Feather

Editor's Choice - The 2022 Long Shadows Vintners Feather Cabernet Sauvignon opens with its 100% Cabernet Sauvignon composition immediately setting the tone for a wine of depth and poise. Waves of crushed blackcurrant and boysenberry are lifted by hints of dried violets, creating an aromatic profile that feels both vivid and layered. The palate moves with a broad, powerful sweep as cocoa nib, powdered graphite, and a touch of roasted espresso develop alongside the wine's polished structure, shaped in part by its oak regimen. As the wine stretches across the finish, accents of cracked pepper, worn leather, and allspice emerge, carried by tannins that feel seamless and well integrated. This wine gradually reveals its complexity, showing more nuance with each moment in the glass, and it stands as a beautifully rendered expression of Cabernet Sauvignon from the Columbia Valley. Pair this with braised short ribs cooked low and slow, served over creamy polenta studded with roasted garlic. Highly recommended.

A stunning wine from 2022, the Long Shadows Feather comes from Sonnet Vineyard as well as Bacchus and Dionysus Vineyards. On the nose this takes on bay leaf and red bell pepper alongside cassis and shades of black licorice. The palate is lush and dense with a terrific mouthfeel and smooth texture. Considering the coolness of the vintage, this has a beautiful combination of finesse, viscosity and flavor density.

Aromas of ripe blackcurrants, cherry chocolate, mocha, crushed walnuts and wet earth. Full-bodied with a wide, meaty structure, it offers dense, velvety tannins and a deep core of fruit. Long and encompassing.

The 100% varietal 2022 Feather Cabernet Sauvignon is densely concentrated in full-bodied black fruit, lavender aromatics, and an enduring richness of dark chocolate. Silky, supple tannins provide a refined texture that leads to a peppery finish of oak, saddle leather, and clove. This shows cellaring potential of 20-25 years.

The 2022 Feather Cabernet Sauvignon is an elegant effort with a perfumed blend of dusty violet flowers and sweet spice complementing black cherries. Silken textures are contrasted by a wave of tart red and black fruits, while a sweet herbal air informs the close. Gently tannic yet a bit shorter than anticipated, it leaves a resonance of lavender pastille to taper off.

All Cabernet Sauvignon, the 2021 Feather is inky purple-hued and offers a brilliant nose of cassis, new leather, graphite, and truffly earth. This rich, spicy, full-bodied Cabernet Sauvignon has terrific purity, a deep, layered mid-palate, and a broad, layered, expansive mouthfeel that keeps you coming back to the glass.

A standout wine from a tough vintage, the 2021 ‘Feather’ comes from primarily the Weinbau and Dionysus Vineyards in the White Bluffs AVA, as well as a handful of sites in the Horse Heaven Hills AVA. Pencil lead and cedar wood mark the nose alongside hints of white pepper dusted chocolate and creme de cassis. This comes off exceedingly elegant and seamless throughput the drinking experience, as the oak treatment caresses the mid-palate. Like all great wines from this vintage, enjoy now in its heady youth.

Top 60 Northwest Wines of 2024 - Aromatically expressive, with notes of toast, coffee, freshly mortared herb, assorted barrel spices, and cherry. Intense, rich, pillowy-feeling, palate-coating black fruit flavors follow, with plentiful barrel accents. A generous mid-palate ups the interest. It's unabashedly hedonistic - full throttle - bringing a mouthful of fruit and pleasure.

This 100% Cabernet Sauvignon began as a partnership with winemaker Randy Dunn of Napa Valley. It opens with a heady, minty aroma and dense black currant flavors shaded by char, graphite and black figs wrapped in plenty of fine-grained tannins. Time will be the friend of this muscular wine.

The 2021 Feather Cabernet Sauvignon is lifted and perfumed with a cascade of red berries, dusty rose and lavender pastille. This is pure elegance, silken, polished and nearly creamy in feel, with fresh acidity and complicating notes of dark chocolate and cola. It leaves a spicy sensation that lingers, finishing firm and tannic as hints of blueberry preserves fade.

Reveals aromas of cassis, blueberry, aniseed, lavender and chocolate. The full-bodied palate is ripe and concentrated with silky tannins and just enough fresh acidity, and it has a long, floral finish.

