lummi island wine tasting april fools day ’16
(note: some photos may enlarge when clicked)
Friday Breads (contact us to get on the pre-order list!)
Whole Wheat – Jump started with a portion of overnight pre-fermented dough , which adds flavor and digestibility. Then blended with fresh milled whole wheat and a little honey, yielding a full flavor bread with a lot of substance. – $5/loaf.
Buttermilk Dried Currant – Another hearty whole wheat bread, with some coarsely milled for texture and the rest finely milled, and a portion of each fermented overnight. Buttermilk is then added to tenderize the crumb, plus currants, honey and rosemary to round out the flavors. – $5/loaf.
And, for a bit of sweetness…
Chocolate Babkas – Yummy sweet rolls rich with eggs and butter, rolled out and spread with chocolate before baking. – 2/$5.
More Concerted Effort!
Our post about our recent concert and our plea for more musicians to drop in and play a set for us attracted the attention of our friend Paul, one many Vancouverites with second homes on Lummi, who came by last Saturday afternoon and played to small band of neighborhood regulars. He has been in numerous times before with his guitar to play and sing lots of familiar tunes…so familiar that a few of us old-timers sometimes can’t help singing along.
Fortunately, he arrived just as a potentially heated political debate was about to get underway, exploring the twisted logic of Neoliberalism dating back to Adam Smith in the 18th century. Paul’s soft and soothing music melted any hard edges in the room, making for a most pleasant afternoon in the wine shop!
One nice takeaway from the afternoon is that we are actively seeking musicians to join us either for a Saturday afternoon “background” gig (adulation and a free wine tasting!), or for a Sunday afternoon “foreground” gig, which should draw a few people and maybe even a few dinero. Okay, okay, we don’t offer much but wine and gratitude, but you could do worse!
Crazy Fridays, Easy Saturdays
Let’s face it, folks, Janice and her Bread have transformed this place, Put in On the Map, and driven Friday night background Noise completely Off the Scale. By the time bread arrives just after 4 pm each Friday, a small crowd has already gathered around the bar for wine tasting, and more arrive by the minute. By four-thirty the place is full, cheerful, alive, and oh, BTW, Loud!
As always, the arrival of about the twelfth or thirteenth visitor evokes, through some ancient law of Something or Other, a Quantum Leap in the Noise Level. One minute you can actually converse with someone up to five feet away, and then suddenly, yes, you can still talk, no problem there, but you can’t hear what anyone more than one foot away is saying. We are actively looking for a way to neutralize these acoustic reverberations. Suggestions welcome.
Meanwhile, the more Fridays keep unfolding as they do, the more quiet Saturdays become, and the more they continue to evoke pleasant and meandering conversations at the bar. A certain intimacy, a certain casual comfort, a certain camaraderie. Quite reminiscent of our first few years with the shop, when we were only open Saturdays from one to five, and hey, one to five people coming by in an afternoon, while not great for sales, was great for meeting and conversing with both visitors and our little band of early “regulars.”
Anniversary
This past week we have all been basking in the Return of Sunshine. Mornings have still been Chilly, but a bit after noon the radiant heat of the Sun gets luxuriously warmer. Coupled with the emergence of poignantly sweet and fragrant Blossoms (as on these beautifully intertwined young quince and cherry trees at left), the warm radiance of the midday Spring Sun is Delicious and Nourishing beyond words.
This was particularly noticeable this morning at Constance’s weekly yoga class at Ann Morris’ studio. As each day of Sunshine this week has added additional warmth, we have become increasingly nostalgiac, because on April 2 sixteen years ago, on a day very much like today we celebrated our wedding in that very same studio, followed by a wonderful reception at the Beach Store Cafe. Surrounded by dear friends and a beautiful Spring Day like today we felt happy and lucky to be part of this community. And we still do. For whatever Good Fortune brought us to this little Island, we are continually grateful!
This week’s wine tasting
Linen White ’14 Washington $11
Crisp, refreshing and delicious! Aromas of pineapple, mango and a hint of papaya lead to flavors of pear, peach and apricot with an undercurrent of zesty citrus, and bright, crisp finish of fresh grapefruit and tangerine.
Anne Amie Rosé ’14 Oregon $14
Fermented in neutral oak barrels; dry and deeply fruity, with aromas of raspberry, cigar box, and blood orange, with flavors of strawberry, chai spice, white pepper, and Rainier cherry, with a long, clean, mineral finish.
Corte Gordoni La Fontane Bardolino ’12 Italy $14
Bardolino is made from a blend of 60% Corvina for structure, weight and a sour-cherry aroma, and 30% Rondinella for the wine’s appealingly fresh, herby flavor, yielding a polished, beautifully scented and silky wine with pure red-berry flavors and a mildly spicy finish.
La Grange de Lascaux ’12 France $14
Syrah, Grenache, Mourvèdre from limestone soil (aka “Lascaux”)– imparting zesty minerality, aromas of lavender, oregano and thyme (“garrigue”) flavors of briery fruit, and silky tannins.
Betz Besoleil ’13 Washington 92pts $45
Good dark red. Musky aromas of redcurrant, raspberry, plum and coffee, with earthy and floral notes. Wonderfully smoky and sweet on the palate, offering a plush, seamless texture and noteworthy density.
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2072 Granger Way