Eugene Weekly : Culture : 06.05.03

Grape Expectations
You picked a wine time to squeeze me, Lucille.
BY LANCE SPARKS

Sleuth, snoop, private eye/dick, gumshoe, quidnunc, ferret — by whatever name, the job of investigating criminal behavior — of whatever sort — requires a strong heart and an iron stomach. Detectives' work brings them constantly into contact with the worst of human corruption, malfeasance and simple muck. Spend enough time in that muck and after a while it becomes harder to remember that most people are good, decent, worth working for; cops everywhere run the risk of forgetting that they're not the only good guys.

Admittedly, sleuthing in the wine business is (usually) not nearly as nasty as nosing into, say, Enron, Halliburton, Wall Street or Republican politics, but the Dark Side works here, too, resulting in price gouging, adulterated wines, phony labeling, careless overuse of herbicides, pesticides and fertilizers, all pursuit of unearned gains. Still, the wine biz is mostly composed of farmers and small businesspeople who risk their assets, their labors and their hopes to bring to market a product that adds immeasurably to consumers' quality of life.

And as my old pal Mole says, "Mosta dese folks woik like galley slaves 'n' salt miners, takin' care o' dere vines like dey was dere own kids, fussin', worryin' 'bout weather 'n' bugs 'n' markets harder to pr'dict than slot machines — 'n' when dey bring in da grapes, dey try lak crazy t' make a drink dat's bee-ootiful. Mosta dem, 'specially in Ory-gone, ony dream 'bout someday makin' a profit. If dat ain't love, what is? Gotta be love, 'cuz it sure ain't money."

And the game is rough for all the players along the line from growers to consumers — importers, wholesalers, retailers, restaurateurs — with more losers than big winners. Lots of wine folk grimace at the old gag: "Wanna make a small fortune in wine? Start with a large one."

So why do it? Because there's something so unnameably beautiful in the experience of a fine wine, especially in the encounter with good food in the company of good friends and family. Pull a cork on a good bottle, pour, delight in elusive colors in the play of light, sniff a complex garden of aromas, sip and savor flavors that fill the mouth and linger on the tongue and change with every bite of food and every passing minute of time. That's the magic, the driving force of wine, a resounding world of good only rarely tainted by any crime.

That's why, when I sleuth and write these columns, I almost always seek and find the good, the tasty, the sublime. Recent cases:

Find ElvenGlade Vineyards 2001 Pinot Gris ($10): This vintage marks the first release from a small producer near Gaston in Yamhill County, owned by Bill Kelley. The wine was crafted by the gifted David O'Reilly, who also makes his own superb line under the Sineann label; his rendition of ElvenGlade's grapes is creamy, rich with flavors and aromas of melons and ripe pears, but balanced in acidity for good food, just delicious, mouth-filling and soul-satisfying.

David O'Reilly also produces one of Oregon's best, and best-value, pinot noirs: O'Reilly's 2001 Pinot Noir ($13) has the fruit, flavor, balance and price to make it delish to serve with a wide range of spring-harvest foods.

Still lurking on some retailers' shelves, you should be able to uncover the last bottles of Springhill 1999 Reserve Pinot Noir ($18); grab it, for depth, complexity, rich flavors and aromas. Open the bottle and pour a little into a glass, let both sit for about two hours before serving. Be happy.

Hatcher Wineworks (McMinnville) is a small producer with talents for buying superb grapes and blending for distinctive style, a traditional practice in Burgundy: Hatcher's A to Z 2001 Pinot Noir ($19) is fine wine and super value.

This week at Sundance Wine Cellars, about 40 people gathered to taste wines from an unusual source — South Africa. (White) South Africans have been growing grapes and making wine for 350 years — but until the end of racial oppression and forced segregation under the policy of Apartheid in the early '90s, most wine folk just weren't interested in their products. But since the demise of that brutish, criminal practice, South Africa has come back to the world, and the world might be ready to come back to South Africa's wines. At least that's the bet placed by young Matthew Parrott, a South African transplanted to Eugene, who, with encouragement from friends here and there, has launched Paragon Wines, importing from the Cape region (for now) and hoping to reach consumers in Eugene, the Northwest, and beyond.

Mr. Parrott poured a selection of wines from several producers and in several varietals — sauvignon blanc, rosé, cabernet sauvignon and pinotage (a South African hybrid of pinot noir and cinsault, quite interesting). The wines were good value, most priced in the $8-15 range, of good quality. The lineup's star was Reyneke (RAIN-eky) 2001 Reserve ($20), a blend of shiraz (syrah), merlot and cab, rich in dark fruit sniffies and tasties, generous even behind firm tannins (should age gracefully), from a producer dedicated to biodynamic growing (think organic to the third power). The wines won't arrive for about five weeks, but they're worth the wait — and the money.

Suss out these good wines, from good folks, and take your own special bite — or sip — out of crime.

