sequel Syrah, 2017

The grape Syrah goes by the name Shiraz in Australia, so for this one, Long Shadows teamed up with winemaker John Duval from Australia, well known for making the famous Penfolds Grange Shiraz. We've really been loving on Washington Syrah lately (Katie in particular), so it was a treat to taste this one, reminding us of blueberries and blackberry bramble, if you ate them next to a campfire grilling meat and sprinkled in some black pepper. It's actually a really great combo!

Pedestal Merlot, 2018

Merlot hails from the right bank of Bordeaux, so it only makes sense that Long Shadows enlisted the help of Bordeaux winemaker Michel Rolland for this Merlot wine. This Merlot was a delight--not as earthy as many Bordeaux wines, but not as fruity as many California Merlots--ending up as a beautiful mix of the two. It exhibits blackberries and cocoa, with some gravel mineral qualities as well, and even the smell of new leather. There's also a little vanilla bean in it from the oak for a real nice finish. We really enjoyed this one!

Pirouette, 2017

Pirouette is a Bordeax blend of grapes, and for this one, Long Shadows actually worked with Napa winemaker Philippe Melka. This was Bart's favorite of the night, very smooth, with all the great qualities of Bordeaux wines but a little fruitier. This one comes across as black plums, sweet tobacco, and baking spices. It's a beautiful balance of Cabernet and Merlot (plus a little Cab Franc), and it's just a truly enjoyable wine to drink.

The Feather, 2019

For you Cabernet fans, here's your wine of the night. This is 100% Cabernet Sauvignon, made with Napa winemaker Randy Dunn. What we like about Washington wines is that they're not always as loud as California wines, which sometimes come across like a punch to the mouth. This reminds you of a California Cab, with blackberry and vanilla bean flavors, warming you right up. It isn't quite as punchy as many California Cabs, though, which we find to be a real pleasure.

Jamie does wine tasting classes regularly at Mark Arts, and we always have a great time when we go. The classes are educational, entertaining, and DELICIOUS, and it's always great to meet other Wichita wine-lovers. Check out his upcoming classes on the Mark Arts culinary classes website! You won't be sorry you did!