wine
BY LANCE SPARKS
Sippin’ Velvet Ass
And other lip-smacking delights
M
id-summer morning in western
Oregon, sun struggles to cast
a faint glow through
layers of marine clouds. The air
is cool, clean, fresh despite
last week’s fi eld burning.
Man, I love this place.
Elsewhere in this
great nation, people are
sweltering, sleeping in
puddles of sweat; here,
last night, Kat and I dozed
sweetly under a comforter,
even thought about throwing on
a light blanket, but no, just cuddled
closer. Elsewhere, people battle hurricanes
and tornados, fl oods and fi res; here, we fuss
some because the tomatoes are ripening
slower than usual. Our friends in Minnesota
fear the outdoors; apparently, Minnesota
mosquitoes are the size of sparrows, can
fl y through heavy screens, seem to consider
Deet on skin equivalent to butter on bread.
Here, if we avoid lakes and still waters
in the High Cascades, mosquitoes mostly
constitute mere annoyances.
So, yes, I love this soggy, misty land,
though I admit that in correspondence with
out-of-state folks, I frequently stress the
negatives. OK, that probably ticks off the
hype-meisters among real estate developers,
but I’m convinced that folks who can’t
handle the wet tend to be dangerously
neurotic and should not settle here.
Still, blessed as I should have been,
I was feeling testy. The cause of my
when dey’re wearin’ parkas in August?”
“Pal,” I answered, feigning confi dence,
“we’re rollin’ the dice, bettin’ on
the turn, ‘cause the Bushies are
goin’ away and the warm’s
on the horizon. So, whatta
we got?”
He brightened. I
felt a little like a heel
but I let him feel the
glow. “Howzabout really
tasty pinot noir?” he said,
dropping notes on my desk.
“Pinot goes bot’ ways, right?”
Good point, and we had two good
ones:
First, we proudly present Territorial 2006
Pinot Noir ($19.50). It tickles us when local
folks bottle super juice, and Territorial hit all
the notes with this wine. It has depth of color
and fl avors that linger in the mouth, making
music with berries and spice on a round, ripe,
well-textured melody. We wanted cold steak,
French potato salad, crunchy baguette, all laid
out with a big, round glass of this palpable
pinot, perfect for watching the drift of a late
afternoon mist.
Friends tipped us to Winter’s Hill 2005
Pinot Noir, Dundee Hills, Oregon ($28).
The ticket might seem a bit stiff in tough
times, but pinot noir is a tricky grape and best
cultivated for low yields per acre, so growers
have to reduce crops and raise prices to stay
in business. These days, pinot of this quality
rarely fetches less than 30 bux/bottle and
usually goes higher, so rejoice and invest with
How’re we supposed to help them buy
decent, affordable wine when they’re
having trouble feeding their families?
disgruntlement wasn’t what you might
expect, like maybe I’d seen Gordon Smith’s
ad saying Merkley is “wrong on the
economy.” Sure, I could’ve been fuming
about a Bush Republican claiming to know
what’s right for the economy because we
can see what a great job the Bushies have
done in driving this economy — off a cliff.
Left and right, folks are losing their jobs
and their homes, so how’re we supposed to
help them buy decent, affordable wine when
they’re having trouble feeding their families?
I could feel a tad irritated about that, right?
And I do, reasonably enough; actually,
though, the source of my grump was more
petty: Traditionally — can 10-plus years of a
column constitute a tradition? — our August
piece is about wines for the dog days, the
season of high heat and picnics. Today, we’ll
be lucky to hit 80 degrees, with a cooling
breeze. We could be glugging monster big
reds, zinfandel or barolo, and be blissed. Hot
weather wines? Huh!?
I could see the tension in Mole’s face
when the Round Mound of Merlot rolled out
of our lab fi sting a wad of tasting notes. When
the world’s sweetest guy is that knotted-up,
anyone can grok a wrongness. “Uh, Sleut’,”
he began, “what’re we gonna do? Are folks
gonna laugh at us fer talkin’ rosies and whites
friends (best with all wines anyway). What we
get is wine of deep garnet color and complex
aromas/fl avors of black cherries and berries,
a whiff of toasty oak, full, rich mouthfeel. We
challenged it with roasted summer veggies
and grilled lamb chops; the kid came through
like a champ.
We found three rosés we really liked. For
years now, we’ve been urging readers to give
rosés a chance, especially in summer when rosé
really shines. Now, our wine merchants are
offering rosés in a dazzling spectrum of colors
and quality. It’s mighty fun just sampling the
array, but we liked these a bunch:
Marques de Caceres 2007 Dry Rosé
($8.49): Spanish, silky smooth in the mouth,
with charming cherry/strawberry fl avors,
gentle hint of pepper, low acidity but still
food-friendly, just as yummy as rosies get.
Big House Pink 2006 California Pink
Wine ($8): pale pink blend of seven grape
varieties, an unpretentious, tasty little wine
under a screwtop hat, suitable for summer
slurping with salami and cheese, rustic bread.
Velvet Ass Rosé 2006 Rosé of Barbera
($17.50): Tasty wine, yeah, but we just love
the name, simple as that: “Another glass of
Velvet Ass?” Teehee.
It’s summer — sorta — and we gotta get
our giggles when we can. Enjoy, Eugene. ew
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S NDANCE
w ne cellars
Oregon’s largest selection of fine wines.
King Estate Pinot Gris
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Bryn Mawr 2005 Reserve Pinot Noir
More than 50% off on this Oregon cult Pinot - while supplies last!
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Brassfield Sauvignon Blanc or Pinot Grigio.
Crisp, refreshing whites - perfect for summer sipping.
Reg. $14.95.............................................. $8.50
Chalone ‘04 Merlot & ‘06 Cabernet Sauvignon
Icons of Monterrey county. Now half off - while supplies last!
Reg. $18.95.............................................. $8.95
2470 Alder Street in Eugene
phone: 541.687.9463
web: orwines.com
EUGENE WEEKLY AUGUST 7, 2008 39