Washington wine visionary Allen Shoup founded Long Shadows winery in 2002 as his second act.

“Before that, Allen was president and CEO of Chateau Ste. Michelle winery for 20 years,” said his stepson, Dane Narbaitz, who is now president and CEO of Long Shadows.

Shoup ran Ste. Michelle during a period of tremendous growth in the industry, and was a pioneer of Washington wines.

While at Ste. Michelle, he established winemaking partnerships with Italy’s Piero Antinori to create Col Solare, a Super Tuscan-styled blend of red varietals from the Columbia Valley, and worked with Germany’s Ernst Loosen to develop Eroica, an off-dry Riesling.

Inspired by the idea of international partnerships, Shoup envisioned Long Shadows as an alliance highlighting the quality and diversity of Washington vineyards.

Building on the international partnerships he established at Ste. Michelle and taking inspiration for Long Shadows from his friend and mentor Robert Mondavi (whose Opus One collaboration with Baron Philippe de Rothschild furthered the prestige of Napa Valley), Shoup recruited a dream team of international winemakers to make a single Washington wine.

At the same time, he named Gilles Nicault director of Long Shadows winemaking and viticulture to collaborate with Long Shadows’ diverse group of winemakers and execute their shared vision.

Nicault grew up in southern France, where he studied viticulture and enology, and made wine in Côte du Rhône, Provence and Champagne.

He came to Washington state in 1994 to expand his winemaking skills, working for several top Washington wineries.

By the time Long Shadows was established, Nicault knew Washington vineyards very well. He took the position at Long Shadows to merge his winemaking skills with a remarkable group of vintners.

“The name Long Shadows honors the winemaker partners and the 7 core wines that comprise our original portfolio. Each was made by an acclaimed winemaker who owned the brand that carried his name,” said Narbaitz.

“Gilles has been our onsite winemaker in Walla Walla from the beginning, working alongside Allen to refine the vision for the project and collaborating with a team of all-star vintners to craft wine from their signature grape,” he said. “He represented our winemaker partners in the vineyards, working closely with growers and managing all winemaking to create and blend wines in the style each winemaker envisioned.”

The partner winemakers traveled to Washington state frequently in the early years, collaborating with Nicault on vineyard preferences, picking and fermentation protocol, barrel selections, and final blending. When construction started on Long Shadows’ Walla Walla winery in 2005, Nicault helped design and outfit the new facility to each vintner’s specifications.

Wines were produced in that partnership for about 15 years.

“Then, travel schedules and other demands on our partners’ time lessened their involvement in Long Shadows. Though the original partners are no longer involved, we continue to honor the same grape sourcing and style of winemaking each vintner created, with Gilles at the helm, as he has been since the first vintage,” said Narbaitz.

“We still have those seven core wines — unique, stand-alone, independent wines that make up the Long Shadows portfolio along with two white wines and a Rosé,” he said.

Long Shadows is a family business. In 2005 Narbaitz became director of sales and marketing, and was named president in January 2008. His wife, Sara, became director of communications in 2010.

Shortly after graduation from college, Shoup’s son, Ryan, was brought on as the Woodinville, Wash., tasting room manager. He is now director of retail sales and oversees the tasting room in Woodinville, as well as the Nine Hats Wines tasting room and adjoining restaurant, Nine Pies Pizzeria in Seattle’s SODO neighborhood.

Narbaitz became CEO in 2022, the year Shoup passed away.