wine
BY LANCE SPARKS
Sleepless Wines
Vino makes unraveling nation easier to swallow
I
t’s another sensory-overload
spring in the South
Willamette Valley, and
usually I’d be deliriously
sappy, soaking up the
eruption of blooming colors,
the sweet scents of daphne
and hyacinths, the skin-
tingling caress of fi rst warmth.
I’d be thinking of shucking
clothes and turning soil, giggling
to dig in a boatload of dahlias, besotted
by the blood rushing through my veins.
Instead, I spend sleepless nights
alternating between being roundly pissed off
and sadly grieving. I want to do my job, ply
my arts, enjoy my family, tend my garden,
share vernal bliss with our neighbors.
But I fi nd myself almost paralyzed, like
someone watching a horrifi c accident in
slow motion. These beautiful countries —
both Oregon and the United States — have
begun to unravel, largely because a coterie
of the obscenely rich (only some, not all)
have decided that it is their right to simply
abandon any sense of social responsibility
and have taken to hoarding their wealth,
even if it means massive suffering for large
numbers of people not fortunate enough to
have chosen rich parents.
As a result, our schools are crumbling,
our streets are rutted, our air and waters
increasingly poisoned. The oceans themselves
are dying. Thousands of species are being
driven to extinction. And the insanely wealthy
wash their hands and declare, “Not my
problem.” And they want more. There seems
no upper limit to their greed, no bottom to
their indifference. Not content to live like
lords, they would live like gods, scornful of
the merely mortal. The hereditary oligarchy
and the corporate aristocracy have combined
to loot the public treasury, denying the very
existence of a “public” entity at all, and
bunker down in their fortifi ed mansions and
ignore the spreading pain.
Of course, we’ve seen this
before. Anyone who reads
history can point to this
pattern repeated incessantly,
almost compulsively, across
the centuries, each chapter
a litany of destruction, with
the destroyers usually — but
not always — escaping justice.
But recognizing the pattern
offers no comfort, no easing of the
mind, no better sleep.
It’s diffi cult to write about the simple
pleasures of wine and food, though these
should be our common heritage. Still, I
offer these, almost as balm:
Continuing a theme we began recently,
look at two pleasant and affordable white
wines from Portugal. Casa Santos Lima
Fernao Pires 2008 ($10), a grape varietal
that rarely escaped the Estremadura region
until recent times; it’s round and ripe with
pretty melon fl avors, easy to drink, friendly
to seafood and poultry. Coroa D’Ouro
2007 ($10) is also pleasant, with elusive
mineral/citrus fl avors — one sip seems to
call for another.
Still available despite all the fanfare
about Oregon’s superb 2008 vintage,
Territorial 2008 Pinot Noir is a pinot
bargain ($18), offering charming cherry/
raspberry fl avors, a dash of spice, a
graceful fi nish. Doubt me? Drop into their
tasting room, 907 West 3rd, and test for
yourselves; in fact, test all their wines. You
won’t be sorry.
Truly super cab at under $20?
Los Vascos 2007 Reserve Cabernet
Sauvignon ($17) comes from the
Rothschild properties in Chile and, for
the price, is simply outstanding — sturdy,
deep in dark fruit fl avors, fi rmly balanced
for food, like most French-inspired wines.
Wine won’t solve our problems, but if
shared among friends can — for a moment
— relieve some of the pain. Santé.
ew
FRIENDS
LAUGHTER
MEMORIES
Summer Camp 2011
EUGENE FAMILY YMCA
A Y surprise and early bird discount of
$10 off all camp weeks paid in full on
Camp Sign Up Days
Registration ongoing through summer.
Y Summer Camps for
2½ to 18 years.
Camp info at eugeneymca.org
541 686 9622
C AMP SIGN UP DAYS
Thursday, April 21 &
Friday, April 22
8 a.m. - 7 p.m.
Eugene Family YMCA
2055 Patterson St.
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EUGENE WEEKLY APRIL 14, 2011 33