lummi island wine tasting sept 4-5 ’26
This weekend open Friday & Saturday 4-6 pm
Dawn full moon over Orcas Island and the Alaska ferry on its way home to Bellingham..
Friday Bread This Week
Jewish Sour Rye: A traditional rye bread made with a rye starter instead of wheat for traditional rye flavors, about half rye flour, malt syrup and caraway seeds. Brushed with a cornstarch glaze before and after baking to finish – 2/$5.
Toasted Pecan & Flax Seed – Also made with a rye starter which creates a different flavor profile. The final dough is made with bread flour and fresh milled whole wheat, toasted pecans, flax seeds, and honey, for a very flavorful bread!- $5/loaf
…and pastry this week:
Traditional Croissants – Made with a levain and prefermented “old dough” – where a portion of the flour, water, salt and yeast is fermented overnight. The final dough includes more flour, butter, milk and sugar, and laminated with more butter before being cut and shaped into traditional french croissants. — 2/$5
This week’s wine tasting
L’Amauve Le Rose d’Yvonne ’24 France $14
Pale salmon-pink; nose of red berry fruits and balsamic menthol notes and fresh, thirst-quenching, fruity attack flowing into zippy aromatics.
MAN Cabernet Sauvignon ’24 South Africa $14
Consistently appealing aromas and flavors of ripe plum, red currant, violets, Italian herbs and exotic spices; vibrant flavors of dark berries, spicy plum an lingering hints of orange peel.
Pascual Toso Reserve Malbec ’22 Argentina $21
Dry, full-bodied and richly layered with aromas and flavors of ripe blackberry, sous bois, and toasty oak, with firm, fine-grained tannins that go well with savory, rich. or spicy spicy dishes. A long-time local favorite!
Wine Shop Announcement
While we have no “official” date in mind, and while we have heartily enjoyed the community that has thrived around the wine shop for the last 20 years, Pat and I are feeling our age in many ways and are now working to clear our existing inventory over the next few months. No final closing date has been set, and we will continue the Friday tastings through the end of the year.
Alas, as I have lamented to many of you over the last several years, our little business, along with scores of wineries, distributors, and retailers around the country, have taken a huge hit in the last dozen years as fallout from the “Costco laws” passed here in Washington and other wine-producing states across the country, radically changing the rules for wine and liquor sales. Between the time Prohibition ended in 1933, every manufacturer and distributor of alcoholic beverages in the country was required to charge all wholesale buyers/resellers the same wholesale price for their products. Btw, those laws were the direct result of two long-fought antitrust cases against corporate giants A&P and Standard Oil.
Costco spent many $millions lobbying state legislatures around the country to repeal those rules, and they prevailed. As a result, because of the sheer volume of business it does, Costco gets enormous wholesale price discounts, paying substantially less per bottle from every producer and distributor, and retailing it for substantially less than the “wholesale” price the rest of us pay.
Many of our longtime distributors were starved out of business, stopped their periodic wine tastings for local retailers, and stopped sending reps to the Island to pour samples for us. That did away with a lot of the fun, travel, and learning we have so enjoyed from tasting wine around our region and other parts of the world of the last 20 years, and decreased our annual sales by about 60%.
New Paintings by Anne Gibert
Due largely to Covid, our walls have been blessed with the same collection of paintings from our neighbor and long-time friend Anne Gibert for several years! Back in the early days of the wine shop, she was sometimes our only visitor, and we have enjoyed many long and meandering conversations over many years. Our current plan is to put up more recent works before opening this week!
Economics of the Heart: Money Can’t Buy Them Love
One takeaway from this Costco zeitgeist is that the concentration of more and more wealth into fewer and fewer hands is one of many direct results from the last 40 years of Republican/Heritage political ambitions. Since Heritage got Reagan to end the FCC requirement that news broadcasts must represent all points of view on any topic, Fox News and ilk have been flooding the airwaves with baseless lies about a wide range of non-topics that have turned a substantial percentage of our population into mindless idiots.
At the present time, the wealthiest 1% of US households controls nearly a third (30.9%) of the nation’s wealth (as of 2024.) Of those, the top 0.1% holds about 13.9% of the total wealth. Curiously, none of these guys comes across as a particularly happy camper. Their money buys political actions in their favor monetarily, but it appears that the small handful of them already own something like 20% of Everything Everywhere, but don’t look or sound particularly “happy” about it.