In the glass, it unveils a saturated obsidian hue with a radiant violet shimmer at the rim. Aromas are immediately commanding - layers of crushed blackcurrant, roasted fig, worn saddle leather, and graphite shard leap from the glass, underscored by forest mushroom and cigar humidor. The palate is deeply concentrated, with an expansive texture that builds across the mid-palate, showing off charred plum, cracked black pepper, and espresso-soaked earth. There’s a savory core beneath the fruit that reveals hints of iron and dark mineral dust, adding a grounded complexity. Full-bodied and boldly structured, its tannins are firm yet graceful, weaving seamlessly with the wine’s taut acidity to deliver both tension and poise. Every sip expands with breadth, yet the wine remains tightly composed, never veering into excess. The finish is long and powerful, echoing with bittersweet cocoa, cedar spice, and black fruit compote. Highly recommended and editor’s choice.

Instantly impressive, the 2020 Feather Cabernet Sauvignon opens to silky, fresh and fleshy dark red and black fruit tones with picturesque rich and ripe notions that sashay out of the glass with elegance, power and precision. Medium to full-bodied, the Cabernet shows incredible depth and breadth with succulent acidity and fine-grained tannins. This will have no trouble aging past its 20th birthday. World-class and devastatingly beautiful, the wine continues to somersault across the ever-evolving finish, and it will undoubtedly be well received upon its release later this year. Mark your calendar now, and run, don’t walk to add this to your cellar.

Blackcurrants, chalky minerality, and subtle floral notes all emerge from the 2020 Cabernet Sauvignon Feather, which is made by Randy Dunn and sourced from the Weinbau, Dionysus, Bacchus, Sagemoor, and The Benches vineyards. With medium to full-bodied richness as well as fine tannins, it’s a more elegant, streamlined Cabernet than past vintages yet shines for its purity and balance. It’s beautifully done and should have two decades of longevity.

This is simply stunning, a Vega-style display of fruits and flowers, spices and barrel toast. Somehow it is silky, savory, textured and lush all at once. The flavors fun through a long finish like threads in a shawl, and trying to untangle them is an impossible challenge. This wine is inescapably delicious, beautifully focused, and surely destined to be long lived.

What a classic Cabernet Sauvignon. The wine’s aromas begin with black currants and meat on a grill, then end with notes of cigar box, graphite and leather. Flavors like black cherry and mocha latte coat the palate. The Feather combines mouthwatering acidity with husky tannins. Cellar Selection.

The 2020 Feather, 100% Cabernet Sauvignon, is vibrant in the glass, with a gorgeous and perfumed blend of bright cherries, sage and exotic spice. It coasts across the palate, energetic and sleek, with silky textures and polished red berry fruits. Tactile mineral tones mingle with edgy tannins, yet the mouth is left watering for more. This finishes lightly structured, with a pleasant bitter twang.

Notes of ripe blackcurrants, cherry chocolate, mocha, crushed walnuts and stones. Medium to full-bodied with a meaty structure and a dense array of velvety tannins expanding on the palate, carrying the dark fruit through the lingering, chocolatey finish. Very attractive and well made.

100% varietal, fruit for this outrageously delicious wine comes from Weinbau, Dionysus, Bacchus, and Sonnet vineyards. Aged 22 months in French oak (85% new), it's aromatically expressive, with notes of black currant, blackberry, bittersweet chocolate, coffee, and cedar. Full-bodied, luscious, ripe, layered dark fruit flavors follow, mixing fruit and barrel. The tannin integration is exceptional. A warm finish caps it off. It's a hedonistic delight.

All Cabernet Sauvignon, the 2019 Cabernet Sauvignon Feather is a rich, powerful wine loaded with notions of cassis, graphite, scorched earth, and crushed stone. Full-bodied on the palate and concentrated, it has building tannins, a great mid-palate, and the balance and class to benefit from 4-5 years of bottle age and, I suspect, evolve for decades.

Dark and exotic in the glass, the 2019 Feather impresses with a burst of dusty rose and black raspberries lifted by a hint of fresh mint. This is supremely elegant, with silky textures and wild berry fruit underscored by saline-minerals and silty coating tannins. The Feather displays its heroic structure through the finale, tapering off with tremendous length, as notes of sweet tobacco and lavender slowly fade.

Refined and keenly structured, with expressive blackberry, mocha and dusky spices that take on tension toward broad-shouldered tannins. Drink now through 2030.

