After twenty years at the helm of the Stimson Lane wine group (Chateau Ste.
Michelle, Columbia Crest and other wineries), Allen Shoup retired to pursue a
personal dream. For years he had envisioned a joint venture with highly
acclaimed winemakers from different regions of the world. His goal was to bring
their expertise to Washington to create some of the most luxurious wines ever
crafted from the region’s fabled viniferous grapes. Wines that stand shoulder
to shoulder with the world’s best.
 “Build it and they will come.”
Actively encouraged by his associates, including long time friend and mentor,
Robert G. Mondavi, Allen did just that. He invited several of the world’s most
venturesome and exciting vintners to the sunny slopes where the Snake River and
the Yakima River flow into the mighty Columbia. With their enthusiastic support
and advice, Allen drew up plans to establish individual wineries that would
reflect the status and acclaim of each vintner. He named the venture “Long
Shadow Vintners,” in tribute to this select group of individuals, who shape the
industry with their benchmark wines and wineries.
His vision is now unfolding. Long Shadows winemaker-partners are designing
world-class wines comparable in stature to those they crafted in their native
wine regions. They are touring the land, running the soil through their
fingers, surveying with practiced eye the leafy trellises that spill down the
hillsides of the Columbia Valley appellation. Like artists selecting paints for
their palette and tints for their canvas, they pick out the vineyards, and from
those the clusters that will in time work magic under their hands.
Some are working with the celebrated reds - Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet
Franc and Syrah; others with the treasured whites of the region - Chardonnay,
Riesling and Sauvignon Blanc and Semillon. They construct wines in their own
style, and with their own complexity, while striving to improve upon their
singular benchmarks. Beginning with the 2003 crush, they are crafting signature
wines that carry great promise for years to come.
A Coterie of Wineries
Long Shadows Vintners encompasses a coterie of wineries located in the heart of
the Columbia Valley appellation. The arrangement is unique in that each winery
is individually owned and managed as a separate partnership. Long Shadows
Vintners, LLC, forms the nucleus of the group. The synergy and knowledge
flowing from this pool of combined talent is an organizational feature that
benefits all vintner partners.
A board of directors assumes responsibilities for strategic direction. Along
with Allen as Chairman and CEO, board members include such corporate and
professional luminaries as Don Petersen, Admiral Joseph Prueher, Anthony von
Mandl, and Arnie Prentice. Everyday operations are managed by Allen in concert
with CFO and General Manager Mike Williamson.
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