Give yourself an opportunity to go there before b arrels f ill the space they have set aside for the stage and the dance floor I would advise finding a show you would be interested seeing there tnd go It is a great place for loud, liv e ly music Not only is the space huge, it is fille d w ith multimedia a rt designed by people with some funky outlooks on the world Behind the stage is a huge mural that is purely “W here The W ild Things A re ’ -m eets-Tim othy Leary Moccasin I could easily tell you to go look in the 'M u sic* or This m ural was done by Spider Imagine if Maurice Sendak had taken a lot more acid than he was already on and you get the picture 'A lte rn ativ e Music" section of that daiIy newspaper competitor In the courtysrd of this fine publication to find out what u going on at the outside tables are set amongst post-industrial sculptures Not your ordinary w inery stuff, but a cool change of pace from M a d r o n a H i l l W i a a r g in North Portland tasting rooms filled w ith her bed mayonnaise and bottle wicks But, I think you would be better served by finding out firs t that Madrona H ill produces, as they have for years, some very nice wine Madrona H ill W in e ry (fo r m e r ly both Madrone View W in e ry and Madrona View C e lla rs ) moved »0 its current locale last November We are blessed to live in an area that provides the climate nacatsary to produca fine wine Wa are equally blasaad that there are people in the world like M ikey Jones. M yron Pedford, Richard Mansfield and more that make wine because it is something that calls to th e ir souls rather than their wallets It is set in the semi -In d u s tria l area of North Portland best known previously for The W hite Eagle and the These people all want to make money at whet they do, and they W idm ere Brewing Co U ntil the recent change of x e n e ry and scene they had been housed et Amity Vineyards (In a shocking ric h ly deserve to do so Tha fact that they do it without sailing display of synergy I wrote about Am ity last month while special Kind of like the guy who started this paper Salute businesses like Madrona H ill W in e ry by going to tha tasting planning on review ing Madrona this month, not knowing the lin k these two w in eries share The owners, Mikey Jones of room, buying a case and raising a glass to thetr longevity Madrona and M yron Pedford of A m ity, even look alike although M ikey d efin itely fights in a different weight class ) As soon as they moved they decided to do someth,rig w ith the vast space a w in e ry demands out who they are, Ih e ir in te g rity or th e ir beliefs is something You can do it right there on the beach too, because both local wine shops (in Cannon Beach) c a rry a lim ited selection of Madrone's wines Their fir s t batch of wine at this location w ill be made in a month or so For the past 9 months Race « B e a d e d W ia a r g T e a r f a r S ep tem b er Expand they have te m p o ra rily run one of the wildest all ages, your concept of the w ire country altern ative local music venues in the c ity w ineries and find out that w ith in the confines of our fair city Instead of aging Take in three Portland Pi not n o ir, Cabernet and Chardonnay, the w in e ry has been rocked by bands the likes of Sissy face, Ancient Youth, the Piss there are real w ineries Drunks, 5 Fingers of Funk, tha Crackpots, Praw n, Kid King Blvd, head west on Russell, tu rn left on Mississippi and Unconx,ous and many more But as I say there is far more to this w in e ry than an active nightlife of Portland s "Generation X ' ( I love using that term and they are open every day from 11 - 5 Includinq an after hours event they do each Friday from 5 - 7 where they braak out Madrona H ill is purportedly tha hardest to find, but all you need to do is go down M artin Luther you're there Adams W in ery is located at 1 9 2 0 NW Pettygrove because it Is so incredibly n o n -d e x rip t and irre le v a n t) If you go to the w in ery's tasting room at 41 2 4 N Mississippi (open and newest w in ery is S ta rr A Brown lx a te d at 1 0 6 1 0 NW St Fridays 1 2 - 7 , Saturdays and Sundays from ! 