Teaming up with famed Napa Valley winemaker Randy Dunn, the stunningly beautiful 2019 Feather sees 85% new French oak for almost two years. A dark and dense core combines with extraordinary depth. Fresh lavender, crème de cassis, fresh blackberry, dried black currant, dusty country road, vanilla bean and mountain huckleberry pervade the palate ending with a black fruit and spicy finish on the mid-palate.

Aromas of ripe red and black cherry, white smoke and thyme. Full-bodied with slightly chewy tannins. A rich note of licorice and leather on the palate. Coffee and overturned earth as well. Good complexity and balance.

The classic 2018 Feather comes from the Weinbau and Wallula Vineyards and spent 22 months in 90% new French oak. It has a wonderfully pure nose of crème de cassis, new saddle leather, dried flowers, and tobacco that carries to a medium to full-bodied, seamless Cabernet with a wonderful sense of purity, balance, and elegance, all while bringing plenty of fruit and structure. I actually like it today, yet it has enough tannins to benefit from 2-4 years of bottle age and should be long lived.

100% Cabernet Sauvignon, the 2018 Feather is a special project wine between Gilles Nicault and Randy Dunn of Dunn Vineyards. Aged for 22 months in all French oak barrels (90% new), it shows beautifully toasty oak alongside dark chocolate Turkish coffee, crème de violette and tobacco leaf that all meld in the glass. The palate is dense and concentrated, delivering tons of black fruits that collide with minerals, menthol, scorched earth and salty undertones, and displaying beautiful length.

Coming from the Horse Heaven Hills and Wahluke Slope vineyards, this 100% Cabernet rests 22 months in 90% new French oak barrels. An outstanding Cabernet made by Randy Dunn, who has been making some of the best wines in Napa Valley for decades. Deep purple with a neon rim in the glass, I could pick this out as an outstanding Washington Cabernet in a blind tasting in my sleep. It has those gorgeous notes of blackberry, black plum, cassis, dusty country road, tar, pencil shavings and old leather that are absolutely intoxicating. Acidity is medium plus and the crunchy tannins are perfectly balanced with the stunning fruit and herbaceousness of the finish. This wine will be even more delicious with another several years of bottle age. Cellar this and enjoy it for the next 15 years or longer.

Crafted by Randy Dunn, this wine offers intriguing aromas of coffee, cherry, dark chocolate and dried herbs. There's a reserved intensity to the palate, with sneaky complexity belying all the structure behind it. A warm, lingering finish caps it off. Best after 2025, with a long life beyond that. Cellar Selection, Best of the Year 2021

I always love this wine, and the 2017 Feather is no exception. Made from 100% Cabernet Sauvignon and brought up in 88% new French oak, it has loads of black fruits, dark chocolate, graphite, and charcoal aromatics as well as a full-bodied, concentrated, backward style on the palate. It's terrific, but don't open bottles for at least another 3-4 years.

The 2017 Cabernet Sauvignon Feather has classic Cabernet aromas of blackberry, dark cherry, currant and cassis, plus notes of graphite, pencil shavings and seductive oak tones. Full-bodied, the wine is both juicy and rigid and will need time to settle. The palate is focused and precise, showing an aesthetic frame of fruits before moving toward a compact mid-palate with spices and gripping tannins, ending with a long and thoughtful finish. I recommend cellaring this for a few years. The wine will age for a couple of decades, so be patient. Randy Dunn, ladies and gentlemen! Wow!

Created by acclaimed Napa Valley master winemaker, Randy Dunn, this mind-blowing 100% Cabernet Sauvignon is aged in 90% new French oak barrels for a total of 22 months. This is his only wine project outside of Napa Valley and the Long Shadows team is lucky to have him on their side. Deep and brooding in the glass, aromas of black currants, wild blackberry, daffodil, toasted unpopped popcorn kernels and espresso powder create a nose that you can enjoy for hours as it unfolds with interesting and new characteristics. High tannins, high acidity and a full mouthfeel scream Cabernet and the palate of baked black plum, fresh marjoram, sweet toasted baking spices, cigar ash and a touch of Meyer lemon zest create another incredible Washington Cabernet that you must experience. Highly recommended.

Musky scents of cassis, black raspberry, dark chocolate, menthol and sexy oak, plus hints of graphite and soil. Plush, fine-grained and sweet on entry, then energized in the mid-palate by a floral quality.

