If you were a cool progressive person who had
gone through your thirties pul to your ume
working in the big city and wanted to gel away
from the hustle end bustle of the world what do
you think you might do to keep yourself busy,
interested sad fed’ Aside from being
independently wealthy or opening a bookstore
in a consul resort town how does being a
distributor for City l ights Books of San Francisco
and making really great Piflot noir sound7 To
th is w rile r reader cellar rat and wine drinker
it sounds like a damn fine eiistence In the little
town of Monroe Craig and Carol Broadley live
this appealing and hard working life style
B rsa d le y V in e y a rd s is hardly a household
name in these parts even amongst somewhat
knowledgeable wine folk Broadley is a small
winery that produces about 2 2 500 cases of wine
each year They make Pinol noir They have to
their chagrin made Chardonnay in the past but
the Broadleys feel that it takes up space in their
vineyard that could be belter used by Pinot noir
so they have gotten rid of it In fact Craig
dismisses his 1992 Chardonnay as not very
good (This unusually candid sentiment 1 think
is born out of his dislike for the making of
Chardonnay Their Chardonnay is. in fact quite
decent )
A whole winery committed to Pinol n o ir7
Even a small 3 000 case w inery most often
produces at least a handful of varieties But Craig
believes as do many people that Pinot noir is the
pinnacle of vm ife ra (w inem aking) grapes The
grape offers many possibilities in the winemaker
and thus a range of flavors and characteristics
to the wine drinker When done rig ht Pinot noir
invites you to m u your emotions with the pure
sultry physicality of the wine Oregon Pinot can
seduce you with an elegant softness backed up by
beautiful fru it tastes and a spicey finish This is
what is known as Classic Oregon P in o t"
But Pinot noir is Burgundy That is the grapes
grown in the Burgundy region of France are
Pinot noir grapes Burgundy too comes in manv
styles but it is really best known as a rich,
robust wine full of deep dark fruits and oak
flavors complemented by eitrao rd in arily subtle
tastes the most notable of which are leather,
tobacco and tar While classic Oregon Pinol may
be an elegant temptress a well done Brugundy is
an alluring lover who knows exactly what she
(or he) wants The wine can take you in a way
you never thought possible Some people would
be moved to describe it as decadent (You would
be surprised with a group of hardcore wine
people who have put down a bottle or so each of
some good wine at how often the descriptions of
wine turn to sex And vice versa )
The point of all this is that Broadley Vineyards
Pinol noir is a rare find in Oregon because it is
true Burgundy The 1992 Reserve is a beautiful
wine It is a deep ruby red with the beginning
hints of some amber around the side of the glass
It is a feast for the eyes But laying your hands
on it is not easy They are sold out at the w inery
and. 1 believe Liner & Elsen on 21st in NW
Portland is the only place around that carries
this wine Oregon is |USl not a big Burgundy
state so Broadley s market is prim arily in big
cities like San Francisco and New York
However the limited supply thankfully does not
translate into a huge price At $13 or so for a
bottle of this you should consider a 3 bottle
minimum purchase to ensure having it around
for at least a little while
Craig broke out a bottle for me to try while we
talked (As he went to get it I surreptitiously
checked out his computer which had some book
orders on it - the w inery and book
distributorship share the same building -- and
the orders posted would would make the
supporters of Censorship Measure 19 go through
all sorts of weird bodily contortions ) Along with
this bottle he opened up a bottle of the 1956
Reserve which was Broadley Vineyard s first
vintage In 1957 this t i n t was released to fairly
substantial acclaim for a first wine The
ever so prestigious magazine Tbe Vine Spectator
asked for a sample to review When the much
anticipated review finely came out it simply said
Dark ruby colour plummy fruit, decadent
Score 73" 73«? 73 in V iae Spec law r e x is a way
of saying Don l buy it unless it is really cheap'"
But why decadent to go with a 73’ Isn t decadent
good7 Well decadent means loo much of a good
thing Apparently the tasters/critiquers iust
couldn t handle decadence Their spouses/
spousal equivalents must feel so let down
Hera at the Upper Left Edge we embrace all
sorts of decadence and would run it for office if
we could And that word still applies to
Broadley s Pinot I pitted the 92 Reserve against
a 1957 Amity Winemaker Reserve and a 1991
Knudsen Erath Vintage Select The Broadley is
$12 and $3 cheaper than these two wines
respectively It completely surpassed the
