Long Shadows estate spotlight
The official Long Shadows Vintners channel walks the Walla Walla cellar where Gilles Nicault now crafts Feather, the Cabernet first built with Randy Dunn.
The market on this bottle
Wine-Searcher tracks this 2021 Feather Cabernet by Long Shadows, Washington across the open market. Their published U.S. low is $69.99 and the average is $80.56. Our slash is $65.00.
2021 Feather Cabernet by Long Shadows, Washington
Randy Dunn's Washington Cabernet, Gilles Nicault in the cellar, a 97-point 2021 you can open at sixty-five dollars.
Feather is 100 percent Cabernet from Weinbau, Dionysus, and Horse Heaven Hills, 22 months in 85 percent new French oak, now $65.
Howell Mountain craft on Columbia Valley fruit
Randy Dunn made this wine famous. Gilles Nicault makes it now. The 2021 is 97 points from Jeb Dunnuck: inky purple, cassis, new leather, graphite, and truffle. Weinbau, Dionysus, and Horse Heaven Hills fruit, 22 months in 85 percent new French oak. This is the bottle that argues for Washington Cabernet without Napa rent.
The project
Allen Shoup founded Long Shadows in 2003 to bring world-class winemakers to Washington fruit. Feather was Randy Dunn's Cabernet.
The wine
Weinbau for structure, Dionysus for dark fruit, Horse Heaven Hills for silk. 22 months in 85% new French oak. 14.9% ABV.
The scores
Jeb Dunnuck 97, Wine Enthusiast 95, James Suckling 94, Vinous 94+. Drink 2024 to 2044.
The drinker
Cassis and graphite first. Decant an hour. Serve near 64 F. Lamb on the bone or a pork chop.
Cassis, leather, graphite, and a long spicy line
Dunnuck writes inky purple, cassis, new leather, graphite, and truffly earth, with a broad, layered mid-palate. The house adds dried rosemary, ripe plum, and oak spice.
A structured Washington year. Weinbau on Wahluke Slope gave backbone. Dionysus in White Bluffs gave dark fruit. Horse Heaven Hills gave silk. Twenty-two months in new French oak did the rest.
Inky purple. Cassis, new leather, graphite, truffle, rosemary, ripe plum, oak spice.
Full body, fine-grained tannin, 14.9% ABV, 22 months in 85% new French oak.
Long, spicy, firm. Serve near 64 F. Decant an hour if drinking young.
New French oak, twenty-two months
On the Long Shadows 2021 Feather sheet, this is Cabernet built the Dunn way: concentration, graphite, and time in new barrels. Gilles Nicault now leads the wine Randy Dunn designed.
Fruit comes from Weinbau Vineyard on Wahluke Slope, Dionysus in White Bluffs, plus Horse Heaven Hills sites for silk and earth.
One hundred percent Cabernet Sauvignon. 22 months in French oak, 85 percent new. Alcohol 14.9 percent. pH 3.92. Production was 3,849 cases.
From Chateau Ste. Michelle to Long Shadows
Allen Shoup left the state's largest winery to prove Washington could hire the world's best.
Allen Shoup ran Chateau Ste. Michelle through the years that made Washington famous, then founded Long Shadows in 2003 as a collection of wines, each with an international winemaker.
Randy Dunn, of Howell Mountain, took the Cabernet brief. Feather is still that wine, now finished by Gilles Nicault.
The 2021 is that brief at full voice: Columbia Valley Cabernet, new French oak, a long spicy close.
Lamb on the bone, pork in the pan
Full Cabernet wants fat, char, and herb, not a light bird.
Two plates. One rack of lamb. One pork chop. Both can take graphite and new oak.
Decant an hour if drinking now. Serve near 64 F in a Bordeaux glass.
Rosemary garlic rack of lamb
Nagi's rosemary garlic marinade, roasted pink. Fat and herb meet cassis and cedar.
Why it works: Rosemary echoes the dried-herb note while lamb fat softens the 2021 tannin.
View Recipe for Rosemary Garlic Marinated Rack of Lamb (opens in a new tab)
Pan-seared pork chops
Kenji's deep-brown chop with mashed potatoes. Cocoa and toast in the wine have a place to land.
Why it works: Pork fat and a hard sear match leather and oak without adding more tannin.
View Recipe for Perfect Pan-Seared Pork Chops (opens in a new tab)Put 97-point Washington Cabernet on the table
Randy Dunn's design, Gilles Nicault in the cellar, Jeb Dunnuck 97. Sixty-five dollars against an $85 typical retail.
Put it in the cart. This is the Feather bottle that argues for Columbia Valley Cabernet without Napa rent.