Made by California's Randy Dunn, the 2016 Feather is, as always, 100% Cabernet Sauvignon and spent 22 months in 90% new. It has a classic, firm, focused style in its crème de cassis, spicy oak, and graphite bouquet. This carries to a concentrated, powerful Cabernet that has beautiful mid-palate depth, ample tannins, but more than enough fruit. It will keep for 20 years or more.

Made by Randy Dunn, the 2016 Cabernet Sauvignon Feather is focused with a fresh and dusty core of black fruit. It has good mineral tension on the blackberry-scented nose and soft expressions of chocolate-dipped hazelnuts on the palate. The complexity on the full-bodied palate is broad and deep, with a focused structure and finessed ripe fruit that reveals silky tannins. The Feather ends with a long finish that is thoughtfully crafted.

The 2015 Feather is 100% Cabernet Sauvignon that was brought up in 90% new French oak barrels. Its inky purple color is followed by a seamless, pure, impeccable balanced Cabernet that has loads of currants, scorched earth, graphite, and espresso aromas and flavors. Deep, rich, gorgeously pure and polished, with building tannin, it's a heavenly Cabernet Sauvignon that has everything you could want. It's the finest vintage to date of this cuvée and it's capable of lasting for 20-25 years.

The 2015 Feather is lovely, unfurling in the glass with aromas of cassis, blackberries, petroleum jelly and burning embers. On the palate, it's full-bodied, ripe and powerful, with an expansive attack and an ample core of dark berry fruit, underpinned by a fine-grained, stony chassis of ripe tannins. This wine is made by Howell Mountain veteran Randy Dunn, and its profile will be familiar to followers of the wines he produces there.

The 2014 Feather is going to reward those with patience. Clean and pure, with a straight, focused style, it has classic crème de cassis, crushed violets and graphite aromatics, medium to full-bodied richness and fine polished tannin. It needs 2-3 years of bottle age and will shine over the following decade or more.

Inviting, fully ripe aromas of red and black currant, menthol, licorice and minerals. A juicy shapely wine with dark berry and graphite flavors complicated by a captivating herbal quality. I love the combination of sweetness and floral lift. Finishes with firm but suave tannins, a strong mineral impression lifting the wine's intense fruit. In a rather Napa Valley style.

The 2013 Feather sports an inky purple color to go with firm, masculine notes of dark chocolate, smoked earth, roasted coffee, graphite and ripe black currants. Beautifully concentrated, with solid mid-palate depth and masses of ripe tannin.

Classic medicinal Dunn nose of black cherry, graphite, dried herbs and tobacco leaf, lifted by a note of rose petal. Juicy and tightly wound, offering surprising clarity. Not at all a creamy style; in fact, even austere on the back end, which shows serious but ripe building tannins and excellent length.

Up there with the 2012 Pedestal release in terms of quality, the 2012 Feather Cabernet Sauvignon is made by Randy Dunn of Dunn Vineyards in Napa Valley. It's always a100% Cabernet, and in 2012 offers sensational notes of sweet black cherry and cassis fruit, tobacco leaf, grahite and lead pencil shavings. Deep concentration, rich and tannic, it needs 4-5 years of cellaring, but will evolve nicely through 2032.

Pure, varietally accurate aromas and flavors of cassis, bitter chocolate, violet and dried herbs. Wonderfully smooth, pliant and suave but with terrific penetration too; really fills the mouth with perfume. Spreads out horizontally to saturate the palate, with the huge, building tannins in perfect harmony with the wine's fruit. Splendid tannin management here.

The 2011 Feather, 100% Cabernet Sauvignon, is up there with the top Bordeaux varieties of the vintage. Loaded with notions of dark fruits, chocolate, mineral, coffee bean and scorched earth, this beauty hits the palate with full-bodied richness, beautiful purity of fruit and a voluptuous texture that only partially conceals edgy, yet ripe, tannin. It has the fruit to be enjoyable now, but will be better in another year or three, and evolve nicely for 12 to 15 years or more.

Saturated bright ruby-red. Vibrant aromas of blackberry, licorice, mocha and dark chocolate lifted by a violet topnote. Lovely balance and texture, and very suave on the long finish, which features big salty tannins.

