4A • October 7, 2016 | Cannon Beach Gazette | cannonbeachgazette.com
Views from the Rock
Puffi n hones
its pinot
pedigree
UNCORKED RAMBLINGS
STEVE SINKLER
T
he calendar has turned to October, the
temperatures are cooler and the leaves
are falling. All signs point to the same
conclusion, fall is here.
In wineries across the Pacifi c Northwest,
the 2016 harvest is mostly complete and
grapes which were on the vine not long ago
are now safely in oak barrels or stainless
steel tanks. At Puffi n wines, things aren’t
any different. All of fruit has been picked
and fermentation has begun. The wines
smell great and we’re expecting 2016 to be
another stellar vintage. I look forward to
pouring those wines for you in a few months
(or years). Until then, we’ll have to continue
enjoying the Puffi n wines we made during
the past couple of years.
Our Puffi n chardonnay 2015 is a perfect
white wine for fall. This isn’t your typical
chardonnay, as it combines tropical fl avors
of mango and papaya with notes of hazel-
nut. This slightly creamy wine reminds me
of a white burgundy, which is typically 100
percent chardonnay. Enjoy this wine with
grilled chicken and roasted root vegetables
or creamy cheese ravioli.
For those of you who prefer something
red in your glass, Puffi n has several delicious
options for you this fall, starting with our
Puffi n pinot noir 2013. This elegant pinot
was the result of a challenging growing
season, but it continues to amaze me. Silky
smooth, this pinot noir has smoky earth
fl avors combined with dark fruit to more
closely resemble a burgundy premier cru
than a Willamette Valley wine. Puffi n pinot
noir is a perfect companion to roast turkey,
game, salmon, pork roast or portabella.
The newest release in our portfolio is
Puffi n red blend (non-vintage). Released in
late September, winemaker John Derthick
has combined Walla Walla syrah, merlot and
malbec with Dundee Hills pinot noir to cre-
ate a delicious fruit forward wine. This easy
drinking red wine offers you robust fl avors
of red cherry and raspberry that begs for
grilled burgers, pizza or pasta with marinara
sauce. We only made 100 cases of this red
blend and based on customer response so far,
we should’ve made a lot more.
2013 was the fi rst vintage of Puffi n cab-
ernet sauvignon and it’s been a smash! This
delicious single vineyard Walla Walla cab
sauv has been really popular with customers.
Packed with big red fruit fl avors with slight
notes of black tea, this wine’s mouthfeel
has softened a bit since it was fi rst released,
but it’s still big enough to let you know it
has a Walla Walla pedigree. This wine goes
nicely with roast beef, rib-eye or just a cool
evening. We are coming to the end of the
2013 vintage, but our 2014 Puffi n cabernet
sauvignon should be ready for release later
this fall.
So as the weather changes and the tem-
peratures drop, Puffi n has a lineup of wines
that are perfect for fall. This fall, you’ll get
a couple of opportunities to taste this entire
lineup. Based on customer feedback, I plan
to pour the Puffi n lineup during our Saturday
wine tastings a bit more often than in the
past. You can fi nd The Wine Shack’s Satur-
day tasting room schedule on our website,
www.thewineshack.wine, our Facebook page
“Cannon Beach Wine Shack” or in our Can-
non Beach Gazette advertisement.
We look forward to seeing you at The
Shack. Please remember to drink responsi-
bly.
R.J. MARX/CANNON BEACH GAZETTE
Th is humpback whale washed ashore in the Falcon Cove area of Arch Cape before being drawn back out to sea.
WHALING DAYS
T
hanks to Court Carrier of the
Cannon Beach Chamber of
Commerce for rousting me
from an end-of-week stupor
with the news that a dead whale
was making its way toward Arch Cape.
Carrier graciously offered us a parking
spot at his house — which in Arch Cape is
a big deal.
