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I have been nulling as of late in this column, but in a return
gesture of goodwill 1 shrill refrain from any comments which
could be construed as negative regarding the BA I F mid
associated institutions I do have things on my mind this
month though, mid they concern the media mid the selling of
wine Various mid sundry other topics will be touched on so
prepare yourself for a mishmash.
Sometimes a wine can sell itself If you are Madam Bize-
Leroy, Mouton-Rothschild, Leonetti, etc., your name, well-
earned reputation mid exclusivity alone sell your wines even at
unbelievable prices. For the average winery the name alone
does not mean a w hole lot Marketing of all sorts needs to be
pursued vigorously to move several thousand cases of wine. It
is an intensely competitive market with strange nuances that
often have little to do with common sense selling
However, with the 1994 vintage Oregon Pinot noir
producers have been tossed a softball. It may be the first time
in the history of the Oregon wine industry that the vintage
alone can accomplish w hat traveling and tastings mid
advertising mid so on have accomplished in the past. From
my dealings in the biz I have found that nearly universally the
clamor for any given Oregon winery’s 1994 IA not noir is
astounding.
How is this so? The 1994 harvest and subsequently the
vintage was regarded as one that produced tremendously reduced
yields on the vines and intensely flavored fruit. From the get-
go the word has been, “Reduced wine quantity, fantastic wine
quality”. If this were Don King, skinny on the street would be
that the fix is in The wine drinking public has been inundated
with the message that this is ‘The Vintage Decade”. Retailers
know it, distributors know it, and wineries cry in their beer
that they have such limited quantities of 1994s.
So how much of this is spin mid how much is useful
information? Good question Despite being in the biz I have
to state that Oregon is not France Winemaking is not scores
of generations old in this part of the world. Vintage may say
something about the style of the wines in general terms but it
does not assure the consumer of unprecedented levels of
quality. Even if 1994 were a banner harvest mid vintage for
the majority of winemakers in this state it was the first,
maybe the second, harvest of its sort they had dealt with in
their careers. Just because some fool owns Jimi I lendrix’s
guitar does not mean that he or she can play “All Along The
Watchtower”.
But the fix IS in so it may not matter I have probably
tasted as many 1994 Pinots as anyone else out there. I have
tasted most every one that has been released mid many that
have not. There are some fantastic wines, and by mid large
they are made by the jieople whom you would expect to make
exceptional wines There is some plonk as well. What it
conies down to in 1994, for the consumer, is what it always
conies down to: Knowing your producers, figuring out w hat
you like mid (hopefully) tasting before you buy.
An excellent contrast to the heralded 1994 vintage is the far-
from-heralded 1993 vintage. Hie initial press on these wines
was that they were not exceptional, some were funky mid
many were backwards with chewy tannins. The vintage wasn’t
panned across the board but there certainly was no fanfare
regarding it. The sales of 1993s were average, steady but
unremarkable. Many have still not been released in mi effort
to smooth the wines mid get as far away from the unnattering
press as possible
However, 1993 was a far more classic vintage for Oregon’s
Pinot noir. The fall was long, warm, mid generally dry. The
fruit labored to ripen through a cool sununer but had the
opportunity to hang on the v ines for long periods of time
This is what Pinot noir likes to do Wise wine buyers will
probably be able to pick up some very good deals on 1993s as
time goes by. These are cellaring wines that will show their
true beauty in 3-5 years. Wine usually reflects the growth
process of the grape. The 1993 wines are taking time to fill
out and mature much as the grapes took time to develop
flavors.
Now we have the 1995 vintage coming up. This vintage
has been savaged in the press. The impressions me that this
will be a subpar vintage with wines of diluted flavors being
the norm There was a lot of rain during the harvest season so
deciding when to pick was tricky. Because of the rain the
initial comments (even by some Oregon winery owners, of all
people) were that this v intage was disappointing mid that not
much could be expected of the wines.
In my dealing with 1995 wines I have found the poo-
pooing of them to be tremendously premature 1 here are some
elegant wines with bright fruit flavors that will be very nice in
time This vintage will have its own particular signature mid
style that will separate it from other vintages Neither for
good nor bad but just because that is what happens when you
farm for a liv ing.
However, the challenge will be to sell these wines.
Unfortunately, in America wine drinkers are often too well read
about certain v intages In France, v intage generally has a far
less significant impact on sales mid purchases than here in the
States. My feeling is that there me few great, good or bad
v intages, only great to poor winemakers. Good producers will
come through the 1995 vintage with some sterling wines.
Many consumers may miss out on them because they me
focused on the year on the bottle rather than on the name.
Again it conies down to knowing your producers, deciding
what you like and trying to taste before you buy
So go mid revel in the splendor of the 1994 wines Spend
$40 on Beaux 1'reres, Archery Summit mid Ken W right Find
the winemakers that made the cream of the crop mid remember
their names because when the 1994s me whisked off the
shelves in a matter of weeks you will wmit to know who to
purchase in the “off-vintages". When the onslaught of high
end 1994s hits the market in a couple of months you will
probably find me poking mound in the bargain bins looking
for forgotten 1993s.
