lummi island wine tasting aug 17 ’18
(note: some photos will enlarge when clicked)
Bread Friday this week
Barley, Whole Wheat, & Rye Levain – A levain bread where the sourdough culture is built over several days and allowed to ferment before the final dough is mixed. Made with bread flour and freshly milled whole wheat, barley and rye flours. A hearty whole grain bread that is a great all around bread – $5/loaf
Buttermilk Currant – A really flavorful loaf made with bread flour and fresh milled whole wheat. A little honey for sweetness balances the flavor of the whole grain, buttermilk makes for a soft and tender crumb. Then lots of currants and just a little rosemary round out the flavors. This bread makes great toast and even better french toast- $5/loaf
and for pastry this week:
Rum Raisin Brioche: A delicious brioche dough full of eggs, butter and sugar. Filled with golden raisins and chunks of almond paste and as if that wasn’t enough, topped with a chocolate glaze before baking. Ooh la la, what’s not to like?! – 2/$5.
Quilt Show
Our habit in recent years has been to display the same show in our gallery for several months at a time. However, our Quilters are more, um, modest, so this weekend will likely be the last weekend of the show. Our artist for Fall Studio Tour on Labor Day Weekend (Sep 1-3) will be Kim Obbink showing a selection of her very detailed botanical drawings. Meanwhile, here are some more photos from the Quilt Show…if you haven’t had a chance to stop by, it is worth making the effort! (click on photos to enlarge!)
Vinho Verde 101
As our dear Portuguese-fluent friend Myra taught us years ago, the correct way to pronounce “vinho verde” (literally ‘green wine’ for its youth, not its color) is “veeng-yo vaird.” We should also note that when she says it, she moves her head and hands in space, painting the words in the air like a Samba. So you know this has to be, you know, Something Special. Which is true.
This little region of Portugal has been making this wine for some 2000 years. It’s in the blood, it’s in the landscape, it’s in the long cultural history of the region. There are some 19,000 individual “vineyards” spread over 51,000 acres. A quick calculation reveals that on average, that’s about 2.6 acres per vineyard. But many of those are even much smaller family vineyards grown on stone walls, fences, and pergolas on whatever land is available.
Located on the Atlantic west coast of the Iberian Peninsula in northern Portugal, the Vinho Verde region resembles the Pacific NW with its lush, green landscape and temperate climate. Grape varietals permitted in vinho verde include Alvarinho, Avesso, Azal, Arinto, Loureiro, and Trajadura, which all grow well in the area. Usually bottled within three to six months after harvest, “green wine” pairs beautifully with summer salads, seafood and Asian cuisine, and is meant to be enjoyed young. Often it shows a light frizzante on the palate; this year’s version is a off-dry with a discernible sweetness that it balanced nicely by mouth-watering acidity.
Mar a Lago Update: Jefferson, Franklin, and the Role of a Free Press
Thomas Jefferson: I am…for freedom of the press, and against all violations of the constitution to silence by force and not by reason the complaints or criticisms, just or unjust, of our citizens against the conduct of their agents.
Ben Franklin: The press has the power to judge, sentence, and condemn to infamy…the accused is allowed no grand jury to judge the truth of the accusation before it is publicly made, nor is the Name of the Accuser made known to him, nor has he an Opportunity of confronting the Witnesses against him.
The tension here, as described at some length last year by Arthur Milikh, follows from an inherent contradiction in the very concept of a “free press.” On the one hand, as revered by Jefferson, an open press informs public dialogue with facts uncensored by government. On the other hand, as cautioned by Franklin, the uncensored nature of the press invites the excesses of all manner of bias, ax-grinding, character assassination, political motivation, personal hubris, and outright lying– you know, our primitive Chimp instincts we all deal with every day.
Indeed, in some 90% of the world, everybody knows the press is an arm of government, and therefore not to be taken seriously. In our country, while the current role of the press in the Internet Age is ideologically multidimensional, creeping politicization and financialization of Public Information has been moving further and further toward Autocracy and Oligarchy. So the question before us right now is not whether some theoretical Free Press is Good for America, but rather whether the Constant Information Stream that is Drowning us in Noise 24/7 has anything at all to do with our Idealistic Notion of a “Free Press.”
Our gut feeling is that the Tweetster declared War on the press as soon as he became a candidate in 2015. To be more precise, he declared war on any press coverage about Him Personally that wasn’t Flattering and dubbed it Fake News, and there is a recording somewhere of his saying outright that it was his deliberate objective to delegitimize all such comments. On reflection, it may be that his Only Motivation is Global Adulation, so the Tweets, the Appearances, the Meetings are interesting to him NOT for their political impact, but for How Many People Were Watching Him Today, and how he might get More to Watch Tomorrow…
Washington Post Tweetster Lie Count to date: 4229 in 558 days
This week’s wine tasting
Quinta de Aveleda vinho verde ’17 Portugal $10
Loureiro, Trajadura and Alvarinho blend; apples, lemons and a touch of ripe pear fill the palate. It is an off-dry very young white wine, refreshing and crisp with a mineral aftertaste.
Sable de Camargue Rosé Gris ’17 France $11
70% Grenache Gris, 20% Grenache Noir, 10% Syrah; taste sea and sand from the Camargue in this lovely, fresh rosé that has a nose of fresh-picked strawberries and cherries with hints of maritime air and a clean and simple finish.
La Mijane Arpege ’13 France $14
Grenache/merlot blend; nose of blueberries and chocolate, flavors of black fruits and toast, full on the palate with lingering finish.
Tenuta Rubino Oltreme Susamaniello ’14 Italy $14
Fresh, fragrant notes of cherries, pomegranate, raspberries and hints of ripe plum; fruity, minerally, and round on the palate with soft, pleasant tannins, a versatile and seductive pairing with richer dishes.
Juggernaut Hillside Cabernet ’15 California $20
Huge, rich, and opulent, with complex flavors of chocolate, coffee, blackberries, cassis, mint, and velvety tannins. New French oak adds notes of vanilla and toast; concentrated, rich, and smooth on the palate.
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