But just as we were winging past Tolo-
vana, Carrier texted to say the whale had
been swept south. He advised me to go
through the tunnel and take it from there.
You can never really tell where a whale
will come to land.
So my intrepid spouse — did I mention
this was our 28th wedding anniversary? —
accompanied me through the Arch Cape
tunnel in the early evening mist seeking a
dead whale driven in the tide.
I fi gured my best bet was to turn right
to Cape Falcon, not far past the southern
end of the bridge. You don’t really under-
stand how rugged and deep this terrain is
until you drive it in the dark. We drove to
where we could see to the ocean, parked
the car and I winged it down to the shore.
In the Cove, don’t take anything for
granted. If you can fi nd an entrance to the
beach, you have to slip and slide on your
butt or take a fl ying leap from the sideline.
Don’t ever trust a branch or root to hold
your weight. The cobble beach is slippery
even when the tide is out and you need
to dance a ballet on tiptoes. While I was
scrambling around I heard voices and was
joined by a couple more curious folks.
Word traveled fast. All we were missing
were tom-toms.
We skirted beyond the cobbled rock
and onto the sandy beach.
At 7:30 the light was so dim I couldn’t
get a good shot with my iPhone. Even with
binoculars, all I could see was the blurry
horizon. But everyone saw the lumpy gray
blip in the water. In that dim weird light
what we saw was what looked like a latex
rubber giant hot-air balloon bouncing on
the waves and getting bigger, bigger —
much, much bigger.
As we were backing up to the cobble
rocks again as the sand receded and the
water inched closer and our socks got
damp, the big latex balloon was looking
CANNON SHOTS
R.J. MARX
more and more like … a giant rat. Dead or
alive, I didn’t want to be within 50 yards
of this thing.
Little did I know it could have explod-
ed.
There was nothing to do but skittle
back to safety and come back in the
morning.
Paul Lin-
nman’s con-
tact with the
“exploding
whale” was
to defi ne his
career.
SUBMITTED PHOTO
The next day
What I saw at 9 that morning was pret-
ty incredible. It was the inverted belly of
the whale all puffed up into a balloon-like
sac.
Would it, could it explode?
Seaside Aquarium’s Keith Chandler
has been chasing whales, dead or alive,
for decades. In 2003 a 17-ton gray whale
washed to shore just as the Seaside
Volleyball Tournament was about to
close. Chandler was there. In February
2004, the head of a sperm whale washed
up on Indian Beach. In late January this
year, a dead 24-foot humpback whale
washed ashore Sunday in Seaside. Chan-
dler was there too.
“The bloat is the gas that built up
inside,” Chandler said on the day of the
latest beaching. “Is that a risk? Could
it explode? It could. They have in the
past. Not saying it will, but it’s always a
possibility.”
I was completely unaware of the leg-
endary Portland television news reporter
Paul Linnman, who in 1970 was show-
ered with whale carcass after the hump-
back was dynamited by the state highway
department to get it off the Florence,
Oregon, beach. Linnman wore that story
as his signature until his death in 2013.
And there are no shortage of graphic
videos on the Web, including the 2004
Taiwanese incident when a decomposing
sperm whale splattered onlookers in an
explosion as it was being transported for
a post-mortem examination.
That early Saturday morning, I
snapped as many pictures of the freaky-
deaky whale as I could against the
incoming tide, blissfully unaware of the
worsening bloat and its potentially dire
consequences. And equally unaware
of the tide licking at my feet, enough
to make me scamper up the rocks and
through somebody’s backyard to the
street.
Lo and behold, shortly after leaving
the beach, that belly did burst — whether
it was with a bang or a whimper I don’t
know — mounds of undigested krill
deposited in the shallow waters of Cove
Beach.
By mid-afternoon, the tide pulled the
dead, now defl ated whale back into the
water and back to sea. All that was left
was a pile of krill and fi sh remains. I am
told that the stench lingered.