A 100% Cabernet Sauvignon that spends 22 months in 100% French oak, it is loaded with sweet black raspberry jam, creme de cassis, charred toast and crushed flower-like nuances that flow to a full-bodied, voluptuously textured Cabernet that builds in tannin and depth with air. Gorgeously pure and seamless, it needs 3-4 years in the cellar and will evolve gracefully for 12-15 years.

Cellar Selection. Sharp-edged with a brilliant mix of berry, cherry and black fruits, sparked by juicy acids. There's spice and chocolate highlights as well, with a purity and focus that suggests cellaring to add more complexity over the course of a decade or longer.

Pure Cabernet Sauvignon offers scents and palate-staining impressions of dark berries, spice cake and tobacco. Finishing with length and sufficient complexity to intrigue.

Deep, dark ruby-red. Musky black cherry, bitter chocolate, cocoa powder and rose petal on the nose. Rather suave flavors of sweet berries and dark chocolate. Finishes with serious but ripe tannins that coat the teeth.

Randy Dunn's Feather has an intriguing floral component, and the aromas are complex and intense, though the wine is wound up tight. Let it breathe and it delivers elegant, focused flavors, precisely defined berry and cassis fruit, with a long and harmonious finish.

Good saturated dark red. Cassis, blackberry, blueberry and licorice on the youthfully medicinal nose. Dense, suave and sweet, with lovely inner-mouth black fruit perfume and a cool note of licorice. Flavorful but very subltle wine, finishing with broad but serious tannins and lovely aromatic persistence.

The 2007 Feather Cabernet Sauvignon (100%) is a multi-regional blend of Cabernet with the Dionysus and Weinbau Vineyards and the principal sources. It was aged for 22 months in 90% new French oak. Deep purple-colored, it exhibits a classy bouquet of pain grille, pencil lead, earth notes, violets, and black currant. Supple and layered on the palate, it displays enough underlying structure to evolve for 5-6 years. With outstanding volume and grip, it will offer a drinking window extending from 2015 to 2027.

With vibrant black cherry/black currant fruit, this balanced effort shows a velvety character and a fine touch in the vineyard. Nuances of coffee, earth, leaf and dried herb are threaded through, in perfect harmony and balanced for the medium-term aging.

Good dark red. Aromas of cassis, licorice and pepper, lifted by a floral topnote. Fat, ripe and silky, especially for a wine made under the direction of Randy Dunn, but showing little in the way of easy sweetness. Strong currant and black cherry fruit are given grip by substantial tannins, which arrive late. Ultimately powerful and backward but not hard. This includes a lot of Weinbau vineyard fruit, which supplies structure.

Firm, chewy and distinctive for its smoky and dried tomato accents around a core of blackberry, black cherry and bay leaf flavors, lingering expressively on the deftly balanced finish.

The wine was sourced from several prime vineyards and aged for 22 months in new French oak. The nose gives up aromas of toasty oak, scorched earth, Asian spices, black currant, and blackberry. Firm and structured yet elegant on the palate, there are layers of fruit and enough tannin to evolve for another 4-6 years.

Good deep ruby-red. Sexy if subdued aromas of cherry, currant, smoked meat and vanillin oak. Broad, full and quite dry, with a weightless quality to the blueberry and spicy oak flavors. Sound acids give this wine excellent cut and perfumed back-end lift.

The nose gives up aromas of toasty oak, scorched earth, Asian spices, black currant, and blackberry. Firm and structured on the palate, there are layers of fruit and enough tannin to evolve for another 4-6 years.

The fruit is concentrated and pure: raspberry, cherry and cassis with a chaser of lemony acid.

This opaque purple wine delivers classic Cabernet aromas of toast, lead pencil, black currant and blackberry.

Dense in texture, but not heavy, with bright red cherry, pomegranate and plum flavors piercing a distinct layer of fine-grained tannins. Has freshness and grace.

Feather's bold aromatics reveal loads of roasted black fruits and spices. A massive effort, it is thick, dense, and powerful. Layers of licorice and tar-laced black fruits are found in its velvety-textured core as well as in its long finish. Though unquestionably a Randy Dunn wine, one that’s loaded for bear (not quail), its finish reveals ripe, round tannin that is sweeter and more civilized than any I’ve encountered in Dunn’s California behemoths (and I own many!).

Supple and velvety style stacks pepper and coffee notes on top of a vivid core of blackberry, raspberry and currant fruit that just doesn't quit. Attractive now, but should develop additional depth with time in the bottle.