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 « M n m A> 44 » l v - . M "h« ' *«»«» < «■ I iprrx«».» ihr i hrrm o l ihr '44 txnkt,k< Oxa « t n r t « ill J rlifh t « a K m fur «Il » . Kw r^wrxwm OPM lO fc t \ h kN t>\N Mgp «f ma hawwama M aw b w a , M aw U Naaw— • » . H e aar « » f by and r « h n the hisKwy (hr gnrai rninr« »nJ k«y »»( fus» Cannon Beach In Coasler Theater Courtyard Established 1977 I taiunng Nonliwexi. California A lnt|»ortrd Wmex Collexior Wine» From 1875 Through Current Vintage» I ealuring Over l(MX) Wmex Wine Haxkt. (ilaxtex A Wme Relaied hem» W in e T a s tin g Every Saturday Afternoon 1 5 PM Different Wine» From Around The World Each Week Open 1 1 AM 5 PM Closed Tue» 436-1100 I J4 N llemlos » r o lUa t » , Cannon Beach ON V7II0 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 »s the greatest crim e. Emma Geldma TOiffraomtMw )J