lummi island wine tasting dec 27 ’19
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Friday Breads This Week
Cinnamon Raisin – Made with a nice mix of bread flour and freshly milled whole wheat as well as rolled oats. Some honey for sweetness, a little milk for a tender crumb and loaded with raisins and a healthy dose of cinnamon. This is not a rich sweet bread with a swirl of cinnamon sugar, instead the cinnamon is mixed into the dough and flavors the entire bread. It is a hearty rustic loaf. Great for breakfast toast, even better for french toast – $5/loaf
Pain Normand – a bread that brings in the flavor of french Normandy region which is known for its apples. Made with some fresh milled whole wheat and rye flours as well as bread flour then mixed with apple cider as well as dried apples. A delicious artisan bread – $5/loaf.
and pastry this week…
Brioche au Chocolate – A rich brioche dough made with plenty of butter, eggs and sugar, rolled out and spread with pastry cream before sprinkling with dark chocolate. The dough is folded over all that delicious filling and cut into individual pieces. 2/$5
(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!)
New Year’s Weekend Hours
We will be open our regular Friday-Saturday hours this weekend (Dec 27-28.
We also invite our members and subscribers to join us at the shop for our Fifteenth Annual “East Coast New Year’s Eve Party” from 7-9pm on Tuesday, December 31!
As usual, We provide the wine, and You bring delicious finger food to share.* When the ball drops in Times Square three hours East, we break out the Bubbly, toast our Great Good Fortune to live in this wonderful community, belt out Auld Lang Syne, and offer our Best Hopes that Aught-Twenty unfolds well for All Beings!
This event is our annual opportunity to thank all of you for your support during past year, and toast to even more good times in Aught-Twenty!
*…Arrrr, so don’t ferget, lads and lassies, it now be time to start plannin’ yer Finger Foods to share for our Annual Best Snack Awards! This year everyone will get a ballot to vote for The Best Tastin’ Dish, (which wins a $25 gift certificate!), and Best Lookin’ Dish (which wins a $15 gift certificate!) So make ’em Tasty an’ make ’em Purty, me hearties!
Mar a Lago Update: The Biden Argument
The threat of this or that kind of Existential Armegeddon bearing down on Everything we Hold Dear is a familiar theme of science fiction. Whether Monster, Plague, Madman, Space Invasion, Diabolical Conspiracy, Errant Asteroid or any other of the Ten Thousand Human Fears, we are mesmerized by the never-ending War between Good and Evil.
Until quite recently, “our side”–Americans– has always been the Good Guys, dedicated to the Principles set forth in our Constitution, always on the side of Right, and “they” are the ones with No Honor. THEY are the ones who strap Nell to the Railroad Tracks, and WE are the saintly Mounties who rescue her. This has been the backdrop for those of us who grew up in the peaceful respite of the Fifties after the horrors of WWII. Life was Good and we were all Blessed to be Americans. We had confidence that both Parties were committed to their Oaths to Preserve and Defend the Constitution, and adherence to those oaths is what made America Great.
Today our Nation is entering a Presidential Election year of enormous consequence while locked in a stark Partisan Divide about the continuing relevance of the carefully crafted guiding Principles of the Constitution adopted some 240 years ago. The Democratic House has impeached a Republican President, who will be tried in a Republican Senate controlled by a man who has consistently placed Party interests above National interests.
Against this backdrop a dozen Democratic candidates vie for their party’s nomination for President. All are intelligent, well-spoken people of character and conviction. All are somewhat to the Left on the political spectrum, facing a Republican Party currently on the Extreme Right. In ordinary times the task facing the Democratic voter is to choose the candidate most people think will best represent Their Values. But these are not Ordinary Times, and the nomination process is contaminated by widespread second-guessing– every Democrat must decide not only which candidate they prefer, but also consider which candidate most of the Other Democrats will prefer.
Recent polling shows this tension in a number of ways. Most significantly, a plurality of likely voters prefers the more left-leaning candidates Sanders and Warren. But the same people also reveal that they think Biden would be the most likely to beat the viscerally unpopular incumbent. So every Democratic voter must consider whether to go with their most-preferred candidate or to vote for Biden, who would be okay but is not their first choice.
On the one hand, it could work if every Democrat who is motivated to vote for someone else actually votes for Biden (the “Anyone But Trump” Coalition), and also, as some speculate, Biden is most likely to draw crossover Republicans. On the other hand, the Enthusiasm of the moment is with the Progressive Wing of the party, and we risk losing some of that energy by going with Biden. Click below to look over these very interesting poll results.
Washington Post Tweetster Lie Count to date 13,445 as of 10/10/19
This week’s tasting
Bernier Chardonnay ’18 France $12
Lemon, herbs and lees on the nose. Full-on minerality, with a touch of lemon curd. Crisp, elegant, steely, and citrusy personality; classic Old World style.
Bodegas Ayuso Estola Reserva ’15 Spain $10
Tempranillo/cab sauv blend; Warm aromas of spices and ripe fruit; wide and round palate, easy drinking, great buy!
Particular Garnacha ’13 Spain $14
Old vines garnacha from stony soil and the extreme climatological conditions that yield smaller, more concentrated, intense and aromatic grapes. It is a powerful, tasty and complex wine that will surprise and please.
Cana’s Feast Bricco Red ’18 Washington $16
Ripe raspberry, boysenberry and cocoa on the nose. Full flavors of cherry, brown sugar, and coffee serve as a base for more subtle mineral and iron nuances. Generous acidity and tannic structure support a long, round finish.
Seghesio Angela’s Garden Zinfandel ’17 California $19
Aromas of wild blueberry, briary raspberry patch and baking spice give way to a palate of juicy, ripe blackberry and black plum. Soft tannins, a rich mouthfeel and focused acidity lead to a long finish.
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2072 Granger Way