lummi island wine tasting dec 2 ’16
(note: some photos will enlarge when clicked)
No Bread this week
Arrr, sorry to say yer best tighten yer belts, lads ‘n’ lassies, no bread again this week, aye, ‘n’ a sad thing it is.
Cheer up, thought. as Hearty Loaves return next week; watch yer email for details.
‘N’ jus t’a whet yer appetites, there be rumors in the fo’c’sle there may be special treats for the Holidays, so keep yer eye to Weather for more News!
Touriga Nacional
Portugal has a lot of interesting wines with unusual and difficult to pronounce names. Most of these varietals are peculiar to Portugal and rare in our experience, the best known being Touriga Nacional, a full-bodied Portuguese red wine grape with aging potential similar to Cabernet Sauvignon. It has long been a blending grape in Port, and now is more often seen as a dry red wine which stands very well on its own.
Some people liken it to Napa Cabernet or Australian Shiraz for depth of flavor and tannic structure. It typically shows palate-coating and tooth-staining notes of blueberry, plum, blackberry, bittersweet cocoa, and a touch of mint and violet. It often shows fine-grained tannins and aromas of toasted marshmallow, vanilla and nutmeg.
Our featured wine this weekend is a particularly pleasing 100% touriga nacional that we think everyone will enjoy.
Looking for Landmarks
When we feel Stressed, or Confused, our Instinct is to Put Up our Antennae, Take Bearings, and Reorient. This little set of tasks is often summed up as LOL, OMD, or, most indicative of a Need to Re-Orient, WTF? In the course of our lifetimes we have all gone through this many times. The necessary but not necessarily Sufficient Condition for Successful Reorientation is the ability to Stay Present. The point at which Stress becomes Trauma is where it becomes Too Yooge to Integrate into Meaning with the Resources and Experience we have available at the moment, and we just, you know, Freak Out or Collapse.
Our personal challenge at the moment is to adapt to the imminent loss of our sense of National Identity and the lifetime hopes we have had for equality and social justice, The Reality is that the Jabba Administration is Gearing Up to give the Ultra-Right 20% the Country they have Dreamed About by dismantling everything the other 80% has build up since 1932. Yes, it’s Traumatic and Disorienting. And no, not a single inch can be given up without a Fight.
“The loaf is gone and now the white man wants the crumbs.” — Luther Standing Bear
Worse than Rat Poison
You may recall that last summer our younger dog Cooper (8 yrs old) suddenly got very sick. His clotting factors were wiped out; his gums had gone quite white; and he was bleeding into his abdomen. He was diagnosed and treated for rat poisoning, and got two emergency plasma transfusions and six weeks on Vitamin K. By late August he was pretty much back to 100%, and we were relieved and grateful. Seemed a good diagnosis and treatment. Whew!
In early November he developed an unusual little cough; X-rays suggested an accumulation of fluid in his lungs, and he was given another shot of Vitamin K. Within twelve hours another X-ray showed substantial clearing of his chest, but the vet was concerned about a number of unusual shapes and spots in the photos. Within a few days the cough stopped, his energy returned, and for the moment we all believed that somehow he had again gotten into rat poison. But a week or so later the cough returned just as we took dogs and trailer south to Sonoma for Thanksgiving, where we made more vet visits and tests. The Bad News is that those suggested a very high probability that he had a Horrible kind of Cancer called Hemangiosarcoma, a cancer of the blood vessels, for which there is no known cure.
A recent study at UPenn demonstrated that extract of the Turkey Tail Mushroom was curiously effective at slowing the progress of this disease, and he is now getting that, along with other supplements that won’t hurt and might help. As this Crushing Reality has been sinking in, we have made a commitment to do everything we can to savor however much precious time we have left with Coopie, not knowing if it will be a day, a week, a month, or longer. At this present moment we are happy to report he is cheerful, active, and enjoying life, and that is a blessing to be savored.
This week’s wine tasting
Virginia Dare Chardonnay ’14 California $17
Creamy and ripe with notes of pear, pineapple, crème brulee and banana bread.
Septima Malbec ’13 Argentina $10
Musky, ripe aromas of currants, leather, chocolate and espresso. Supple and generous flavors of sweet currant and tobacco flavors with a note of pepper, soft tannins and good length.
Domaine Moulinier Les Sigillaires ’07 France $16
Aged 12 months in neutral barrels. Nuanced notes of tapenade, dark fruits, and a fresh finish. Harvested quite early to retain acidity; nuanced palate with hints of orange and an elegant finish. We love this wine!
Quinta de Pinto Riserva ’13 Portugal $22
A lovely Touriga, laced with violets and wonderful aromatics that combine with its fine structure, balance and elegant mid-palate for a very pleasing whole. Fresh and lively, with a hint of eucalyptus on the finish: a great food wine!
Terra d’Oro Zinfandel ’13 California $14
Vibrant aromas of clove and big, generous fruit lead to concentrated flavors of juicy plums and blackberries,all with a good dose of toasted oak.
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