What we can be sure of is that the government these guys think they have bought does not seem particularly interested or capable of making intelligent decisions about anything. The Tweetster’s war on Iran has shown beyond a shadow of a doubt that the wanton firing of experienced and dedicated federal government employees, including senior military officers in key leadership positions, has severely damaged our nation’s strategic global options and long-time alliances with allies around the world, and pissed away the stockpile of munitions and the options they represent on tactically and strategically empty targets.
The following is offered as a bit of comic relief on the seriousness of our predicament…
lummi island wine tasting Aug 28-29 ’26
This week open Friday & Saturday 4-6 pm
lunar reflections…
Friday Bread This Week
Seeded Country Hearth- Made with a mix of bread flour and fresh milled whole wheat with pumpkin, sunflower and poppy seeds for a nice rustic bread!- $5/loaf
Cinnamon Raisin – Starts with a poolish of bread and fresh milled rye flour fermented overnight with bread flour and freshly milled whole wheat and rolled oats, some honey for sweetness, a little milk for a tender crumb, lots of raisins, and a healthy dose of cinnamon…a hearty rustic loaf, great for breakfast toast or nice French toast – $5/loaf
…and pastry this week:
Individual Cinnamon Rolls – Made with a rich, sweet roll dough of eggs, butter and sugar, rolled out and spread with pastry cream, sprinkled with cinnamon sugar, rolled up, and sliced into individual rolls for baking. – 2/$5.
This week’s wine tasting
Chapoutier Belleruche Blanc ’23 France $14
Delicious blend of grenache blanc and roussanne; fragrant and perfumed with a light, grilled-lemon note over ripe melon, and a lingering palate of rich white peach.
Wolftrap Red ’24 South Africa $14
Consistently appealing aromas and flavors of ripe plum, red currant, violets, Italian herbs and exotic spices; vibrant flavors of dark berries, spicy plum an lingering hints of orange peel.
MAN Vintners Pinotage ’23 South Africa $14
Aromas of dark coffee beans, red berries, nutmeg, and vanilla spice turning to dark berries and smoky plum; rustic yet silky and juicy, with smooth tannins, balanced acidity, and comforting intensity.
Economics of the Heart: Lessons from Beziers
Albigensian crusade, Beziers, FR 1209 courtesy bookofworldhistory.com
Across World history, religions have played pivotal roles in creating division, hatred, brutality, murder, and torture by allowing only one religion to exist at all. The history of the Catholic church is rife with crucifixions, burnings at the stake, drowning of so-called witches, and other horrors.
One enduring example is the 1209 massacre at Beziers in France, where a religious sect called the Cathars had many followers, but there are many complex and unresolvable questions about what they really believed, from ancient Gnostic teachings (which have interesting associations with the historical Jesus), to the unfounded accusations of the dominant Catholic Papal political stance against them.
The bottom line is that mixing politics and religion is an ancient and well-worn path for power-hungry coalitions across human history to establish and maintain a constant flow of unfounded accusations, cruelty, and plain Lies to justify and maintain their political dominance. As the old saying goes, “when Fascism comes to America, it will be draped in the Flag and carrying a cross.”
This is exactly what has been going in the in the Republican Party since the Heritage Foundation made Ronald Reagan their very own pro-billionaire, morally ignorant puppet and set the wheels in motion that have brought us to the current Global Crisis, where Maga Republicans, in consolidation with Fundamentalist- White-Male-Christian sects, have completely abandoned the United States Constitution and are no doubt getting set to do away with Congress and elections altogether. Meanwhile they are actively and most cruelly terrorizing, exterminating, deporting, and ‘disappearing’ people of color, particularly migrants trying to escape the brutality of their countries of origin. The Tweetster and his Cabinet of grovelers have tossed aside our long-time global alliances and won the disdain of our former allies in the Americas, Europe, Asia, and the Pacific. We murder unidentified people in boats with bombs and rockets with completely undocumented assertions that they were all ‘drug smugglers’ who “deserved to die.” From any angle that is outright murder, and counter to every international agreement and human sensibility.
Meanwhile the Tweetster courts favor with our traditional adversaries across the world, $haring with them our most advanced weapons systems while at the same time hollowing out our own military by replacing the best and brightest who have traditionally risen through the ranks to the top leadership spots with incompetent yes-men anxious to follow the Tweetster’s orders, however extravagant, ill-planned, and counter-productive they always prove to be.
The coming November election in barely two months is possibly the most consequential in our nation’s history. Project 2025 has already taken our blessed United States far from the founding principles that set a global example for democracy, fairness, inclusion, and equal protection in law and which we must all fight to bring back. Every one of us must do everything we can to preserve election integrity, take Democratic majorities in both the House and Senate, and support the mountains of litigation challenging MAGA overreach of every stripe.
