lummi island wine tasting aug 23 ’19
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Friday Breads
Honey, Wheat, Lemon & Poppy seeds – Made with a poolish that ferments some of the flour, yeast and water, but none of the salt, overnight. This results in a very active pre-ferment which is mixed the next day with the final ingredients which includes a nice mix of bread flour and fresh milled whole wheat. Some honey, poppy seeds and freshly grated lemon peel round out the flavors in this loaf. A great all around bread – $5/loaf.
Prairie Bread – Named for the ingredients that reflect all the goodness of the grains that grow on the prairie. Using regular bread flour and fresh milled whole wheat as well as oats, and cornmeal. And as if that wasn’t enough it is loaded up with poppy, flax, sesame, sunflower and pumpkin seeds with just a hint of brown sugar for a little sweetness. – $5/loaf
Bear Claws – Made with a danish pastry dough rich in cream, eggs, sugar and butter. The dough is rolled out and spread with a filing made with almond paste, powdered sugar, egg whites and just a bit of cinnamon to round out the flavor. Then, because bears love honey, topped with a honey glaze after baking. As always, quantities are limited, be sure to get your order in before you miss out– 2/$5
(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!)
Nit de les Garnatxas
In 2
012 we spent a week in the little Spanish town of Capçanes. It is located about two hours west of Barcelona and about an hour inland from Tarragona on the Mediterranean coast. It is also about 15 minutes south of the town of Falset, the gateway to the somewhat legendary Priorat wine region. The purpose of our visit was to attend the annual Priorat Wine Festival. Capçanes is actually located in the neighboring wine region of Montsant, which have their own gravitas.
A few weeks ago we poured you a wine called Mas Donis from Celler Capçanes, a regional wine cooperative located in Montsant. This week we are pouring another for you, a wine we are quite excited about because it evokes such pleasant memories of our time in Capçanes and the Priorat Wine Festival.
The wine festival opens on a Friday night each year with an event called, in the Catalan language, the Nit de les Garnatxes, (i.e., “Night of the Garnachas”) and it kicks off the the Festival in a Big Way. The event started at 11pm in the courtyard in front the winery, about a five minute walk from the house we were renting just up the hill. We had no idea what to expect, but were pleased it involved food like the thin slices of delicious Jamon that were being sliced in the courtyard along with lots of other savory goodies, which we enjoyed on our way to the winery entrance.
Inside the
winery was an even bigger crowd spilling across several large chambers lined with tables dispensing wine and more goodies– like the Chocolate Fountain under which, fondue-like, one could bathe pieces of fresh fruit and other goodies…yum, yum, yum! And (have patience, we ARE meandering toward a Point…). In the Main Hall, by day probably the haunt of barrel-hauling forklifts, was a shoulder-to-shoulder crowd ebbing and flowing around a number of wine-pouring stations. Each one offered its current garnatxa for our tasting pleasure. Hence…the Night of the Garnatxes! Who Knew?
But that wasn’t All, not by a long shot! Oh, no, at some point we found a narrow flight of stairs that went down a couple of flights to a second floor, and even a third floor, where the spaces were smaller, and where there was even more wine, food, live music, and art.
The Big Takeaway here is that this weekend we are pouring the most recent of one of the specially made wines for the Nit de les Garnatxes by the winery where we attended the event back in aught-Twelve. The grapes were grown in the famous licorella slate soil of the region, and are a good example of the mineral-rich character of the wines of the area.
Last Week of Constance’s Paintings Show
Reminder that Constance will be taking down her show this weekend. Lots of us know her as our longtime Yoga teacher. I first met her and husband Terry decades ago at Art Fairs when I was a potter and they were doing interesting traditional fabric dying techniques. This is a side of her most of us have not seen before, and we encourage you to visit!
Mar a Lago Update: Recurring Nightmare
It can’t be Pleasant being the Tweetster. He rarely looks or sounds Happy. And it must be a Strange Burden to be living your Dream of being Constantly in the Global Spotlight, but Never Feeling you get the Emotional Nourishment you somehow thought it would provide, kind of an Existential Hell. There is a name for this kind of Hell: “the Nourishment Barrier.”
Every child experiences moments of disappointment and disillusionment. The essence of these experiences is realizing, at some point early in our lives, something we Really want is not going to be there for us, and it is Painful and we cry. We struggle to make meaning of the event; and often blame ourselves for some unknown inadequacy: it is Our Fault because somehow we weren’t Good Enough. After enough of these experiences, the Child starts believing s/he will never get what s/he needs (safety, attention, affection, or approval), and in response the Child develops a Behavioral Strategy to minimize the pain of this belief.
In broad strokes we know the Tweetster’s childhood history, and we can see that he craves constant attention and approval. But here he is the most powerful and well-known human being on the Planet, yet cannot get enough Approval to feel Okay inside. Sure, that’s how politics works, but there is also a “Dumb Cycle” here, driven by an inability to take in approval and affection when offered because it would be even more painful to have it yanked away just as you were starting to enjoy it.
Tonight the wires are humming with commentary about what many are calling a major T-Meltdown over the past week, as indicated by increases in daily Tweets per minute, a growing inability to retreat from photo op press banter, and an increasingly incoherent message. Candidates and financial interests are starting to materialize who might oppose him within his own party, something unthinkable until a few days ago. He’s gotta be Feel’in’ da Heat, huh…?
Washington Post Tweetster Lie Count to date: 12,000 as of 6/10/19
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.
Chat. Ste. Eulalie Rose ’18 France $ 13
A delightful dry rose with flavors of fresh raspberries, strawberries, and crisp redcurrant fruit with a hint of spice: an excellent match for grilled Mediterranean vegetables and lamb.
MAN Vintners Pinotage ’17 South Africa $11
Dark berries, plum and a smoke on the nose. Rustic yet silky and juicy, with wild cherry flavors, smooth tannins and well-controlled acidity. good intensity to the plum and mocha flavors.
Avignonesi Rosso de Montepulciano ’15 Italy $14
Perfumed aromas of red berries, violets, cinnamon, and almond flower. Juicy and bright, with precise strawberry and redcurrant flavors and lively acidity.
Nit de les Garnatxes Slate ’16 Spain $21
100% grenache from legendary licorella soil, with plenty of desert flower and wild herb aromas and elegantly dry tannins make for a really complex wine with a high minerality and balsamic aromas.
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2072 Granger Way