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Christina Kelly,
Avalon Wine Senior Editor

Christina Kelly spent the first half of her career as a journalist for daily newspapers and magazines. She left daily journalism to work in corporate marketing/communications, but as a passionate wine enthusiast, she continues to write about the Northwest wine industry (since 1997) for many national publications.

Christina is a multiple fellowship winner to the Professional Wine Writers Symposium in Napa, including 2012. Christina has written for Avalonwine.com for the past 12 years. She can be reached at winewriter@comcast.net.

Jean Yates
Avalon Wine Owner

Jean first worked with the Oregon wine industry in 1989, when she helped develop marketing brochures for wineries in the South Willamette. She then started Avalon, and has supported the industry through her wine shop and web site ever since. Jean enjoys promoting Oregon and Washington wines and bringing Northwest wines to the notice of the wine-loving public across the country. She previously worked in high tech marketing and research in Silicon Valley.

Jean built and continually updates the Avalon web site, writes our Wine Club Newsletter, numerous e-mail articles on NW wine, and articles for the web site. Her twenty five years of experience working with NW wineries and winemakers gives Avalon a deep knowledge of the industry. She's judged NW wine at various competitions since 1997. Jean's favorite activity is photography, and many of the images on the Avalon web site are hers. She's from NC via Palo Alto, and lives in the South Willamette wine country.

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July 21, 2010, at 4:10 pm

Washington Wine – Nine Famous Winemakers Mix it Up

By Jean Yates Avalon Wine, on July 21st, 2010

nine-hats-red-hat-200pLongShadows Wineries is a group of nine famous winemakers from around the world making seven highly rated wines from Washington State fruit.

The “Nine Hats” winemakers include California winemakers Randy Dunn (Feather) and Agustin Huneeus (Pirouette), Bordeaux chateau owner Michel Rolland (Pedestal), the proprietor of Chateau Le Bon-Pasteur in Pomerol, Australian John Duval (Sequel), Ambrogio and Giovanni Folonari (Saggi), and German Riesling producer Armin Diel (Poet’s Leap). In addition, resident winemaker Giles Nicault makes a seventh wine under the Chester Kidder label.

“Nine Hats” Red Wine is a blend of the extra barrels of LongShadows’ 2007 vintage red wines – Sequel, Pirouette, Feather, Saggi, Chester Kidder, and Pedestal.  It’s the same juice as goes into the signature wines of each “Hat” – the excess that was left over.

nine-hats-200pLongShadows didn’t make much of this wine. With 94+ scores for most of their wines from Wine Spectator and such, they don’t have to. I’m assuming they needed to get rid of the extra juice. Whatever the reason, this is pretty dang good for the price.

It’s big and juicy, with lots of dark cherry and plum flavors, cedar, toast, saddle leather, cigar smoke, espresso. Classic Washington red. Although says it’s 60% Cab on the label, it drinks more like a big Walla Walla Syrah. Great wine for the $$$.

From Longshadows Group: “Nine winemakers. Nine hats. The nine renowned winemakers of Long Shadow’s signature wines discover after each harvest that a percentage of their resulting barrels are more than they require to achieve that perfect balance in their final blends. These extra barrels now produce NINE HATS…wines of complexity and supple texture.”

July 21st, 2010 | Category: Oregon Wine | Comments are closed

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