There are many signs that the public tide is turning as more and more Americans turn against Maga every day. We have two months left to fight, donate, bombard those in power with mail and calls, and together, take control of Congress and begin the hard work of Really Making America Great Again!
lummi island wine tasting aug 21-22 ’26
This week open Friday & Saturday 4-6 pm
calm waters, always soothing….
Friday Bread This Week
French Country Bread – A levain bread made with mostly bread flour, fresh milled whole wheat and a bit of toasted wheat germ. After building the levain with a sourdough culture and mixing the final dough it gets a long cool overnight ferment in the refrigerator. This really allows the flavor to develop in this bread. Not a refined city baguette, but a rustic loaf that you would find in the country side. A great all around bread – $5/loaf
Multi Grain English Muffin Bread – English muffin recipe baked as a loaf that turned out great. Bread flour, spelt, whole wheat, and oatmeal with buttermilk and butter for a nice light, tender crumb. Great toast or sandwiches. $5/loaf
pastry this week…
Muffins – Four muffins 4 per order includes 2ea of:
Cinnamon Roll Muffins- Made with all the traditional muffin ingredients: flour, sugar, eggs and butter with a brown sugar, butter, pecan and cinnamon filling that is swirled through the batter and then topped with a streusel made with more butter, brown sugar and pecans and as if that isn’t enough topped with a cream cheese glaze. Yum. Feed your cinnamon roll fix!
Banana Muffins – Butter, sour cream, eggs, sugar, and bananas; roasting the bananas first helps intensify the flavor and a streusel topping brings a nice crunch!
This week’s wine tasting
Maryhill Viognier ’24 Washington $14
Carefully picked and slowly pressed to extract vibrant aromas of melon, pear, and apricot with traces of pineapple and grapefruit, continuing into a sensational and crisp fruit finish.
Kiona Lemberger ’22 Washington $14
Perfumed aromas with traces of orange zest and flower, with notes of blueberry; an agreeable palate that pairs particularly well with spicy foods!
Rocks of Bawn Cab Sauv ’20 WA $20
Blend from several WA vineyards delivers bright fruit flavors, silky tannins, nice balance and intensity.
Economics of the Heart: The War for American Democracy Heats Up
USS George Washington continues Tweetster’s disastrous war
The coming midterm election is like no other since the Civil War. In that instance, slave-owning Southerners rebelled against the Constitution by attempting to abandon the Union and start their own nation where slavery would be the undisputed law of the land.
We all know how that turned out. National tension over the issue was so significant that by the time of the Missouri Compromise of 1820, Maine entered the Union as a free state, and Missouri entered as a slave state, along with stipulations that no other slave states would be allowed from the vast mid-continent territory acquired in the Louisiana Purchase from France in 1803.
All of us who grew up in Maine paid particular attention in school to these bits of history. Those of us who grew up in Bangor often walked past the downtown statue of Hannibal Hamlin, a Bangor native and Lincoln’s VP.
Over the next several decades, the legality of slavery in some states and its illegality in others led inexorably to the Civil War and the elimination of slavery in every state. Nevertheless persecution, beatings, murders, and countless other miseries of black citizens continued until and still continue in many parts of the South despite the equal protection clause of the 14th Amendment.
The coming mid-term election on Nov. 3 comes at a time when the US government has been taken over by a conspiracy of ultra-wealthy, white, self-entitled, fundamentalist so-called “Christian” men who are persecuting, rounding up, incarcerating, and murdering innocent people. At the same time, this same group (“Project 2025”) and the so-called Republican Party has been systematically dismantling Constitutional rights of citizens, immigrants, foreign visitors, women, and people of any skin color or shade other than White.
Between now and the election, no opportunity should be missed to fight for candidates at all levels of government who will preserve the Constitutional rights that have defined the United States of America for 250 years.
It is no exaggeration to say that if these idiots are not stopped, the future of all Life on Earth is in serious peril.
lummi island wine tasting august 7 ’26
This week open Friday only, closed Saturday
August blooms next door…
Friday Bread This Week
Baker’s week off…no bread this week! 🙁
This week’s wine tasting flight
Maryhill Viognier ’24 Washington $14
Carefully picked and slowly pressed to extract vibrant aromas of melon, pear, and apricot with traces of pineapple and grapefruit, continuing into a sensational and crisp fruit finish.
Argento Malbec ’22 Argentina $13
From organically grown grapes; deep purple hue; inviting aromas of red berries and flowers, and flavors of plum and sweet blackberry; finishes with ripe, balanced tannins– way over-delivers for its modest price.
