lummi island wine tasting aug 16 ’19
click on photos for larger images
No Bread this week
Our Baker is away this week, so no bread this weekend.
Look for her email on Sunday for next week’s selections.
(note: breads must be pre-ordered by Wednesday for pickup here at the wine shop at our Friday wine tasting, 4-6pm. Planning a visit to the Island? Email us to get on the mailing list!)
CSA
Since early Spring we have been sharing a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) subscription with Janice, our Baker. The weekly produce basket is usually delivered to her house on Thursdays, and then she brings our half to the wine shop on Fridays along with her breads for the week.
This week, as noted above, she is away, and so late this afternoon this basket was delivered by Simon, the Steward of this Island Abundance grown at his farm over on Centerview Rd. It’s over a mile by road, but half that as the crow flies. He came by about 5:30, when the summer Sun was still pretty high and bright in the west.
The colors of the beautiful produce demanded that we take the photo at left! Beautiful! We are Lucky Ducks!
Tres Picos
Borsao, the winery that makes Tres Picos, is a cooperativa, like many in Spain. The most common wine coop business model is a corporate “front office” that oversees all aspects of vineyard management, harvest, winemaking, and marketing. Member-growers are required to follow specific rules and guidelines set forth by coop management, and in exchange they are guaranteed purchase of their fruit. Borsao has about two hundred member vineyards.
The garnacha vines that provide the fruit for Tres Picos date back to about 1920…that’s right, they are a Hundred Years Old! As shown, the vines are head-trained, with no wires, no trellises, and lots of space between them. They have deep roots after nearly 100 years of effort, and diminished yields of about two tons per acre. Such old vines dig deep into many layers of soil and provide their fruit with corresponding layers of complexity.
We visited the Tres Picos vineyard several years ago and were struck by the Gnarly Independence of each vine. Vines this old are Rare, and their fruit has depths of nuanced flavors not seen in younger vines. Tres Picos consistently earns high scores (92 points is typical) from wine critics. Bottom line: though some years are better than others, this vineyard produces remarkable wine year after year. I.e., “It’s the terroir, Stupid…!” This wine is very consistent and never disappoints. We think you will agree!
Mar a Lago Update: Gandalf, We Need You!
A recurring theme in JRR Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings Trilogy is the Dark Smoke rising from Mordor. We don’t know what was burning or why it was burning, but it was Ominous. And Poisonous. see video clip
It is increasingly hard to look around at Our Country and Our World and not feel the same Burdens, the same Darkness, the same Fears that Drain our deep stores of Psychological, Spiritual, and Natural resources. Nation-states are failing across the world and being seriously Threatened or have already been Taken Over by Feudal Dictators. National economies are being systemically ransacked by Populist so-called Leaders, leaving millions of people homeless, destitute, and desperate to migrate to Safer Ground and escape the Populist Psychopaths they once thought would Save them. They drown in the Mediterranean, they starve in Central America, they are separated from their babies and Detained Indefinitely on the US Border. Do You have room for them in Your Lifeboat?
Meanwhile, a MILLION SPECIES of living beings on our planet are threatened with Extinction by OUR ill-conceived and Suicidal actions, such as: Doh!, Okay, maybe those Lead water pipes were not such a Good Idea after all, but hey, we can fix it by delivering water to everyone in Megazillions of little plastic bottles that can be thrown into oceans and streams and landfills where they can make Millions of Other Species extinct as well!
Then, of course, there is Global Warming, the Big Kahuna, the Mordor of all Mordors…The Path to Destruction from which there is No Escape. Is it really Our Destiny to join countless generations of Lemmings who only realized Their Terrible Mistake at the Very Last Minute? As we all go over the cliff, will we, realizing our Huge Mistake, and like at least one Presidential Hopeful famously uttered as the political waters swirled to his neck, “…Oops!”
Time is getting Very Short. There is a Very Old Saying that seems to fit the moment:
Awake, Awake, Be Mindful in Practice!
Time Flies Like an Arrow;
It Will Not Wait For You!
Washington Post Tweetster Lie Count to date: 12,000 as of 6/10/19
This week’s wine tasting
Linen Sauvignon Blanc ’18 Washington $11
Aromas of citrus, grapefruit, lime and melon. Crisp and clean, with full flavors of lime, grapefruit, star fruit, and a gentle twist of lemon.
Whidbey Island Winery Rosato ’18 Washington $15
A dry, vivacious, Provençal style rosé from Sangiovese and other Italian varietals; intriguing flavors of strawberries and cream, white cherries and kumquat…Summer in a bottle!
Simple Life Cab Sauv ’16 California
Lifted aromas of boysenberry, blackberry, violets and baking spice; juicy on the palate with lush fruit and a subtle mint chocolate note, soft, polished tannins, and a lingering, mouth-coating finish.
Tres Picos Garnacha ’14 Spain 92pts $17
Heady, exotically perfumed bouquet of ripe berries and incense, with a smoky minerality and spice. Vibrant flavors of raspberry liqueur and cherry-cola show power, depth and finesse with velvety tannins.
Lady Hill Ad Lucem Elaina Red ’15 Washington $21
Grenache, syrah, mourvedre blend; aromas of toast, dark fruits and berries and grilled meat that expand into mouth-watering rich flavors and crisp acidity on the palate.
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2072 Granger Way