Bottles and barrels, Territorial Vineyards & Wine Company Get Back, Napa! The outlying and urban wineries of Eugene. BY LANCE SPARKS Recent cover story in Main Ingredient, trade mag published by the Oregon Restaurant Association, headlines: "Oregon Wines Are Hot." Possible responses: Wow, no kidding? Whodathunk? Or: PICK UP YOUR MESSAGES, PEOPLE! Oregon wines have been bustin' out all over. We've had a nearly decade-long run of vintages that rated from very good to outstanding (with a couple of shaky years, '95 and '97, when some folks made yummy wines and others struggled). Oregon pinot noir in particular — a winelover's daydream and a grape-grower's nightmare — has roused rave reviews from the world wine press. But Oregon pinot gris — crisply dry white that keeps lovely company with fish (especially salmon) — has elicited equal or greater enthusiasm. Lately, other whites — pinot blanc, riesling, gewurztraminer — have earned stellar ratings. Even some "big reds" (cabernet sauvignon, syrah, merlot, zinfandel) from our high-heat regions, such as the Rogue Valley and the Columbia Gorge, have drawn grudging respect. Add it up: Just a few decades ago wine sages argued that Oregon was too cool, too wet, too something to grow wine grapes; now, the only real questions that remain involve deciding just which of our valleys will be best for certain wine. The real news — MESSAGE COMING IN! — is that Eugene ranks among the best wine areas in the state. Oh, sure, wandering wine mavens still gravitate to Polk and Yamhill counties, drawn by labels with glam and bling — Domaine Drouhin with its French cachet comes to mind — but the juice produced in and around Bluegene is elbowing local labels into the front rows. Our fair burg is ringed by strong vineyards and producers. Start at Monroe where Benton Lane just completed a new facility and where Broadley Vineyards has thrived for decades (their '94 Claudia's Choice Pinot Noir was rated top pinot in the world for that vintage by Wine Spectator). In tiny Cheshire, we have Rain Song. Junction City boasts High Pass. Elmira's got LaVelle Vineyards with a broad array of wines and a beautiful tasting room in the Fifth Street Market. Secret House Vineyards in Veneta also produces a strong line-up, including some very good sparkling wines. For wild variety of unusual wines, though, little Lorane's Chateau Lorane has few rivals. But Eugene itself has been showing real muscle at the center of the ring: Hinman/Silvan Ridge is one of the most venerable sites in Oregon (est. 1979), and since being acquired by the Chambers family has been dedicated to producing top quality wines, especially pinot noir and gris, but also some surprises: We recently tasted the Silvan Ridge 2002 Viognier, a dry white traditionally grown in France's Rhone Valley; the SR version was delicious, crisp with bright fruit flavors and perfectly balanced. We also love the Silvan Ridge Early Muscat, a semi-sparkling dessert wine with delicate lychee-like fruit, just terrific. The stronghold for Eugene wineries is the castle on the hill, King Estate. King wines rate consistently among the state's best — especially their stylish pinot gris, regular and reserve, but their single-vineyard and Estate pinot noirs, which are distinctive and distinguished, defined by that special quality called terroir, the complex flavors of defined place. But the skilled King staff have also extended their expertise and use of their state-of-the-art facilities to other winemakers. This kind of collegiality, in contrast to cut-throat competitiveness, can only ensure that Oregon wines continue to develop and the industry to mature, and all ships rise on the rising tide. Case in point, Eugene's newest label, J. Albin Winery: John Albin has been growing grapes for "23 years and going" in northeast Yamhill, selling fruit to top growers. In 2000, Albin made his first wines under his own label through a cooperative arrangement with King Estate. Albin's 2002 Pinot Gris is bright and lively, the 2001 Pinot Noir rich and round. Bruce and Bettina Biehl's Eugene Wine Cellars is located smack in the heart of the city, 255 Madison Street, and their broad line-up of wines can be sampled in their tasting room. Drop in Wednesday nights, when live music and fine food from Koho Bistro round out the tasting experience. Bruce Biehl has been managing Oregon vineyards for 25 years, notably at King Estate, has been in on the birth of many vineyards, knows the best growers and sources for grapes. EWC wines have been consistently high quality and affordable, are featured in many local restaurants by the glass. All are good, some special: EWC 2001 Melon ( a French grape, not cantaloupe or casaba) shows a pretty tangerine note; 2000 Merlot uses Washington grapes, is big, a bit tannic, should be fine with some bottle-age; 2001 Syrah is bold, mouth-filling. Territorial Vineyards & Wine Company has opened at 907 W. 3rd, producing some fine vino: Territorial 2001 Pinot Gris, featured at Ring of Fire, is dry, crisp, refined. Try also chardonnay and pinot noir. Ron Kuhn at tiny Briggs Hill produces little wine, but it's big on flavor. Check them at Art and the Vineyard. Domaine Meriwether has hauled their facilities to Carlton, but Eugene's still home, and to some of the best sparkling wine in the state. Dom. Meriwether's Capt. Wm. Clark Cuvee is just top-shelf. There it is, Eugene's vino homies, with more coming. World-class quality for local bux; ain't that a gasser? Drink up, be happy, and don't forget to beat Bush.     