Chiarlo Le Orme Barbera d’Asti ’22 Italy $23
Ruby red with hues of violet; elegant and intense aromas, with notes of fresh cherry and currant; harmonious palate, with good structure and roundness, beautiful savory finish, and a local favorite!
“Disaster Relief…?!”
Last week we lamented about the impacts of losing one’s wallet/purse/briefcase or whatever contains the legal documents that give us the personal & portable proof of Identity that define our legal existence and allow us to drive, buy, rent, or own the material things and services that make our lives possible and enjoyable.
Therefore it is quite disturbing to suddenly lose any parts of the precious trove of identifying documentation we usually carry with us everywhere to prove our social identities and economic relevance when we suddenly find ourselves with no cash and no ID.
After several searches in numerous places I had been that day, none turned up any clues. Active credit cards were canceled, banks were advised, and processes were begun to get replacements even as the search continued.
That went on for nearly two weeks, until I had vacuumed up some of the dog fur that gradually accumulates around the house this time of year, including under a couple of comfy and well-used chairs in the living room. The chairs have round, circular wooden bases with curved struts that make a perfect hiding place for anything wallet-sized. I tilted each of them a bit to the side to push the vacuum under each one. Lo and behold, a short time later the missing wallet appeared, quietly lying on the floor between the two chairs, looking completely innocent, as if it had been there all along.
Whew and Hallelujah, what a relief! How it got there remains a mystery. BIG sigh of relief, and a brief thumbs up thanks to St. Anthony with a brief eyebrow lift for the long delay…! 🙂
Economics of the Heart: Lemming Gene Confirmed in Congressional Republicans!
Arctic lemming courtesy Wikipedia
Recent DNA analysis has confirmed that nearly every Republican in Congress shares a little-known gene with the tiny sub-Arctic lemming. The finding emerged from numerous studies by behavioral scientists trying to make sense of the extraordinary similarity between the observable suicidal behavior of both species.
Lemmings, of course, are well known — and often thought of with sadness — because of their occasional penchant to commit mass suicide by throwing themselves into icy Arctic waters. In a sense it is understandable. These darling little creatures are small, only 6-7 inches long, and as you can see in the photo, they are Really Cute! But they live a tough life, being among the smallest, most fecund, and most vulnerable prey of their larger ecosystem.
Republicans, of course, are not cute at all, yet we see very similar behavior in their spineless unwillingness to defend themselves against the constant bitching of their Boss (the Tweestster), who seems to enjoy fantasizing about which one’s leg he will have for dinner tonight, and which one’s brain tomorrow. As their numbers diminish, the skittishness of the Congressional herd grows more debilitating by the day. As you can imagine, when the most important thing in your life is getting the approval of Unreasonable Leader, and he knows it, you will be forced to do things that even YOU find disgusting. SAD!
Lemmings, on the other hand, are not at all interested in any of this nonsense. I mean, c’mon, they are just a sweet bunch of Really Cute, Really Sweet little furballs, and you just have to pet their soft fur and hear them gurgle in pleasure. Think about it…what the Heck kind of person could ever want to hurt these sweet little bystanders…victims of a sort, really…or see or hear them suffer…? You know, besides the Tweetster, who actually only bothers to stay alive for the sublime pleasure of making other creatures suffer…Nothing else can even come close.
Like the lemmings, most of us are just trying to get along as best we can with the resources we have at hand. We believe in rules, in compassion for every living being, in keeping kindness going around and coming around, and saving our Planet from the inevitable extinction if Global Warming is not turned around immediately.
We find Life on Earth itself threatened mightily because one Very Stupid Man is motivated by only one emotion, Cruelty, and has successfully used it to bring the continuing existence of our Nation and Life on Earth itself into question.
There is no excuse for Big Oil’s deliberate choice to have lied to the public for over 50 years about global warming while accelerating production and use of fossil fuels when they KNEW the consequences from studies that THEY THEMSELVES had sponsored! There were several and they all agreed that increasing average global temperature by more than 1.5 degrees C would be catastrophic. So what did they do? They lied, and instead of curbing production did everything they could to increase it.
This isn’t any old crossroad, folks— this is THE crossroad for the survival of life itself on this planet. CO2 must start coming down immediately. Renewable energy must replace fossil fuels immediately. The US government must be restored to its Constitutional order immediately.
Everything about today’s politics derives from the same hubris that somehow makes money today worth more than survival tomorrow. That’s just Crazy!
2072 Granger Way