Lummi Island Wine Tasting August 10 ’13
Optimization
One of the most interesting topics I explored as an economist was the idea of “optimization.” To understand what optimization is about, just think about Goldilocks and the Three Bears: whether it is the temperature of a bowl of porridge, the comfort of a chair, or the softness of a bed, many things can either be too this way or too that way or, optimally “Just Right.” So, given my long interest in this subject (optimization, not the Three Bears), it was exciting to get an email this week with the interesting Venn diagram image at left, confirming what I have known to be True for a very long time! Wow! (Warning: zone of optimality may vary among individuals..!)
Lummi Island Run
The Beach School PTO is doing an ambitious fund-raiser in early September that should appeal to many of you who read this blog. It’s a Run on the Island, a bit more grand than the “Run on the Rock” events held a few years ago (by odd coincidence I am at this very moment wearing my T-shirt from the 2006 event!). See the complete (and gorgeous!) brochure online for all the ways you can participate and make the event a success. You youngsters should sign up for the half-marathon, and maybe a bunch of us geezers should sign up for a nice long walk that day…! Here are the options:
Start times
14-mile: 8:30am
7-mile: 9am
3.5-mile: 9:30am
100-yard dash: 9:45am
Cloud lift Cellars
Once a year about this time we get a visit from Tom (pink polo) and Joannie Stangeland (black jersey), who make an annual summer visit to the Willows Inn to kick back and celebrate. Tom is a master furniture builder turned winemaker who lives in Seattle. For years we have been trying to connect with him in Seattle to taste his wines, and on their Lummi visits they never seem to have any wine with them for us to taste..! So during our tasting and conversation last week, at some point Tom took off and came back with a sample bottle of his 2011 Cloudlift Updraft, a classic Bordeaux white blend: “The 64% Sauvignon Blanc steps up and takes control of the nose and palate, while the 36% Semillon adds a subtle backbone to the texture.”
We only have the one bottle, but we will open and pour it along with our regular tasting this weekend, beginning Friday night. Note: the way things have gone the last few weeks, it will probably be gone by 5 or 5:30 Friday night, so don’t dally!
Rollerball
I moved here in 1975. Sometime that first year here I went to the sci-fi movie “Rollerball” starring James Caan as the brutal-and-stupid-yet-sensitive Hero Athlete of the fast-paced and violent game of “Rollerball”, and John Houseman as the Corporate Bad Guy. For those who weren’t around at the time, there actually was a somewhat popular TV sport of the era called “Roller Derby,” which involved mostly young women with abbreviated costumes and few other options racing around an indoor track on roller skates. At the time, it was a pretty short leap from the reality of Roller Derby to the Science Fiction of “Rollerball.”
Despite the fact that it was NOT a great film in the usual sense, the story had an impact on me that remains today. So last night I sat up late and watched it online. and as I suspected, its premise was prescient of our time in many ways. Because this is, after all, a “wine blog,”, I will not venture too far into the political implications here. However, the scene below pretty well captures what I recall as the main message of the film, one which is even more relevant now than it was 35 years ago (omd, did I just say “35 years ago”…?!…Btw, was Houseman a GREAT actor, or what?)
This week’s tasting
Il Filare Rosado ’08 Italy $8
A rosé of 80% Bombino Nero and 20% Montepulciano; aromas of strawberries and fresh-cut grass. Dry as bone with brilliant minerality, beautiful fruit and crisp acidity.
Altavins Garnacha Blanca ’11 Spain $18
A beautiful, expressive, admirably complex wine with elegant notes of sweet grass, herbs, gooseberries and crisp pear.
Palama Primitivo ’11 Italy $13
Floral aromatics mix with notes of tobacco, citrus, and wild herbs; ripe, fresh, lush, and bright, with notes of dark anise, cedar, and blackberry confit.
Vignavecchia Chianti Classico ’10 Italy 89pts $18
(90% sangio, 10% merlot) Aromas of redcurrant, cherry pit, violet and tobacco lead to intense flavors of redcurrant, bitter cherry, spices, and merlot-derived nuances of cocoa and coffee.
Volver Tarima Hill Monastrell ’10 Spain 93pts $14
Notes of chocolate fudge, black ink, graphite, blueberries and blackberries. This full-bodied, 100% Monastrell should drink well for a decade or more.
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2072 Granger Way