Soter Vineyards

Another day in Oregon, more outstanding wine.

My day started out with an appointment I’d made to taste at Soter Vineyards. I was met and greeted enthusiastically by Chris Poulos their Sales & Marketing Coordinator.

Starting in the office I was officially welcomed with a taste of their 2003 “Beacon Hill.” Brut Rose. At four years old this wine is incredibly youthful. It seems to have a minimum of five years ahead of it, probably more. Brioche and biscuit characteristics dominate the mid palate and enhance a rich, round mouth-feel. The finish is a killer and lingers for a nice long while. A tremendous sparkler.

From the office we made our way up to Mineral Springs, the estate vineyard. We passed  the spot at the top of a hill where their tasting room is under construction.

Once at the vineyard we dug in to some Pinots.

“Beacon Hill” came first. This was a 2005 and it seems to be coming into it’s own quite nicely. Well balanced with cherry characteristics and proper acidity one can’t  help but compare it to a fine Burgundy. A few more years in bottle should help the already present earthiness develop further. I would expect this one to still drink well, perhaps even better, in eight or nine years.

The estate vineyard “Mineral Springs” is just being brought on-line. In fact the 2005 I sampled was the first bottling. Not nearly as resolved at this point in it’s evolution as the “Beacon Hill” it promises to ultimately reward the patient with a potentially more complex experience. Tremendous spiciness and a big bouquet are already present in the “Mineral Springs” bottling. Time will serve to make this a stronger offering. Each subsequent vintage also holds a lot of promise as more mature vines will likely result in even nicer releases from this vineyard.

Soter Vineyards is clearly a name to keep in mind for top notch Pinot Noir & Sparkling Wine. If you’re in the Willamette Valley area you’d do well to try for an appointment. In addition to the elegance of the wines, the property is beautiful and well worth touring. When you add in their friendliness, Soter Vineyards is my kind of Triple Threat.

Kramer Vineyards- Willamette Valley Oregon

Every trip I take to a wine producing region to taste wine results in some memorable tasting room experiences.

Having spent less than 2 days so far in Oregon I’ve already tasted some great wines and met some friendly folks.

But then I walked into Kramer Vineyards late in the day yesterday. After a few minutes at the very welcoming tasting bar sampling one of their tasty sparkling wines I was asked if I had any interest in tasting a six year vertical of their Barrel Select Pinot Noir. Any interest? I had to laugh, this is exactly the sort of thing you hope to stumble accross when you’re out wine tasting. And to make it even more appealing it was an incredibly modest $12.00 for the privilege.

I was ushered into the back room where I sat with the owners and winemakers Trudy & Keith Kramer as well as their friends the Lint’s (RJ & Junaita) who it turns out are in the process of getting their own winery (Plum Hill Vineyard) up and running. Then I was also introduced to Marilyn Blen who seems to do a variety of different things around the winery including acting as in house chef (more on that later).

I sat down and was poured generous quantities of the above mentioned Pinot Noirs from vintage years 2002 through 2006. The 2006 came from a barrel sample as it’s a few months away from being bottled.

Each of the Pinot’s was well balanced and very drinkable. In the 2001 you can detect that it’s optimum drinking window is coming to a close. But it’s very enjoyable right now and the color has muted a bit from the cherry red of a young Pinot to take on some rust color.

The nose on all 6 was very distinct. The 2006 promises to be a blockbuster. It has a bigger almost jammy nose with lots of dark fruit. By the time it’s released next fall it should really be singing.

My favorites were the 2003 and 2004. The 2003 was incredibly perfumed and just beautiful to drink. The sort of wine you want to grab a bottle of and sit outside and consume every last drop of. The 2004 also had a unique nose which I could not quite put my finger on. Anise came to mind but I’ll reconsider when I taste it again.

We then moved on to their 2004 Heritage Pinot. WOW, What a tremendous wine. A big round mouth-feel, lots of cherry and spice characteristics and a lengthy finish. Just fantastic.

