Greetings from Bandon!

Tess and I thought we'd take a little trip to Bandon, on the Oregon coast. This little village has a few spectacular restaurants as well as terrific seafood to purchase throughout the town. With all of the seafood available to us in today's markets I thought I might just give you a few of the nicer white wines to have with the many varieties out there. Here we go, the pick of the best values around;

"¢ Macon Blanc: We are beginning to see this Chardonnay from the little town of Macon, France hitting the shelves in record numbers. Its sister, the Macon Villages, is also making quite an appearance. The Macon Chardonnays, no matter how you slice them have a few very particular flavors that we have come to love from Macon.

First, we see the crispness of the Chardonnay from this area as well as the malic (apple) flavors in the nose as well as in the finish of the Macon's. Those of you who do not like tons of oak in your wine, especially the Chardonnay grape based wines, will love Macon Chardonnays.

"¢ Dry Rieslings: These are much overlooked white wines as the sweeter Rieslings sell almost five to one over the crispy, clean and very little sugary sisters. I love dry Rieslings and those offering the fruit and crispness of the sweeter sisters but not the sugar are in for a big treat, indeed. The drier Rieslings (those over 11% alcohol) can be very, very good with almost any seafood dish with the exception of assorted shellfish. Halibut, sole and the trout family are made for the dry Riesling and the fruitiness as well as slatey feelings of this great white wine are a marriage made in vino heaven. I tend to the German dry Rieslings although we make some very nice Rieslings in Oregon as well as the cooler climes of California and Washington.

"¢ Pinot Grigio, Pinot Gris: There has been considerable press on this venerable white wine from Italy as well as France and the United States. The Grigio from Italy are normally from the northeastern part of the peninsula and can display intense fruit, dry melon flavors and a minerally backbone. The great treat and worth the effort to find are the lovely Pinot Gris from Oregon. The Gris is made from all around the state but the better know Pinot Gris are from the Willamette Valley. Such great names as Rex Hill, Cristom, Ponzi and Roxyann run the gambit of the state and are producing quite stunning examples of this dry white.

This wine is a winner with seafood of all kinds and can clean the palate on a warm summer night like nothing else. Again, look for the Gris/Grigio with a bit of alcohol, say 13% but not much more than that. I think that the Grigio benefits from some heat in the finish because the fruit and the palate feel can take this kind of finish. If you are going above this level of alcohol, be careful. As we approach the 14% level the heat can then cut into the suppleness of the grape and trash whatever wonderful bouquet you might otherwise have enjoyed. Besides, it is not about the alcohol, it is about the flavors that marry best with seafood that count.

Well, there you have them. I think these selections of white wines will serve you well. See you next week!