lummi island wine tasting aug 16 ’14
A quiet day 
This year saw the return of the Lummi Island Reefnet Festival, an ode to Lummi Island’s unique Historic Fishery, started time out of mind ago by the Coast Salish who have inhabited these parts for eight thousand years or so. You can read more about modern reefnetting here. It is an Island tradition, carried on nowadays by a mix of stalwart old-timers and young hopefuls. As it turned out, the fishery didn’t open until the next day, and even then, as sometimes happens– sorry, no fish– very disappointing to those who spent a very hot day waiting on the water in anticipation. However, the Festival seems to have been a success, to the point that we, your tiny wine shop at the Edge of the Salish Sea, enjoyed a quiet afternoon of wine and pleasant conversation, very ordinary, very wonderful; a little reminiscent of the way it was our first few years. You know, before we became Famous.
Bubbly Surprise
For those who haven’t ye
t caught on, Fridays have become something of a “locals” party, highlighted by the Sharing of The Bread That Janice Makes, as well as, it almost goes without saying, fabulous wines. As noted in recent posts, she is now bringing a big box of fresh bread each week, and All Hands will join me in a hearty “Arrrrrr, it’s Mighty Good!” Mates, just like Them Radicals we hear about, we got our own deeply held ideas about the Good Life to which we all aspire. The Europeans figured all this out centuries ago, and we are convinced it is a necessary Evolutionary Step for our entire Species: every healthy community must have: Fresh bread every morning, and at least ten well-made local cheeses!
And so it was that last Friday there we all were, in the usual Friday configuration, when Monty, whom we first met years ago as a youngster down the street, and who is now a wine rep for one of our distributors, dropped by with Samples of….could it be true?...All the current Bubbly releases from star sparkling wine producer from (no, I am not making this up) New Mexico, aka Gruet. Let’s just say it was quite a show, and all hands were smiling even more than usual. The wines were all good (oh yeah, this is my favorite…hmm, well, no, I guess that is my favorite…!) Whether you were there or not, please know that THIS Friday we are expecting a delivery of the crowd favorites from Gruet, and it is very likely that YOU will not want to miss them!
A new Friday Tradition?
We have been opening on Friday afternoons from 4-6 for a couple of years now, generally with our good friend Ryan (see above) acting as host/sommelier, giving us the freedom to be elsewhere and do otherthing. Curiously. though we have the night “off,” we often choose to spend it right here at our favorite wine bar, on the customer side schmoozing with our Friday Regulars. And of course…Janice’s bread! Good friends and good conversation– the essence of Being Human, eh…? Anyway, the Lightness and Fun of last weekend’s spontaneous Bubbly Surprise was so enjoyable that we now wonder about the feasibility of “bubbly and rose” as a guiding principle of Summer Fridays here at the wine shop. Below is the list of wines we will be pouring on Saturday. But Friday’s tasting might be much more oriented toward rose and bubbly, in contrast to the list below. Or not! Only one way to find out!
This week’s tasting
Chateau Virgile Rose ’13 France $12 (grenache-syrah); Musky aromas of red berries and cherry pit; Dry and nervy with a floral nuance that gains power with air; tightly wound and vivacious enough to work with a wide range of foods.
Cloudlift Cellars Updraft ’11 Washington $17 Tom Stangeland’s beautiful interpretation of a classic White Bordeaux (sauvignon blanc and semillon) with the added weight and ripeness that Washington’s climate usually delivers; bursting with ripe yellow fruits, apricot and papaya.
La Rocaliere Lirac Blanc ’11 France $16 Grenache Blanc and Clairette. Subtle, elegant floral aromas of jasmine, honeysuckle, and verbena. Rich and round on the palate, with wonderful notes of fresh citrus.
Riojanas Rioja Canchales ’11 Spain $11 Pungent redcurrant and cherry on the nose, with a peppery lift and focus. Firm bitter cherry and rose pastille flavors, with juicy acidity; aeration brings up deeper blackberry and licorice notes that linger on the taut, youthfully tannic finish.
Crios de Susana Balbo Malbec ’13 Argentina 89pts $14 Aromatic and fresh, with notes of violets, ripe plums and a touch of brown sugar, quite showy, with the profile of a cool vintage, the sweet tannins of the Malbec, some sweet spicy flavors, and good length.
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2072 Granger Way