Knudsen Erath and more than held its own
against Amity s premier wine While these two
wines are vastly different in style it was a ioy to
drink them side by side Both are superbly
crafted well organized wines with lots to offer
The Broadley is probably easier to appreciate
than the Amity but certainly not lacking in
character or complexity I am looking forward to
a horizontal tasting (same year different
wineries) of the Broadley with an Autumn Wind
1992 Reserve and an Adelsheim 1992 Seven
Springs Vineyard These are the prem ier
Burgundies thal I have located in Oregon and
lasting them side by side by side w ill be quite
illum inating
Monroe is located between Corvallis and
Eugene on Hwy 99W Monroe w ill likely not
become the Dundee of the Southern Willamette
Valley Tha w inery located at the southern end
of the town is shaken every minute or two by
huge log trucks which spill out of the Coast
Range Tasting at the winery gives proof
positive that the logging of old growth forests is
alive and well enough in this part of the world
The town s economy rests largely upon
surrounding tree farms a feed store a bar a
diner and a small grocery store The town
despite having a handful of nice wineries m the
area w ill probably not seek to rebuild its
economy around them Craig describes Monroe
as one of those small country towns where when
you drive by everyone waves If you re naive
you think it s because they are really friendly
but if you know them (or grew up in a similar
place like the state of Maine) you know it s
because they are saying That s fine don l come
any closer"
Broadley s uniquely situated east facing
vineyard promises to offer a beautiful 1994
vintage Craig was a bit late for our meeting
because he had the disease known as
v ia e tn tlc r s harvest v a n cut. The sympioms
are forgetting literally everything else because
of the stress of the harvest Monroe is nestled
into one of the hottest microclimates in Western
Oregon so the warm summer we experienced this
year was even warmer in th eir part of the
valley The yield w ill be low as everyone s is
but the quality of vin e promises to be well,
decadent
So go visit them or seek out their wines when
you are able to At the w inery rig ht now which
is open on weekdays from 12-5 they are only
pouring their Chardonnay and their
non vintage Pinol (a very decent wine for $7)
Odds are you can get a tour of their barrel room
and see the whole works happening Maybe you
could get Craig to let you peruse the book section
as well Craig was the business manager of City
Lights and has met the likes of Kerouac.
Bukowski and so on Take a break from the road
and visit one of the lesser known but h igh
quality and completely cool wineries that Oregon
has to offer
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In Coasler Theater Courtyard
Established 1977
I taiunng Nonliwexi. California
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Collexior Wine» From 1875
Through Current Vintage»
I ealuring Over l(MX) Wmex
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W in e T a s tin g
Every Saturday Afternoon
1 5 PM
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From Around The World
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Open 1 1 AM 5 PM
Closed Tue»
436-1100
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Recommended V in e ry Tour fo r November
Odds are you probably missed the fund raiser for
1st Congressional District Candidate Bill Wilt (R
for Right Wing) that featured Pal Buchanan (yes
Mr Cultural War himself) at Monunore
Vineyards (proving that not all Oregon wineries
are easy going kinds of places) but there s lots to
do this month so don t despair 1 Serendipity
Cellars ( Monmouth) does a vertical tasting of
their Marechal Foch from 1952 1993 each
weekend Do not miss 2 Nov 19th and 20th at
Autumn Wind Vineyards (Newberg) a pre
Thanksgiving case discount sale Great deals
(251 off 1 th in k ) on excellent vin e and (maybe)
the release of the 1992 Pinot noir which win be
the best bottle of Pinol for under $10 in Oregon
3 Thanksgiving weekend Inis of crowds but a
great way to get rid of parents kids and relatives
or friends visiting from wherever
Laurel’s
C annon
Bench
W ine Shop
N . I l c m le c h
( S O I ) 4 16 Ib b b
I tlK V
I IIIIV
Oregon's Scenic Wine Country'
Experience the beauty, peace and
fantastic nine n f Oregnn't nine rejfinnt
For I n fo r m a tio n on and r r j r i v a t l o n »
at
The he»l bed A breakfasts, hotel» and rexfanrant»
a» well as the most interesting winery tours
O re g o n H i n z
Travei('oniuctton
h'amatu nnre 1 99.1
Jay Raskin
1-800 946-3885
Architect
” C Bo> P6C
3zmcr< Beach. OP
97110
5 0 4 3 6 -2 1 6 2
■ e i v i r i si awswarisy ia
■ a ifa rm ity . the least givergeace fram
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Emma Geldma
TOiffraomtMw )J