		Wine: Grape Expectations You picked a wine time to squeeze me, Lucille. Grape Expectations You picked a wine time to squeeze me, Lucille. BY LANCE SPARKS Sleuth, snoop, private eye/dick, gumshoe, quidnunc, ferret — by whatever name, the job of investigating criminal behavior — of whatever sort — requires a strong heart and an iron stomach. Detectives' work brings them constantly into contact with the worst of human corruption, malfeasance and simple muck. Spend enough time in that muck and after a while it becomes harder to remember that most people are good, decent, worth working for; cops everywhere run the risk of forgetting that they're not the only good guys. Admittedly, sleuthing in the wine business is (usually) not nearly as nasty as nosing into, say, Enron, Halliburton, Wall Street or Republican politics, but the Dark Side works here, too, resulting in price gouging, adulterated wines, phony labeling, careless overuse of herbicides, pesticides and fertilizers, all pursuit of unearned gains. Still, the wine biz is mostly composed of farmers and small businesspeople who risk their assets, their labors and their hopes to bring to market a product that adds immeasurably to consumers' quality of life. And as my old pal Mole says, "Mosta dese folks woik like galley slaves 'n' salt miners, takin' care o' dere vines like dey was dere own kids, fussin', worryin' 'bout weather 'n' bugs 'n' markets harder to pr'dict than slot machines — 'n' when dey bring in da grapes, dey try lak crazy t' make a drink dat's bee-ootiful. Mosta dem, 'specially in Ory-gone, ony dream 'bout someday makin' a profit. If dat ain't love, what is? Gotta be love, 'cuz it sure ain't money." And the game is rough for all the players along the line from growers to consumers — importers, wholesalers, retailers, restaurateurs — with more losers than big winners. Lots of wine folk grimace at the old gag: "Wanna make a small fortune in wine? Start with a large one." So why do it? Because there's something so unnameably beautiful in the experience of a fine wine, especially in the encounter with good food in the company of good friends and family. Pull a cork on a good bottle, pour, delight in elusive colors in the play of light, sniff a complex garden of aromas, sip and savor flavors that fill the mouth and linger on the tongue and change with every bite of food and every passing minute of time. That's the magic, the driving force of wine, a resounding world of good only rarely tainted by any crime. That's why, when I sleuth and write these columns, I almost always seek and find the good, the tasty, the sublime. Recent cases: Find ElvenGlade Vineyards 2001 Pinot Gris ($10): This vintage marks the first release from a small producer near Gaston in Yamhill County, owned by Bill Kelley. The wine was crafted by the gifted David O'Reilly, who also makes his own superb line under the Sineann label; his rendition of ElvenGlade's grapes is creamy, rich with flavors and aromas of melons and ripe pears, but balanced in acidity for good food, just delicious, mouth-filling and soul-satisfying. David O'Reilly also produces one of Oregon's best, and best-value, pinot noirs: O'Reilly's 2001 Pinot Noir ($13) has the fruit, flavor, balance and price to make it delish to serve with a wide range of spring-harvest foods. Still lurking on some retailers' shelves, you should be able to uncover the last bottles of Springhill 1999 Reserve Pinot Noir ($18); grab it, for depth, complexity, rich flavors and aromas. Open the bottle and pour a little into a glass, let both sit for about two hours before serving. Be happy. Hatcher Wineworks (McMinnville) is a small producer with talents for buying superb grapes and blending for distinctive style, a traditional practice in Burgundy: Hatcher's A to Z 2001 Pinot Noir ($19) is fine wine and super value. This week at Sundance Wine Cellars, about 40 people gathered to taste wines from an unusual source — South Africa. (White) South Africans have been growing grapes and making wine for 350 years — but until the end of racial oppression and forced segregation under the policy of Apartheid in the early '90s, most wine folk just weren't interested in their products. But since the demise of that brutish, criminal practice, South Africa has come back to the world, and the world might be ready to come back to South Africa's wines. At least that's the bet placed by young Matthew Parrott, a South African transplanted to Eugene, who, with encouragement from friends here and there, has launched Paragon Wines, importing from the Cape region (for now) and hoping to reach consumers in Eugene, the Northwest, and beyond. Mr. Parrott poured a selection of wines from several producers and in several varietals — sauvignon blanc, rosé, cabernet sauvignon and pinotage (a South African hybrid of pinot noir and cinsault, quite interesting). The wines were good value, most priced in the $8-15 range, of good quality. The lineup's star was Reyneke (RAIN-eky) 2001 Reserve ($20), a blend of shiraz (syrah), merlot and cab, rich in dark fruit sniffies and tasties, generous even behind firm tannins (should age gracefully), from a producer dedicated to biodynamic growing (think organic to the third power). The wines won't arrive for about five weeks, but they're worth the wait — and the money. Suss out these good wines, from good folks, and take your own special bite — or sip — out of crime.
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