The red wines produced by Long Shadows, an innovative program started by Allen Shoup, brings together some of the heaviest-hitting names in winemaking from all over the world to produce wines made with Washington grapes. As Gilles Nicault, Director of Winemaking and Viticulture (who was our guest for a recent tasting of Long Shadow's releases) explained, visiting winemakers "come to Washington and bring their savoir-faire." While the reds seem to get the lion's share of the attention, I was truly impressed with the quality of the Rieslings. The Long Shadow's "Poet's Leap" is a collaboration with Armand Diel of Germany's Schlossgut Diel. Its refreshing qualities and nice, zippy acidity on the finish were so pleasing. The 2009 is the best version of this Riesling I've tasted. A definite porch-pounder for those hot summer months. Grab some sushi or some spicy Asian fare. (Then call me; I'll be right over.) The real stunner, however, was the 2008 Botrytis Riesling, a dessert wine. Botrytis is often called "Noble Rot" as grapes affected by it make arguably the world's most famous dessert wine, Sauternes. All other kinds of rot, however, just make a wine that is...rotten. Botrytis helps concentrate the juice and flavor of the grapes so that by the time you harvest it, you get a juice more akin to nectar. As Gilles commented, the sugar levels are so high for this wine that when it gets into the tank it "ferments like maple syrup." In some logic-defying manner, while there is an insane amount of sugar crammed into every slender bottle, it's not cloyingly sweet. (Like, for example, a Jolly Rancher.) There is enough acidity on the finish (the looooong finish) to provide a bit of refreshment. Add this to gorgeous aromatics and you have a dessert wine that is one to sip, savor, and repeat. Just get some blue cheese and some thin slices of apple. (And, seriously, get a hold of me via phone, fax, text, e-mail, Twitter, Facebook, Skype, carrier pigeon, whatevs. I will totes be there.) Here's my real-time reaction to the Botrytis Riesling on Twitter: http://twitter.com/#!/Esquin/status/65964123455881216 Apparently I wasn't the only one impressed; Annie, a Washington wine enthusiast (to put it mildly) who was also attending our Long Shadows seminar, responded: http://twitter.com/#!/BlackPearlSEA/status/65978357514379265 So enjoy those Long Shadows reds, but don't sleep on the Rieslings!