lummi island wine tasting August 23 ’14
French Wine Orders Have Arrived!
Most of you don’t know that it was over a year ago that Ryan hatched a plan to reconnect with some of his favorite French wineries (ah, mais oui, ALL his favorite wineries are French…shrug..), and became their agent for US import. We and many of our members have visited several of these wineries on one of the French wine tours Ryan has organized. So it seemed logical to look for a way to bring them right here to our shop so we all could enjoy them without leaving Lummi Island. Good plan, huh?!
In April we held a gala tasting of 10 of these wines at Mark and Lis Marshall’s beautiful home (and #1 Lummi Island B&B!). Many of you attended and ordered some of the wines. I will not go into the complications involved in making all this happen, except to say that all the rules have been in an uproar since Washington State voters approved the Costco-funded initiative a few years ago to close the State Liquor Stores and allow anyone to sell hard liquor. Wine got caught up in the Flood, and as nearly as I can tell, the new rules serve No One except Big Retail. But of course, that’s Another Story.
All you need to know is that the French wines ordered in April have arrived and are available for pickup beginning this weekend!!! We will be sending individual emails with details to all of you who made pre-orders.
Faugères and St. Chinian
Languedoc (“language of Oc”) is the largest French wine region, stretching along the Mediterranean coast from the Spanish border to the Southern Rhone…Nimes is in Languedoc, but Avignon is in Rhone. Languedoc is divided into many wine subregions, most dating back centuries (maybe even to the prehistoric cave dwellers who made their mark here fifty thousand years ago!). If you consult a good map , you can see that Faugères and St. Chinian are next door to each other. Among our new wine arrivals are two from Domaine Moulinier in St. Chinian, and one from Chateau la Liquiere in nearby Faugères.
By the way, we have encountered these rather heavy metal chairs (photo, left) at several wineries in the Languedoc, and I have to admit I rather covet them. Apparently they were made as part of a regional wine promotion some years ago, and many Languedoc wineries have a few in their tasting rooms. I just haven’t figured out how to get them into my carry-ons in the unlikely situation that some Languedoc winery would even sell one. So they fall into a large class of objets d’art that we can enjoy where we find them but which are impractical to being home. Still, they are Very Cool, eh?…and isn’t there something especially nice about the somewhat austere stencil cutout of the region’s name…?
Tom’s “Vine Route”blog
On our first trip to French wine country in 2011, I happened onto an interesting blog written by Tom Fiorino, an American wine enthusiast living and studying wine in Toulouse. At the time we were there, he was doing an apprenticeship of sorts near Faugères, where we tracked him down and spent some time talking about wine. Since then we have had a link to his blog on our site. I just found his 2009 post about one of the wineries ( La Liquiere), many of us have visited on Ryan’s recommendation or on his tour. You can read his detailed and informative post here, All his posts are loaded with detailed information about a particular winery or region (he has been writing a lot about Corsica lately…!).
This week’s tasting
Vilarnau Cava Brut Sparkling Rosé Spain $12
Shy, mineral-driven aromas of citrus and orchard fruits, with subtle strawberry. Juicy red berry and orange flavors are expansive and lively, with dusty minerality.
Domaine la Renaudie blanc ’12 France $15
Benchmark Loire Sauvignon Blanc with a great balance between nervous, lean acidities and restrained grassy, elderflower character.
Domaine Moulinier Rouge ’10 France $13
70% Syrah, 25% Grenache, and 5% Mourvèdre; Nice spice and garrigue on the nose, with a broad palate of ripe red fruit, with a bit of orange note on the finish. Smooth and soothing; .
Chat. Rayssac L’Essentiel ’09 France $16
Merlot, grenache, syrah, cab franc, cinsault; Cabardes combines the red fruit, finesse and liveliness of Bordeaux varietals with the rich sumptuousness of Mediterranean varieties to yield a complex and spicy wine with balanced tannins.
Chat. La Liquiere Les Amandiers ’12 France $17
From young vines with aromas of fresh red fruits, redcurrant, strawberry, and cassis. A wine of soft pleasure and aromatic freshness.
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