Okay, 1 couldn’t last a whole column The OLCC is
considering a change ol administrative rules that would
severely tighten wine shipping laws in Oregon I he rule
change would require senders (wine shops, wineries) and
carriers (UPS) of wine to go beyond existing laws to document
the age of the person hav ing wine shipped to them Forms
mid what not would have to be filled out upon shipment mid
delivery mid then kept on file for two years UPS has said that
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always happens, how incapable must man
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WHERE TO QET AM W QE
they simply won’t ship wine in Oregon miy more if this law
is adopted. This is another attempt by distributors (the
lobbyist for the distributors got his 16 year old daughter to
order a case of champagne by mail with a credit card so the
claim is that underage ordering of alcohol is a serious problem)
to become a monopoly on wine in Oregon. I he power grab is
so thinly veiled it would be laughable, except that it is a
complete nightmare. Fight the power
Recommended Wines for the Month In celebration ot
an “off-vintage” 1 offer up some thoroughly lov ely wines that
are more than worth picking up. Most of them are
significantly less than the 1994 v ersions will be, but probably
not far off (if not even better) in quality.
1993 M cKinlay Special Selection Pinot n o ir
Quintessential Pinot noir! A velvet hammer of a wine An
humungous nose rich with fruit, spice and earth leads into a
wine possessing the elegance of texture and flavors that makes
Pinot noir the greatest wine grape Intense cherry, plum,
spice, mineral and chocolate flav ors fill your mouth and linger
long al ter the wine is swallowed. An absolutely stunning
wine Buy every bottle you can find, and at $20-22, you
might as well just steal it
1993 Adelsheim Seven Springs Vineyard Pinot
noir: Maybe half a notch below the McKinlay. Different in
style allowing the fruit from one of Oregon’s premier Pinot
vineyards to come through Not as intense as above but
plenty of fruit drifts leisurely through the mid-palate The
wine opens up nicely and has a lovely bouquet ol cherries and
strawberries. One of the softer, more accessible ol the ‘93
Pinots and a very good deal at about $23.
1993 Autumn Wind Pinot noir Reserve This is a
darker, more heavily oaked wine than either ol the two above
but many people enjoy this style. Not easy to measure the
balance of the wine’s fruit against 100% new French oak but
this wine pulls it off nicely Earthy black cherry fruits swirl
with smooth toast, oak and slight cinnamon and vanilla
spices Maybe a better bet to wait on this wine lor another
year and enjoy it with a steak but for $20 or less it can be a
real sati slier
Cannon Beach Jupiter's Rare and Used Books, Osburn's Grocery,
The Cookie Co., Coffee Cabaña, Bill's Tavern, Cannon Beach Book
Co., Hane's Bakerie, The Bistro, Midtown Café, Once Upon a Breeze,
Knoodlz, Copies & Fax, Heather's, Haystack Video, Manner Market, &
Cleanline Surf
Manzanita Manzanita News & Espresso, Bayside Gardens,
Cassandra's, Pacific Coast Books & Coffee, & Nehalem Bay Video
Rockaway Sharkey's
Tillamook Rainy Day Books
Pacific City: The River House
Oceanside Ocean Side Espresso
Lincoln City: Trillium Natural Foods, Driftwood Library, & Eats 'n'
Stuff
Newport Oceana Natural Foods, Don Petrie's Italian Food Co., Café
DIVA, Cosmo Café, Bookmark Café, Newport Bay Coffee Co.,
Cuppatunes, Bay Latté, Ocean Pulse Surf Shop. Coastal Coffee C o . &
Canyon Way
Eugene Book Mark, Café Navarra, Eugene Public Library, Fnendly
St. Market, Happy Trails, Keystone Café, Kiva Foods, Lane C.C.,
Light For Music, New Frontier Market, Nineteenth Street Brew Pub,
Oasis Market, Perry's, Red Bam.Grocery. Sundance Natural Foods, U of
O. & WOW Hall
Corvallis Not Necessarily the News. & The Environmental Center
Salem Heliotrope, Salem Library, & The Peace Store
Astoria KMUN, Columbian Café, The Community Store, & Café
Uniontown
Seaside Buck's Book Bam, Universal Video, & Cafe Espresso
Portland Act III, Barnes & Noble, Belmonts Inn, Bibelot Art
Gallery, Bijou Café, Borders, Bridgeport Brew Pub, Capt'n Beans (two
locations). Center for the Healing Light, Coffee People (three
locations). Common Grounds Coffee, Fast Avenue Tavern, Food Front,
Goose Hollow Inn, Hot Lips Pizza, Java Bay Café, Key Largo, La
Pattisserie, Lewis & Clark College, Locals Only, Marco's Pizza,
Marylhurst College, Mt. Hood CC, Music Millenium, Nature's (two
locations), NW Natural Gas, OHSU Medical School. Old Wives Tales,
Ozone Records, Papa Haydn, PCC (four locations), PSU (two
locations), Reed College, Third Eye, TransCentral Library. & YWCA
Long Beach, WA Pacific Picnics
Nahcotta, WA Moby Dick Hotel
Duvall, WA Duvall Books
Seattle, WA Elliot Bay Book C o , Honey Bear Bakery, New
Orleans Restaurant, Still Life in Fremont, Allegro Coffeehouse, The
Last Exit Coffee House, & Bulldog News
Bainbridge Island, WA: Eagle Harbor Book Co
Washington, D.C. Hotel Tabard Inn
UfftR L in LbSt WWL tW
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