Two days later, the whale was swept to
Short Sand Beach in Oswald West State
Park, 2 miles south of where the whale
had washed up over the weekend. Chan-
dler and researchers fi nished taking tissue
and blood samples a few days later. The
necropsy took place on the beach, where
the whale carcass will remain.
“There’s really no way to get it off that
beach because you can’t get equipment
there, and you can’t get enough sand to
bury it,” Chandler said.
Will it smell?
“It will have an odor,” Chandler said.
“But I’ve smelled worse.”
So now I’ve got a whale story of my
own. Is it up to Paul Linnman’s? Maybe
not, but that’s OK. There are certain
experiences far better seen on YouTube.
LETTERS
Vote for schools
Our community must come together to pass
the proposed Seaside School Bond to build a
safe, secure place for children today and into
the future to learn. I urge you to visit the www.
voteyesforlocalschools.com website to see for
yourself the deplorable condition of our schools.
How can we retain and recruit the best teachers?
How can students possibly feel that we value
their learning? Yes, the tsunami is also a seri-
ous concern. But even if it were not a factor, our
school facilities are woefully inadequate.
The American Association of University
Women strongly advocates for quality educa-
tion for all children. As a member of our lo-
cal group and a retired educator, I also place a
high priority on education as a child’s path to
a productive and positive future. This bond is
not only about our youth, it is about you. You
are likely to attend concerts, plays, sporting
events, adult education or community gather-
ings in our school facilities. Shouldn’t all of
these events happen in a safe place? Shouldn’t
Publisher
David F. Pero
Editor
R.J. Marx
Reporter
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we have a structurally safe place to go in the
case of an emergency?
We all count on our schools and now they
are counting on us. Vote yes for the school
bond. It is urgent, and it is the right thing to do.
Jane McGeehan
Seaside
Vote yes on school bond
I write today urging everyone in our Sea-
side School District to vote YES for the bond
issue for our local schools. As a retired senior
citizen, I have not had a child in these schools
for many years. My grandchildren have all
been educated in other places where others
have paid the taxes to educate them. I know it
is my turn to step up to the plate and carry for-
ward what the members of our community did
for my generation and me in the 1950s.
Yes, I attended Broadway Middle School in
the early 50s when it was new and in good con-
dition. This is no longer the case. I recently vis-
ited Broadway Middle School as well as Gear-
CANNON BEACH GAZETTE
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hart Elementary School and the high school,
and was astounded at the deteriorating walls,
roofi ng and heating issues. And, I learned that
nearly $500,000 a year is being spent beyond
the normal maintenance budget to patch up the
most pressing problems. What a waste to spend
this kind of money and still have unsafe facili-
ties that no longer meet the needs of education
in the 21st century.
We are fortunate to be in a position where
the land for the new buildings have been do-
nated by Weyerhaeuser and when we can take
advantage of some of the lowest interest rates
we have ever known. The State of Oregon will
also contribute $4 million as a one-time con-
tribution if the bond passes this November. In
addition, Seaside has three of the four schools
in the state that are in the tsunami zone. And
although it is uncertain when that could be an
issue here, the probability is very high in the
next 50 years.
These are some of the reasons that Seaside
AAUW (American Association of University
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Women) has chosen to support this measure
this year. Our children are our investment in
the future. Our organization is one that values
and supports education as a means to a better
future. It is our time to step forward and insure
that our children receive the education they
need to be successful. They deserve it. Please
give them your support.
Carol Brenneman
Seaside
Cannabis in Cannon Beach?
Let’s take a different look at this issue. Some
are so against it that we will actually have to
vote again on this subject. They seek to prevent
the sale of cannabis here in Cannon Beach. Is
that really a smart thing to do for our town?
Cannon Beach was founded years ago by
two groups. There were loggers fi rst and then
the hippies came along. Both groups had plenty
of surfers. Both groups by and large embraced
See Letters, Page 5A
THE NATIONAL AWARD-WINNING