The Power of PANINI Grilled sandwiches go gourmet. BY BOBBIE WILLIS If there's a rising star in the sandwich world right now, it would have to be panini. Panini (singular panino) are traditional Italian sandwiches that combine two kinds of old-fashioned goodness — that of artisanal breads and the familiarity of a grilled cheese sandwich — into something that feels fresh and newly discovered. In Italy, the word panini means "small breads," describing the rolls used to make the sandwiches. These rolls are the first things that distinguish the panino from its grilled cheese cousin, giving both a good crust and a hearty chewiness to the final grilled product. Also, panini can be filled with anything from savory pesto, pungent Italian cheeses and salty deli meats, to milder, creamy cheeses with sweet jams or jellies for a dessert-like sandwich. Finally, panini are grilled in a grooved sandwich press called, logically enough, a panini grill. The pressure and heat of the grill give the panino both its distinctive grill-marked crust and a melted, basically squashed (in the gourmet way) texture. The warmth and density of the sandwich seems to intensify the flavors of the fillings. To see what's going on with panini in Eugene, I visited three delis and sampled the sandwiches. If you're pondering the panini, these three may convert you from your old grilled cheese forever …   Tre Amici: The Beauty of Bread Tre Amici is kind of hidden in the Wild Oats/BiMart shopping center across from Sheldon High School on Willakenzie. It is, however, worth the search. Not only will you find a long list of breakfast and lunch items, but you'll also be delighted to see a variety of coffee drinks, Italian sodas, and gelato desserts. It has plenty of seating, including a couple of outdoor tables, and the décor leans toward Tuscan yellows, reds and oranges with accents of black trim and cherry wood. Here I order an Under the Tuscan Sun panino ($6.95) filled with Tuscan Soppressa salami, provolone cheese, roasted red peppers, extra virgin olive oil and balsamic vinegar all grilled on foccacia bread. Panini at Tre Amici come with a choice of soup or salad, and I order the soup — Turkey Corn Chowder. The flavors of the sandwich combine very nicely: the mild provolone and fruity olive oil complement the strong flavors of the salami and balsamic vinegar. The roasted red peppers add just the right touch of sweet smokiness. The foccacia bread is really wonderful, maybe the best bread of my panini taste testing. It has a good crust, and the inside is tender and chewy — perfectly balanced. But this particular sandwich could use a few more minutes on the panini grill — it comes to me without the characteristic grill marks and not nearly as melted and warmed through as I expect. The Turkey Corn Chowder is dynamite: creamy, but not too rich, filled with chunks of potatoes, carrots, turkey and kernels of sweet corn. Tre Amici has eight other panini selections to choose from, not to mention a whole slew of breakfast items, salads, wraps, and Italian specialty dishes. 2532 Willakenzie St. 342-6861. 6:30 am-5:30 pm M-F, 7:30 am-5:30 pm Sa, 8 am-3 pm Su.   City View Deli: Classic Combination At 8th Avenue and Park downtown, you'll find City View Deli, a hip little joint filled with big glass windows, lots of light, sophisticated colors and décor, and, at present, a gallery of city life paintings by Jim Derby that reflect the cool urban feel of the deli itself. It's a small space, but the height of the ceilings and predominance of windows give it the character of a much bigger area. At City View, I order a Turkey, Bacon, Avocado, Lettuce and Swiss Cheese panini ($5.95), which comes with a side of Tim's Cascade Style potato chips and a pickle wedge. Of all the selections of panini I try, the one at City View looks the most like what I expect a panini to look like — the sandwich is built on a narrow roll, which is compressed and marked with diagonal strips of grill lines. The inside is dense and melted, and the flavors work well together — turkey, bacon and avocado make a classic combination, and the Swiss cheese pulls it all together. The only thing about this sandwich is that on taking it as a to go order, the ride from the deli to the office leaves the dense bread overly chewy to the tooth. I'm guessing that eating it right off the grill in the restaurant makes for a better sandwich crust. If you're looking for a place downtown to linger over a lunch hour of good food and great atmosphere, City View Deli will suit you just right. 45 E. 8th Ave. 242-3536. 8 am-3 pm M-F, 8 am-5 pm Sa. Wheelchair accessible.   