BY LANCE SPARKS
Bottled Sunlight
MAY DAY
BALLROOM BLUES
Deb Cleveland
with the Vipers
Bourbon Renewal
Eagle Park
Slim Band
TONIGHT, MAY 1 ST • 8 pm
$5/advance • $7/door
Upstairs in Vet’s Ballroom
1626 Willamette Street • Eugene
Call for reservations:
541-344-8600
CINCO DE MAYO
SWEETS!
• Tres Leches Cake
• Pan Dulce
• Margarita Tartlets
• Dulce de Leche Cake
• Caramel Flan
• Mexican Chocolate Cake
Sweet Life
!
683-5676 • 755 Monroe St.
www.sweetlifedesserts.com
Sun - Wed till 9:00 • Thurs -Sat till 11:00
"
Fridays from 4 to 6pm
May 2 : Cairanne - Selected Cote du Rhone reds.
May 9 : South Africa - Superb new arrivals.
May 16 : Soave - Suave white wine of the Veneto.
May 23 : Cabernet Franc - New & old world.
May 30 : Shiraz - Get a face full of fruit.
FREE WINE
TASTINGS
Saturdays from 4 to 6pm
May 3 : Foris - Southern Oregon star.
May 10 : Marcel Deiss - Top wines from Alsace
presented by Clarisse Deiss, Marcel’s daughter.
May 17 : Iris Hill - New local winery.
May 24 : Sundance Selections
May 31 : Ponzi - Pioneer of Oregon pinot noir.
OPEN DAILY UNTIL 7PM
2470 ALDER ST.
687-WINE
ORWINES.COM
32 MAY 1, 2003
SUNDANCE
Wine provides solace
for damp spirits.
I
n the garden, the flowers are melting. A
low-slanting rain blows in from the west,
from the wind-blasted Pacific surf; I can
almost hear, almost feel the pounding, pulsing
thump of the waves as they beat like kettle-
drums against black basaltic flows. The last of
the tulips bend their heads groundward. A sin-
gle sunburst-orange poppy, opened only two
days ago, sags and wilts, sodden and weary.
Brilliant pink azaleas drop into a pink mush,
like soppy icing on an ice cream cake. Even
pansies turn motley faces toward muddied
earth and only dream of sun.
We share the dream. I wish this leaden sky
would break, or a quickening breeze would
rend this gray blanket to tatters and send the
remnants to some water-desperate segment of
the world, if only for a few days, time enough
to shed these moist, layered husks and get
down to skin, to roast for a few minutes under a
rowdy, deadly sun above a white-blue, ozone-
less sky: Burn me, cook me, batter my buttered
body, kill me if you must, but let me feel the
heat before I combust spontaneously and drift
away in wisps of happy smoke.
Uh-uh, no change. OK, some change – hail.
Maybe if I sacrifice a chicken? Doubtful.
Seems like God/gods might be too busy with
war or watching sports. Once again, we turn
for consolation to wine, sunlight caught in bot-
tles.
Here are two glints of pale, pure gold from
one of my favorite Oregon producers: Bethel
Heights 2002 Pinot Gris ($12) is the
color of morning sunbeams and delivers deli-
cious flavors of ripe pears with pretty mineral
notes and crisp acidity, a superb match for
fresh wild salmon grilled on an open fire (if
outdoor cooking ever again becomes possible).
Or find some fresh spring veggies, wok up a
spicy Asian stir-fry, serve with yummy Bethel
Heights 2001 Pinot Blanc ($12), creamy
body, ripe, round tropical fruit accents with just
a whisper of sweetness to complement the tin-
gle of peppers. The folks at Bethel Heights sit
on a nearly perfect plot of Oregon vineland just
north of Salem, and the wines they release
wear their labels as proud promises of fine
winemaking and distinctive quality — what
winefolks call terroir, a “freedom” word (from
that country that gave us “freedom” fries,
“freedom” bread and “freedom” ticklers)
meaning the wines taste like the place where
the grapes were grown. And that’s very, very
good.
Most California chardonnays make me
rant; too often they’re so over-oaked we might
BUY
as well save money, drink water and just suck
on a chair leg. But lately some of the best (and
still affordable) California chards have been
showing their winemakers’ restraint in the use
of wood, and the result has been wines that
show more respect for the chardonnay grape’s
natural flavors, which, as those “freedom”
winemakers proved long ago, can be quite
charming. Case in point : Raymond 2000
Napa Valley Chardonnay Reserve, a
knockout wine – delicious, flawlessly bal-
anced in flavors, acidity, texture, and a bargain
even at this price ($18). Put this with some
grilled (ha-ha) halibut and brighten up your
spring (sunless) evening.
Sun comes in colors. In the garden we had a
rose called Taboo, also known as the Black
Rose, though it was really a red so deep and
dark we had to hold it up in bright sun to pene-
trate to its center. Lor’, it was beautiful — until
the wet rotted its roots.
But that rose was the deep, rich color of a
deep, rich wine: Ken Wright Cellars 2001
Canary Hill Vineyard Pinot Noir
($37.50). Sure the ticket is heavy; split it with
friends, and put into your mouth a glassful of
deep purple velvet — silk velvet, not the phony
stuff — soft but with the tensile strength of
steel. And the flavors: juicy, ripe, echoing cur-
rants, black cherries and raspberries and an elu-
sive hint of violets. Seamless in texture,
mouthfilling, lust-inspiring, this is the stuff of
memories, among the best that Oregon can
offer.
Also among the very best, in fact a near-
landmark wine, King Estate 1999 Oregon
Pinot Noir Domaine. When Ed King and
family bought their property in the Lorane
Valley, some Oregon wine pros sniggered that
the area was too cold, too wet, got too little sun,
had the wrong soil, wrong exposure, yadda-
yadda, would never yield any but mediocre
wines. This wine puts to rest a raftful of carp
and carping. The color is deep garnet, the tex-
ture is satin, aromas fill the air above the glass,
and flavors fill the mouth: dark fruits, currants,
hints of pepper. I could spend a lot of superla-
tives here; the wine is worthy of carrying the
names of winemakers Bill Kremer and Ray
Walsh, vineyard manager Brad Biehl and own-
ers Ed Kings’ (Sr. & Jr.) signatures, a wine that
can define the property and deliver its promise.
Yep, the bite is $50, the price of limiting yield
to a mere two tons/acre. Again – find friends,
share the ride. Call it a bonding experience.
Or call it finding the soul of summer while
waiting for the sun.
ew
$25.00 WORTH OF GROCERIES & WE’LL TAKE $ 5.00 OFF!!!
IER MA
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