It was at this point that I was asked to hang with them for dinner. How could anyone ever say no to this friendly, gregarious bunch. We enjoyed salad and a slow cooked brisket that Marilyn had prepared with her family’s plum BBQ sauce recipe. Delicious doesn’t even begin to describe it. Of course several other wines were poured with the meal including a unique one called Carmine I believe. It comes from several grapes being combined genetically. The last wine was a Pinot port. A terrific way to end, it paired nicely with chocolate.

Close to 3 1/2 hours after I walked into Kramer Vineyards I actually left. Richer not only with the new wines I discovered but with an incredible few hours spent with some genuinely lovely and generous people who happen to make delicious wine and sell it at a very fair price.

If you have the chance visit them. If you don’t have that opportunity order some through their website KramerWine.com.

Eagles - Long Road Out of Eden

When the Eagles reunited for a tour in 1994 most people believed it was a one time cash grab. Once around the park Jeeves, fill the truck with money, and head home. Except it didn’t happen that way. Thirteen years later they’re still together. That’s longer than their original (1971-1980) run.

And now, 28 years after “The Long Run,” there’s finally a new Eagles studio album.

“Long Road Out of Eden” is, well for one thing, long. Twenty new songs spread over 2 discs. For a band that hasn’t released a full album of songs since 8-track tapes were popular, the largesse is not only excusable but welcome.

Which version of the Eagles sound do you want? The early country feel? The later epics? You want Joe Walsh guitar licks? Timothy B. Schmit on lead vocals? Whatever piece of the Eagles sound suits your fancy “Long Road Out of Eden” delivers.

Most importantly those heavenly harmonies are ever present. In fact, if there is one thing most consistently at hand over the 91 minutes their new release runs, it’s the Eagles legendary harmonies.

Henley, Frey, Walsh & Schmit all have their own songs to shine on lead vocals. The underpinning of each though is when all 4 of their voices come together to form that classic Eagles sound.

If you want this album, and if you like the Eagles you should want it, you’ll either have to go to Wal-Mart or order it on-line. The Eagles made a deal to distribute it exclusively though them at retail. Shopping Wal-Mart is a small price to pay for the pleasure of a new Eagles release. One benefit of this deal is that at around $12 it’s priced like a single CD.

Here’s hoping the next one arrives before 2035.

The Police - Live at Madison Square Garden

It’s been 3 months since I saw The Police play the Garden.

Over twenty years is how long I had waited for the opportunity, since I missed them the first time around, before they broke up.

In retrospect, I wish I was still waiting. Some things are better on paper, or in your minds eye, than in reality.

If there was an ounce of passion on display at Madison Square Garden when I saw The Police, it was clearly not coming from the stage. Cold, calculated, apathetic and disinterested are all words that accurately describe their August performance at the greatest arena in the world.

All three of them are good musicians, at the very least. Their set was far from sloppy. In fact they seemed to have it down. Missed notes were not the problem. The set list was not an issue.

The length of the show was one issue. Clocking in about 15 minutes shy of two hours is completely unacceptable. Arena headliners who have no problem charging hundreds of dollars for the right to see them have no business playing a millisecond less than 2 hours. It may not be written in stone anywhere, but it should be.

The length of the set and the price of the ticket are minor grievances compared to the utter lack of zeal displayed by Stewart Copeland, Andy Summers & Sting. Over twenty years between tours, playing New York City and MSG for the first time in even longer and they seemed bored to tears up there. If the musicians on stage don’t care, how can I care? I have seen toll booth collectors more excited about their jobs than the members of The Police are about theirs.

Maybe they do hate each other as much as it’s always been rumored. That would explain the lack of interaction between them onstage. If they had at least channeled their hatred  that would have been something with feeling. As it stood there were only two things The Police proved for sure, their love of money, and a total disdain for their audience.

If you’re thinking about plunking down some money to see The Police, do yourself a favor, flush it down the toilet instead, at least you’ll save on gas and parking.

It’s three months later, and it still stings (pun intended).