wine
BY LANCE SPARKS
Spring’s Promise
Wines in anticipation of outdoor dining
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aybe most people hate making
mistakes. I know I do. Last
month I tried to do a little good
for some fi ne people: I mentioned the
fundraiser wine auction on behalf of
Start Making A Reader Today (SMART),
an event involving my old pal and wine
maven Larry Malmgren. Unfortunately, I
sent interested readers to the wrong place.
The SMART wine auction will be
held from 5:30 to 7 pm Tuesday, March
20, at Boulevard Grill, 2123 Franklin
Blvd. Wine auctions can be mighty fun,
offering the chance to pick up rare and
special bottles. And since Malmgren is a
fi rst-class wine scrounger — and has a fi ne
collection of his own, into which I know
he’ll dip for this purpose — I’m confi dent
there’ll be some jewels on the tables. Kat
and I will certainly attend. Note: If some
of you decide to join us — and I hope
you will — please remember that this is
a charity auction for a very worthy cause.
Bid generously; you’ll be doing good for
yourself and many others.
Now, while I’d like to launch into some
political discourses — West Eugene EmX,
the line-up of Howdy Doodies running for
the Republican nomination for president,
some nasty practices involving mining and
pesticides — the fi rst order of business
today involves good food and good wines.
But fi rst, I have a message from the plants:
Spring, they tell me, is here.
Let me admit right off that I don’t
presume to get on the other side of
Punxsutawney Phil or any other
professional groundhog expert weather
guesser. But I’m a gardener, an utter
amateur, sure, a punter who pushes seeds
and starts into soil and then hopes, someone
who battles weeds and always loses. But
I’ve learned to listen to the Greenies, so
even though we’re still teetering on the
brink of March, the rhodies are busting out
and others are all a-budding. Word: Plant
the peas, pull the popweed.
In celebration (or blind faith), we’ve
begun cooking outdoors, wok-ing Asian
dishes with the fi rst spring veggies, fl avors
and spices that leap in the mouth and
leave winter as gray shadows and soggy
memories. And Asian cuisine just romances
with Rieslings, those lovely, lively whites
that originate in France and Germany but
also thrive in the Northwest — and some
other, rather surprising places.
One of our recent favorites is Pacifi c
Rim 2007 Dauenhauer Vineyard
Riesling ($12), bursting with pear/apple/
citrus fl avors, creamy in the mouth with
enough sweetness to round out the fl avors
but balanced with zesty acidity, a stir-fry
dream.
Australia has emerged as a source of
superb Rieslings, and Wolf Blass 2004
Gold Label Riesling ($20) delivers
those pretty fruit fl avors with a distinctive
petroleum/mineral note that echoes some
of Germany’s best.
But for Riesling in its most refi ned
expression, it’s hard to beat Domaine
Jean Sipp 2009 Riesling Reserve
Vin d’Alsace ($18). The wine is crisply
dry, typical of Alsatian whites, but
brings its fruit forward on a structure
that showcases the grapes’ delicacy and
fi nesse. One sip leads to another, and this
wine makes melodies with food.
Oregon pinot noir has garnered rave
reviews from the national wine press, and
Haden Fig 2009 Willamette Valley
Pinot Noir ($19) is bargain-priced (for
pinot noir) and just delicious drinking
right now (even better a year from now),
with right-down-the-alley black cherry/
raspberry fl avors, razor-edge balance and
long-playing fi nish. Any reason to drink
this is a good reason.
Final note: Lotsa folks like a nip of
sweet wine with dessert, and Noble
Estate
2010
Semi-sparkling
Muscat ($15) is simply superb: Fruity,
fl oral, lightly bubbly, made for a bit of
delicate cheese and dried fruit. Yum!
‘Nuff said, and no mistakes, right? So
now come snow and ice. Day-um. Even
plants can goof.
ew
Lance Sparks, Ph.D., teaches writing at LCC and can be
reached at freelanceandwildkat@comcast.net
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34 MARCH 8, 2012
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