Perugino: Panini Perfection Perugino is another downtown spot, on Willamette between 7th and 8th avenues. Perugino combines kind of an industrial brick and concrete style with beautiful lighting to create something that feels both like a large, sophisticated dining room and a casual, secret bistro. There's always a stunning gallery of artwork (right now, some really outstanding photography by Adrienne Adam), as well as displays of dramatic Italian pottery and ceramics. At Perugino, I order the Fromaggio Semplice panino ($4.25). As the name suggests, this is a simple item: a crusty roll split and filled with slices of provolone and smoked gouda cheese, a layer of basil leaves, and some pesto I add for an extra fifty cents on the suggestion of the wait person. All these ingredients come together in perfect balance: chewy but tender bread with a crisp crustiness and a filling that melts and melds into simple, but sublime, harmony. Part of the secret at Perugino seems to be that the panini rolls are fairly flat, and they're sliced so that one side is markedly flatter than the other. The sandwich is also grilled long enough to leave golden brown grill marks, to melt the cheese with the pesto and to soften up the basil leaves just a little. Perugino definitely hits the mark in terms of my expectations for what a panino will look and taste like. 767 Willamette St. 687-9102. 6:30 am-10 pm M-W, 6:30 am-midnight Th-F, 8 am-midnight Sa, 10 am-10 pm Su. Wheelchair accessible.     Breakfast of Champions Pump Café wins over a fan for The Diner. By Marina Taylor Coming of age in a small town, much of my youth was misspent in diners, late at night when everything else was closed, or early afternoon when breakfast was no longer available anywhere else. The air in these diners was as greasy as the undercooked hashbrowns, the waitresses had dead eyes and the food was the last reason you'd ever want to come back. These experiences tainted my view of diners, and most breakfast foods, for a long time. Fortunately, The Pump Cafe in Springfield offers the other side to the diner coin: a fresh, high quality restaurant with a neighborhood feel and a menu full of handcrafted, delicious comfort foods. The first thing to convince me when I walked in, at the recommendation of many a friend, was the smell. The place smells wonderful: fresh coffee and cinnamon rolls (they make their own rolls every morning, $2.25 each). The place is a remodeled gas station, the tall garage doors permanently rolled up and replaced with bright south-facing windows. The wall space is filled with auto-oriented memorabilia, old license plates, uniforms, big saws from the glory days of lumber, and those paintings with the Christmas lights embedded in them to make the headlights in the cars and the streetlights glow. There are no vinyl booths, but a mismatched selection of antique oak tables and sturdy wooden chairs fill the open space in the two rooms. Pump Café owners Ray & Eva Moreland, Trudy Logan (center.) Breakfast and lunch are the only meals served at The Pump, and they're done traditional style. Breakfast is bacon and eggs, biscuits and gravy, omelettes, Raspberry Cream Cheese French Toast, waffles, almost anything you could think to want. Lunch is hot and cold sandwiches (tall as mountains with nice crispy lettuce), fish and chips, burgers and fries of course, and salads. Fair warning on the menu, it gets a little cutsie. My favorite omelette, From the Ground Up!!!! (exclamation points are theirs, not mine) is a great veggie omelette packed with flavor. It's the homemade touches that make the difference in any restaurant. It's an amazingly simple trick: homemade bread, sauce or burger can bring up the quality ratio exponentially over anything out of a can. The Pump Cafe transforms somewhat tired Americana classics into love-filled specialties. A bowl of oatmeal becomes a special treat if you order it with the caramel and nuts (left over from the cinnamon rolls, it's delicious). Homemade cornbread, biscuits, chili, soups — the hard work pays off in great taste. There is a nice sense of familiarity and friendly welcome too: Regulars chat with the waiters, and when you clean your plate don't put it past your waiter to congratulate you ("Nice work there, honey!"). People linger over coffee and a newspaper, and I hated to finish the last drops of my perfect mocha, leave my sunny window seat and start my frantic day. So maybe this is what a diner was really meant to be all along, and this is what the fuss is all about. A nice little spot, some friendly faces and food you can rely on. I'm glad I found it, or I'd spend the rest of my days in a diner-equals-Denny's world, which, unlike the Pump Cafe, is no place to be. 710 Main St., Springfield. 726-0622. 7 am-4 pm M-F, 8 am-2 pm Sa. Wheelchair accessible. $-$$. AE/V/MC.       Happening Server: Ginger Spears "I like to keep moving, be active," says Ginger Spears, explaining why she always returns to restaurant work. "I don't like to sit down." Spears has been sitting down more than she would care to since knee surgery in March for a volleyball injury. She will be back as waitress and day manager at the Campus Glenwood soon after the restaurant reopens following spring-break remodeling. "I think I'm a servant at heart," says mother-of-two Spears, who began waiting tables at age 15 at Maya's Mexican Restaurant in Santa Barbara. "That's where I feel good — I'm a people pleaser." In 1990, not long after escaping California in favor of Eugene, she spotted the Willamette Street Glenwood from her apartment window. "It was the cutest place — used to have cloth curtains," she recalls. "I got a job. It wasn't my intention to stay forever." After nine years on Willamette, she became manager at the campus location in 1999. "I can't remember a day when I haven't been happy to go to work," she says. "I love the people. The food is good, or people wouldn't wait an hour for a table. Customers say, 'You treat me so special.' But I treat everyone special!"