wine
BY LANCE SPARKS
Frenzy Time
Could be a great grape harvest this fall
W
ine people are all abuzz.
It’s harvest, and grapes are
hanging on vines, soaking up
warm autumnal sun under smoky haze,
sugars rising. More important, fl avors are
developing. This is the time when wine-
makers patrol vineyards, tasting grapes,
selecting from each part of the clusters.
They’re working what they call “fl avor
memory”; oh, they’ll likely test the grapes’
sugars with lab gear, but it’s these embedded
memories that really reveal when grapes are
ready to become their best wines.
And 2009 looks right now like a very
good year. On those slopes hugging the
Coast foothills, activity is very soon going
to reach fever pitch.
We just witnessed the frenzy in vineyards
much farther south. Mendocino, gateway
to California’s beautiful Anderson Valley,
Roederer Estate, probably the best of the
French-family-owned makers of sparkling
wines: The day dawned warm and clear,
with a wispy early fog that lifted quickly.
Kat and I, with friends Mike and Mary
Backus, were touring tasting rooms, in
part because the Anderson Valley reminds
folks so much of Napa before the deluge of
tourists, in part because it reminds us of the
south Willamette Valley,
even now — bucolic,
friendly, unspoiled, new
grape plantings climbing
hillsides, displacing oaks,
madrones and mesquite.
Suddenly,
for
early
September, the pinot noirs were
ready. Makers of sparkling wines want
their grapes ripe but not over-ripe. As we
drove up to the winery, we saw crews of
men and women run to trucks and tractors,
then race into the vines. Later in the week,
we visited Esterlina Vineyard, high up the
hillsides, and were invited — by Pinot
Patty (Liddy) — to stroll the vineyard and
taste grapes; they were delish, not quite
ready-for-primetime-pinot-noir but in fi ne
fettle and ready to party.
Now the frenzy begins here at home —
if: If this fabulous weather will hold for
just two more weeks, if the rains wait, if
the fl avors peak, if the pickers arrive on
time, if ... Think farming’s fun?
We tasted an awful lot of fi ne wines in the
Anderson Valley, including some very nice
pinot noir (e.g., Breggo 2007 Donnelly
Creek ) but they were pricey (e.g., $55) and,
quite honestly, they just didn’t have quite the
fl avor profi le of Oregon’s best pinots (also
pricey, some). Right now, though, some of
our homies’ pinot noirs are terrifi c and
priced reasonably. Take, for example,
this little surprise: Silver Falls
2006 Pinot Noir ($15), from
one of the very few wineries east
of I-5, small producer, superb
wine — medium-bodied but rich,
with complex fl avors of red and
blue berries, fi nely balanced, well-
suited for fresh salmon or red meats.
For years, folks argued that Oregon
couldn’t produce great chardonnay. Lately,
though, Oregon vintners seem to have found
their rhythm with this grape. Actually, they
found the right clones for this land and
climate. The results are in the bottle, and
some are tops. Case in point, Chehalem
2007 INOX Chardonnay ($15): Back label
notes, “INOX (E-nox) is another word for
stainless steel,” meaning the juice wasn’t
soaked in new oak so we taste the essence
of the grape, rich tropical fruit fl avors, good
acidity, nice mouth-feel. Trust this: If it wears
a Chehalem label, it’s fi ne wine.
Tonight! At 6 pm Thursday, Oct. 1,
support the Boys and Girls Clubs of Eugene
by buying some super wines at the auction
hosted by The Broadway downtown.
We attended last year, picked up some
wine-jewels donated by supporters. It’s a
fi ne cause. Your generosity will turn this
harvest to gold.
ew
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Thursday, October
Buy Local
Eat Organic
Think Sustainable
Sustainability
Slow & Local Foods
Cooking by Season
Heritage &
Heirloom Products
A Minimized
Carbon Footprint
Café Maroc
28 E. Broadway 434-5862
Adam’s Sustainable
Table
´
30 E. Broadway 344-6948
8
OREGON
DAY OF
CULTURE
with weeklong events from October 1
Celebrate! Participate! Give!
libraries, historical societies, museums, performances,
art classes, readings, heritage trails, cultural gatherings.
Find your event at:
www.oregondayofculture.org
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EUGENE WEEKLY OCTOBER 1, 2008 39