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It I* getting to the time of year when red vines
«90m become* necessity of life In the summer you
cen get by v ith just the occasional bottle or two on a
vary sporadic besis The days are hot so it's flna to
sip your Chardonnay or drink your beer But when
the rain starts to come and the veolher gets a little
cooler, spicy, rich rad vines are one of the few
things that w ill get you through the day and night
That being said. It's time to stock up And there is
no better place to stock up on sinfully luscious reds
than at S c re o d ip ttg C o lla r s W is e r g southwest
of Monmouth
This vin e ry vas started In 1981 by proprietors
Glen and Cheryl Longshore They chose this name
after deciding against going w ith a subtle Joke end
calling It Monmouth Cellars (Monmouth, you see 1s
the only dry town in the state ) They envisioned
their winery being a leader tnOregon's young vine
Industry It is e viev they still hold firm ly today
So they chose Serendipity which m eans 'a pi oom nt
surprise." This v in e ry Is full of big surprises
The firs t surprise is that in an area where you
supposedly cannot grow good Bordeaux, Bordeaux-
style or Burgundy grapes, Serendipity has succeeded
magnificently
I make no secret about my love of good Pi not noir
It is a sultry red when done right and is as good on
its own as ,t i t with a vide variety of foods
However, the firs t red vine I ever came to love vas
a Columbia Crest Merlot Ever sine« that day, about
4 years ago, I have had e very soft spot for
Bordeaux-style vines Becoming a devoted Oregon
vine drinker seemed to lim it my opportunités to
savor Cabs, Merlots and other reds However, red
vines besides Pinol noir are produced, end In fine
style and surprising quantity, in Oregon They just
don't receive as much attention as the vaunted and
omnipresent Pinot noir It is understandable that
Oregon's vine industry leads with whet has made
them noteworthy, but here s a vote for a bit more
hyp* for the likes of Serendipity, Valley View, Eons
and Wetslnger's, to name a fev, that make
Cabernets, Zinfandels, Merlots, blends and more
that can compete with the Californiens
Actually, I had made an attempt at sampling
Serendipity a fev months prior to my recent visit
My neighbor, Wendy, had extolled the virtues of
Serendipity reds on many occasions which definitely
piqued my interest However when myself, Kathy
and recently returned friend and master baker Jéff
tried to go to the Stadium Fred Meyer's (yes, yes,
p re -s trik e ) on a day whan Serendipity was pouring
thel r wi nes at the store ve encountered the horror
of
Promise Keepers There were thousands and
thousands of mostly middle aged men all over
Burnside The aisles of Freddy's were filled with
men bent on seving their merriages by committing
themselves to Jesus end the utter dominetion of
their wives Heedless to say, ve fled the scene Sol
had to watt
And good things did come to me The firs t of the
reds Is their Bordeaux v in e . Cabernet Sauvignon
Their 19 9 2 Cebernet Is a rare find because it is
excellent right now Cabernets are often very
frustrating because they take so long In the bottle to
reach their prime Many times you can tall the Cab
w ill be good or exceptional given a fev years but
Just isn't quite ready for drinking yet In five or
eix years their '9 2 w ill have bloomed into a fu ll,
deep vine with all sorts of wild complexities to tt,
but even right now it is dry, smooth, and silky with
a long lingering flavor in the mouth Their 1990
Cabernet Just sold out at the v in e ry but Is
occasionally available at some stores in the area I
recently found it at a store that obvicusly has it
mislabled at $6 29 so I 've been quietly stocking up
This Cab von the 19 9 2 "Bast of Show" at the
Sunriver Wine Judging, beating out alt vines In the
competition, including numerous Oregon Pl not
noi rs Glen says ha has a unique process for
treating the Cabernet grapes after harvest that
allows them to develop into excellent wines quickly
while still allowing the vine to bloom in the bottle
Serendipity's Cabs ere certainly not like a
California monster Cab which can come on strong
from the firs t sip They are. Instead, more elegant
in the way that the taste builds as you continue to
drink, like very good Indian or Thai food If you
enjoy Caber nets but are sometimes put off by the
vary dry, tannic fin,ah, giva Serendipity * Cabernet
a chance
The most surprising vine they have is their
Zinfandel This vine has suffered through some
hard times at the hands of numerous California vine
giants White Zinfandel may be one of the most
horrid marketing blights ever brought to bear upon
American palates Serendipity s Zin has nothing to
do with that ganr* of pink vine Oh aura, they
dabbled with the blush stuff in the early 00s but by
1988 they had moved on Their firs t time out of the
get* with a red Z,n netted them a ft ret place showing
at a national Judging at which every other Z1 nfarOel
was from Cal, for ma The '9 2 Zinfandel that they
ere pouring now (which ts only available at the
vin ery due to production of only 12 0 cases) Is the
3rd vi ntaga that has placad at the top of its class
against California Zinfandels in at least one judging
Thu is 0 rare vine that has the gumption to stand up
to Mexican food
Then there is their flagship v in e , Maréchal Foch
Half of Ihe 2 ,5 0 0 case production of Serendipity is
