Pedestal Merlot 2018
- Decanter
- Vinous
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Jeb
Dunnuck -
Wine
Enthusiast
Product Details
Your Rating
Somm Note
Winemaker Notes
A concentrated and layered wine offering dark fruit aromas with a hint of tobacco.
The mouthfeel is opulent, with luscious wild blackberry and chocolate-covered
black cherry woven around an appealing note of spicy clove. Beautifully complex,
the flavors and weight of the wine combine to leave a rich, satisfying finish.
Blend: 82% Merlot, 14% Cabernet Sauvignon, 4% Malbec
Professional Ratings
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Decanter
An utterly spectacular showing from this exciting vintage. 82% Merlot with the remainder Cabernet Sauvignon and Malbec, this revels in its Turkish coffee aromas with sandalwood, dark currants, chocolate fudge and blueberry compote rounding out the bouquet. This presents a hedonistic bent with an intense mouthfeel and glorious length. Unabashedly big, the acidity and firm tannins hold this gorgeous core of blue and dark fruits in place. Drinking Window: 2021 - 2040.
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Vinous
Long Shadows has crafted a beautiful new Right Bank style 2018 Merlot Pedestal, which is nearly all Merlot (82%) with smaller portions of Malbec and Cabernet Sauvignon. Once on the nose this shows an intoxicating bouquet of black currant jelly, espresso bean and shades of black licorice candy. The mouthfeel captured here is exquisite as the Merlot seamlessly glides across the mid-palate delivering a decadent core of dark fruits, black licorice, black peppercorn and espresso ground tones. Finishing very long, this is already a beautifully evolved wine that will improve with an hour in the decanter. Drinking Window: 2022 - 2040.
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Jeb Dunnuck
The 2018 Merlot Pedestal checks in as 82% Merlot, 14% Cabernet Sauvignon, and 4% Malbec that was raised, I suspect, in plenty of new oak. It's another great vintage from this cuvée, which has the final blend put together by Michel Rolland. Offering a wonderfully pure, perfumed nose of black and blue fruits, chocolate, leafy herbs, and flowers, these all carry over to the palate, where the wine is medium to full-bodied and has a seamless texture and a great finish. I’d be happy to drink a bottle any time over the coming 15 years.
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Wine Enthusiast
Each winemaker at Long Shadows makes a single wine, with famed consultant Michel Rolland the architect of this one. The aromas boast notes of coffee, spice and dried dark cherry. The flavors are luscious, rich and intense. There's plenty of tannic structure to support it all. Best after 2026.
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Michel Rolland, Pomerol vintner and consultant to many of the world’s top wineries, provides the vision for this limited release wine. In partnership with Washington wine visionary Allen Shoup, Michel has created a Columbia Valley Merlot that exemplifies the complexity and concentration of flavors for which his wines are internationally known.
Pedestal is one of six distinct red wines from Long Shadows Vintners - a collection of ultra-premium wines, each built on the unique expertise of some of the world’s most knowledgeable winemakers to showcase the quality and caliber of Washington State’s Columbia Valley.
Since the beginning, Long Shadows' Director of Winemaking and Viticulture Gilles Nicault, has overseen the operations of the winery and worked closely with the vintners to bring each winemaker’s vision to completion. Internationally renowned winemakers Randy Dunn (Feather Cabernet Sauvignon); John Duval (Sequel Syrah); Philippe Melka (Pirouette Red Wine); and Michel Rolland (Pedestal Merlot) are active partners in their respective wines. Gilles now crafts Poet’s Leap Riesling and Saggi, a Sangiovese/Cabernet Sauvignon blend, in styles that remain true to their original winemakers, Armin Diel and Giovanni Folonari respectively. Gilles crafts Chester-Kidder, a Cabernet Sauvignon/Syrah blend, independently.
Gilles works closely with the state’s top growers to execute a diverse winemaking protocol at Long Shadows’ state-of-the-art facility in Walla Walla to produce wines of exceptional quality, true to the Columbia Valley’s terroir.
With generous fruit and supple tannins, Merlot is made in a range of styles from everyday-drinking to world-renowned and age-worthy. Merlot is the dominant variety in the wines from Bordeaux’s Right Bank regions of St. Emilion and Pomerol, where it is often blended with Cabernet Franc to spectacular result. Merlot also frequently shines on its own, particularly in California’s Napa Valley. Somm Secret—As much as Miles derided the variety in the 2004 film, Sideways, his prized 1961 Château Cheval Blanc is actually a blend of Merlot and Cabernet Franc.
A large and geographically diverse AVA capable of producing a wide variety of wine styles, the Columbia Valley AVA is home to 99% of Washington state’s total vineyard area. A small section of the AVA even extends into northern Oregon!
Because of its size, it is necessarily divided into several distinctive sub-AVAs, including Walla Walla Valley and Yakima Valley—which are both further split into smaller, noteworthy appellations. A region this size will of course have varied microclimates, but on the whole it experiences extreme winters and long, hot, dry summers. Frost is a common risk during winter and spring. The towering Cascade mountain range creates a rain shadow, keeping the valley relatively rain-free throughout the entire year, necessitating irrigation from the Columbia River. The lack of humidity combined with sandy soils allows for vines to be grown on their own rootstock, as phylloxera is not a serious concern.
Red wines make up the majority of production in the Columbia Valley. Cabernet Sauvignon is the dominant variety here, where it produces wines with a pleasant balance of dark fruit and herbs. Wines made from Merlot are typically supple, with sweet red fruit and sometimes a hint of chocolate or mint. Syrah tends to be savory and Old-World-leaning, with a wide range of possible fruit flavors and plenty of spice. The most planted white varieties are Chardonnay and Riesling. These range in style from citrus and green apple dominant in cooler sites, to riper, fleshier wines with stone fruit flavors coming from the warmer vineyards.