wine
BY LANCE SPARKS
May Meanderings
On potholes and pours
H
ooray, hooray, the Merry, Momentous
Month of May: Gardens emerge from
beneath April’s slush, frozen tarns
melt, rhodies erupt, mothers are pampered
for a day, nasty mayoral election reaches fi nal
stages (maybe), divisive Democratic primary
is held. On a personal note, Sleuth suffers
an ominous, landmark birthday, becomes
offi cially Elder. It’s the shits. How’d it happen
so fast?
I can still do my job. Being a wine
detective is not that tough. Nobody’s
shooting at me (except verbally) yet. My
feet aren’t fl at from walking a beat. In fact,
my beat is usually more pleasure than pain.
How it works:
First Friday last month, our whole crew
cruised Opus6ix to dig some art — Mole
calls it “washin’ the peepers” — found
Mitch, co-owner of Peruginos, pouring
vinos. Mitch motioned me over, business
before etc. “Ya gotta taste this,” he said, bit
of a glint in his smile. He splashed Spencer
Creek 2006 Pinot Gris ($21): nice color,
aromas/fl avors of fresh pears and quince,
very tasty, well structured and good acidity
for foods, jazzy label, the whole package
really impressive. Spencer Creek? I cocked
an eye at Mitch. He beamed, gave me the
news: Spencer Creek is newest producer
in the family of our localfolk, owned/
operated by genuine Eugeneans, Dan and
Nancy Cooley. Mitch
dispensed Spencer
Creek 2004 Pinot
Noir ($24): deep cherries,
fi rm, delish. I let dood fi ll
glass with noir, paid tab,
wandered into the art, mentally
booting my own butt for not getting enough
into the circuit, staying masked by my other
identity, straight dude, college prof, that stuff.
Week later, rolled into Midtown, crossed
paths with Denise, wine rep for small
producers. She offered tastes of Elyse,
wines from the Carneros region bit south
of Napa, good source of sparklers, pinot
noir. But the Elyse wines were neither;
they were also knockouts. Elyse 2005
L’Ingénue is a dry white blend of grape
varieties that, in France, would comprise a
Rhone Valley white, good wines to be sure,
but not often, except in the case of white
Chateauneuf du Pape, very exciting. The
Elyse is exciting, so aromatic I felt tempted
just to linger on sniffi ng — fl owers, touch
of citrus, mineral notes — but fl avors
called, and delivered, rich and complex,
with a roundness of body that was elusive
— not creamy, voluptuous. Elyse also has
a zinfandel that’ll spin yer spurs. These are
crafted wines, artistic renderings and not
cheap — L’Ingénue is ticketed at $33 —
but they are still superb value: There are
many wines on shelves at twice the
price and not half the fl avor.
I spent an afternoon torquing
our ancient Toyota through
Eugene streets, looking for
those axle-breaking, tire-
bursting, bike-swallowing pot-
holes that right-wing pothole-
heads have been blaming on Kitty
Piercy. I drove up and down 18th,
found rough spots — wondering why
the wingnuts don’t think to blame someone
for lousy paving or patching jobs — but no
champion holes. Heck, half a block from my
crib, we’ve got a stretch of road that’s been
roughening through two or three Republican
(oops, I meant non-partisan) administrations;
drives like a back road in Faluja. One thing
I did notice in my investigation: Torrey has
sewn up one constituency, will get many votes
from fences, especially the chain-link variety,
emblematic, I guess, of how he’s going to
bring us together.
Eugeneans oughtta get together over
some LaVelle Vineyards 2006 Estate
Riesling ($14). Our neighbors in Elmira,
LaVelle keeps a fi ne tasting room at Fifth
Street Public Market, so you don’t have
to buy this wine on my word: Drop down,
swirl and sip, see if you don’t think this
is lip-smackin’ Oregon riesling, low in
alcohol, balanced in acidity, just a spoonful
of sweetness to round out pretty fl avors
of peaches and apricots, maybe a hint of
lychee. This charmer has been wowing the
judges in competitions, has taken home a
basket of medals. Rieslings are much more
versatile with food than they’re usually
credited as being: put this with a complex
veggie dish or salad, but it’ll love a peppery
Asian stir-fry.
Red wine bargain of the month has to
be Holy Cow 2006 Merlot Washington
State ($11). Sez here the grapes are grown
in the Columbia Valley, and somebody there
saw how to make a juicy, fl avorful merlot,
soft in the mouth, smooth on the palate,
an attractive, affordable version of a nice
sipping wine while heating the barbie for
grilled grub.
Mug shot: John Paul of Dundee is
probably certifi able and should be considered
dangerous to people whose thinking is
strictly conventional. But the wines Paul
makes under the Cameron label are among
the state’s most distinctive. He also messes
with his labels, case in point being Cameroni
delle Colline Rosse 2007 Giovanni Vigna
Pinot Bianco ($13). I might be a solitary
voice baying in the wilderness of wine (OK,
John Paul might howl with me, just for fun)
that pinot blanc (bianco is Italian for blanc,
which is French for white — Paul is widely
known to abuse all matters Italian, but with
amore) is a good grape for Oregon and can
make a really good wine for consumers.
Doubt me. Drink this. Fun, no? Nice round
fl avors, slips right down, si?
Thazzit, friends, tidings of May. If my
mind seems slightly disordered, that’s
probably symptomatic of season of year
and season of life. We’ll look into it. More
investigations follow. Tend the garden.
Vote.
ew
Drinking?
Let us drive!
434-TAXI
OREGON TAXI
bringing Eugene fine wines since 1983
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Complimentary wine tastings every Friday and Saturday 4-6 PM.
Huge selection of wines from the region and around the world.
More than 295 Oregon Pinot Noirs in stock.
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Large organic and sustainable wine section.
Stemware and wine accessories.
Knowledgeable staff to advise you.
2470 Alder St. Eugene 687 - 9463
www.orwines.com
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EUGENE WEEKLY MAY 1, 2008 39