dedicated to this one vine Hever heard of it? Hever
r«d tt? Hot too surprising Despite the fact that
thia grape demande growing conditions and altitude*
well w ithin the parameter* of what the Willamette
Valley offers, produces twice the tonnage per acre as
does Pi not noir, ripens 1 - 3 weeks earlier then
Pi not noir and is naturally mildew resistant, only 3
other vineries in Oregon produce this wine It s
easy to be in itia lly skeptical, as I was, of a wine that
you know little about and dont have experience
with When you dont drink a certain variety of
win* sometimes it i t hard to tall if vhat you are
drinking is good because you have no reference
point Their 1992 vintage offered me my firs t leste
of Maréchal Foch end I was instantly blown away
First of all the color of this vine goes beyond red
into maroons, purples and colours normally seen
under black lighting The taste was amazing At
firs t tt seems like a light red despite Its coloring,
but then the taste starts to spread end grow allowing
the amazing berry flavors, spiciness and depth to
trip through your senses Amazingly this wine
finishes like ailk with just enough tennis to ba
pleasing but not nearly enough to moke the vine
overly dry Glen and Cheryl are obviously used to
people's reaction to this vine They knov vhat the
vine is end they knov that most people haven't had
it before to the look of s u r p r is e and delight I, and
undoubtedly countless others, displayed after tasting
it, is surely something that makes it vo rth being in
the v i n e business
Although Maréchal f x h has the best
characteristics of a high quality Bordeaux vine it is
actually a product of the Southern Rhone area of
France This vine has impressed people from all
o v a rth e v o rld I I straight vintages have von at
least one international avard and the total avard
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In Coaster Theater C ourtyard
Established 1977
I rjtu n n g Northw est, C a lifo rn ia
A Im ported Wines
Collector W in n From 1875
Through Current Vintages
Featuring Over IX X ) Wines
Wme Racks, Cilasses A
W m e Related hems
W in e * T a s t i n g
Every Saturday Afternoon
1 5 PM
D ifferen t Wines
From Around The W orld
Cacti Week
O pen 1 1 A M 5 PM
Closed Toes
436-UOO
IJ4 M Ihmleck
r ( ) Boa * U . Camtoet IMa» h Oft R7l 10
count for these vintages is fast approaching 50
Each weekend in Hovember Serendipity opens up the
lib ra ry and does vertical tastings (comparisons of
different years of the seme wi ne from the same
w in ery) of Maréchal Foch If you can't make ,t out
to the winery this month clear some space on your
calendar for Hovember This wine w ill be a great
holiday wine as it w ill complement all sorts of meat
(including turkey) and chocolate Amazinglythe
1992 vintage go** for only $ I 2 5 0 , although that
price makes it the most expensive Maréchal Foch In
the world
I needed a lot of space to rave about Serendi pity s
reds which has left me only a smidgen of space to
mention their white w in e s The two whites Glen and
Cheryl produce ere Chenin Blanc and a M u lle r-
Thurgau They are currently pouring their 1993
vintages The Chenin Blanc is crisp and quite dry
but has a touch of sweetness to tt Usually I avoid
M uller-Thurgeu because it often has that
"in-between sweetness,"certainly not dry but not
In the class of a rich dessert wine either
Serendipity's M uller though is actually quite dry,
but like the Chenin Blanc it diapleys the naturel
sweetness of the grape without having that taste
dominate the wine Dnnk this wine young vh ile the
fru it ts still fresh Both of these wines exhibit a bit
of effervescence, sparkle if you w ill Serendipity s
bottling prxess allows for this quality which ts
quite nice It gives the wine a tittle bit of dance
So remember that soon the cold and gray w ill
shortly be upon ua, that holiday* w ill be abounding
and your soul w ill be crying out for good red vine on
e dally basis Clear out the trunk of your car and
heed on dovn to Serendipity Cellars If you are
stuck tnCennon Beach, Laurel s and the Wine Shack
both carry a limited selection of Serendipity vines
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Take Tunc to I ravel in
Oregon's Scenic Wme Country1
K i p f n f u c f the beauty, peace anti
fantastic nine a f Uregnn'i un ne regiant
For In fo rm a tio n on and r e s e r v a t io n s
Receaaeaded W toerg Tear far Octabar: The
The best bed A breakfasts. hotel* and restaur,
vin e makers ere busy this month because the crop
has been harvested end the process of turning grape
to vine is at i b most labor intensive point That
hardi y mean* thara a r* a lack of thi ngs to do out at
the vineries Why not take a veekend trip o u t to
A a t a a a W io d V io e y e rd s in pastoral northern
Mewburg? The reason? W ell, I just got a job
working in the tasting room of this obviously fine
v in e ry Autumn Wind prodxe* excellent Pi not noir
as well as the most interesting winery to u r
and Pinot gris vhich. Incidentally, are both
excellent fall vines So, not only is the name right
for the time of year end the vine superb, you v i l l
get a chance to chat v lth a left v l ng v t ne lover
H in z
IraveiConnection
F am otu u n e t
1991
1 -8 0 0 9 4 6 -3 8 8 5
G aelhe e o d th e r e v o a ld he l i t t l e l e f t
a f h i a i f he w e re to discord v h a t he
erred to o tk o re
C h a r lo t t e C a s h a a a
8
UPPER. LEFT ED4E OCTOBER I W