2 - 6 a n d Halen's Road and open from 11 - 6 on Saturdays and Sundays occasionally on Mondays after 3 ) you w ill quickly find out that Give these places a w h irl and pick up some good wines without Mi key Jones is a winemaker firs t and an altern ative music prom oter, w e ll, way down there on the list He has admittedly having to head over the h ills them in The Edge made mistakes since jumping into the nightlife scene and he's went because they read here about a w in ery and didn't mention been burned a few tim es, but he has learned tha advertising the fact some special Chardonneys and some hors d oeuvres The third C a n n o n B each In Coaster Tlicalcr Courtyard Established 1977 Please tell them you read about ft just k ills me when people tell me they You know who you are game, developed an Increasing number of regulars, learned to appreciate Ska bands and be a belated patron of the conxiousl y I caturing Northwest. California A Imported Wines Collector Wmes From I B7$ Through Current Vintages 1 eaturing Ovei 1000 Wines Wme K a ils , ('.lasses A Wme Related Items weird arts This place Is a w in e ry Portland should be proud to be the Wing Tasting home of Oh, it's not fancy or trendy and its willingness to take cfiances w ith their w in e ry and their wines probably set a few Lvery Saturday Afternoon 1 5 PM Different Wmes from Around The World Each Week people's noses askew ( Radical Chic is gone Come beck to the fiva and dime, Thomas W olfe, Thomas W o lfe) But if you sit down and allow yourself to take a tour through its wines you w ill realize that Madrona H ill ,3 a place deserving of notice Open 1 1 AM 5 PM 436-1100 M ikey makes at least 10 different wine varietals so you have a lot of choices Closed Tuts Thts fact also lim its my a b ility to tell you FO I J4 N Hemlock H ob MJ. Canno« Bra< h OR I 10 about all of th e ir wines because the good editor has asked me to cut down in length, especially this month since I turned t h is , n te r r ib ly late I am tryin g to oblige If there is a wine you lik e , ba It Chardonnay, Riesling, Pinot n o ir, etc M ikey probably has It stashed away somewhere I 9 9 2 Cabernet Sauvignon is a great place to s ta rt, or finish for that matter Like any Cabernet this young it needs some tim e In the bottle Oh s u re, It's totally drinkable now It s f a ir ly rich already, hints at depth and is smooth w ith a good blend of tennis on the fin is h , but time w ill do wonders for it Buy a few bottles and d rin k a couple each year and watch it blow your mind around the tu rn of the century Madrona H il, makes two v ery interesting sparkling wines An Oregon Spumante and a Blanc de Noir The Spumante is made from Muscat so it is fa ir ly sweet, but finishes up d ry on the fin ish Don't confuse this nice wine w ith that Andre s, B alU nger'sor Toft's crap that Is hocked on TV starting in a month or so This is a wine that would do w ell any time of year, especially now on a w arm s u m m e r/fa ll evening Blanc de Noir is a ra s b e rry tinted w ine, both in color and taste This is a v a ry c ris p , dry wine that makes for interesting drinking This L a u rels sparkler would stand up alone or do w ell w ith sweet, fr u ity Cannon B e « i Is desserts The other two wines I found to be of note are the 19 9 2 Late Harvest G ew urztram iner and the Port Gewurtz nearly defies explanation W ine Shop The Late Harvest It exhibits both the quality NOW OPEN AT THEIR NEW LOCATION 3bS N . I lm il o t h (SO S) 4 1 6 1 6 1>6 of a spicy G ew urztram iner and a pow erfully sweet and heavy dessert wine I would suspect a dessert w ith a heavy cinnamon flavor would go v a ry m ealy w ith this wine It is an acquired taste P o rt, no argum ent, M ikey says he makes about 1 00 cases a year and they sell out In about 2 weeks was none left for me to t r y Unfortunately there This is obviously not slopping me from giving a recommendation I lik e P o rt, don't quite know why because I don't know much about it , I just do Mi key was the firs t and one of the small handful of Oregon w in eries that crafts thts beverage Soon he'll be coming out w ith another batch so keep attentive to the locel wine newspapers and find >