lummi island wine tasting december 12 ’15
(note: some photos will enlarge when clicked)
Friday Breads (email us to get on the preorder mailing list! )
Pain Meunier – Incorporates all parts of the wheat berry into the bread. It’s made with bread flour, whole wheat flour, cracked wheat and wheat germ. I hear that Jack has said it makes the best toast ever! A nice all around bread – $5/loaf.
Buttermilk Currant – A really flavorful loaf made with bread flour, fresh milled whole wheat, buttermilk to tenderize the crumb, a bit of honey for sweetness and some fresh rosemary. Really delicious- $5/loaf.
Bagels – Happy Hanukkah- Old fashioned bagels that are boiled, topped with poppy seeds, sesame seeds, mixed seeds or plain, then baked – Baker’s choice selection- 4/$5.
Italian arrival!
For whatever reason our fall Italian wine order from Small Vineyards arrived only this week. The good news is that as always there are a lot of great wines at modest prices, and just in time for the Holidays. This week’s tasting leads off with a sparkling wine from Slovenia. The grape is Rebula, unfamiliar to most Western palates, but appealing enough that we brought in two cases. See tasting notes below, along with the other Italian selections we will be pouring this weekend.
Knee-Jerks I
In these pages we have variously lamented that the 2% or so of genes that differentiate us humans from our primate cousins are not as big a step up the evolutionary ladder as we like to believe. We are ever-ready as chimps to jump up and down, shake our fists, and go Stomp those Other Guys, all the while calculating strategies and alliances to improve our position in the Hierarchy and get more Stuff for ourselves and our kin.
So it is not surprising to find something in the dynamic of the Far Right that keeps pushing the Republican Presidential candidates ever further into some kind of Political Black Hole where Reality As We Know It has been Suspended Indefinitely. It is surprising that the dynamic is being so effectively controlled by the Great Bull Walrus, flashing his tusks, Ga-Joobing and clapping his flippers with breathtakingly Uninformed Authority while the Less Dominant males resort to petty growling, eye-rolling, Futile Flipper-Flapping, and appeals to the Zoo Keeper that they are not getting their Fair Shares of Fish. No one should be surprised that the Biggest Psychopath earns front-runner status; like Duh, that’s just our Chimp wiring at work.
Even so, right now is a particularly Bad Time for our Species to revert to its most primitive instincts; more on (moron?) that below…
Knee-Jerks II
We chimps are suckers for Tough Guys. The best of them convince us they will protect us from all the Bad Guys they tell us are Out There and want to take our Women and our Stuff. The worst of them convince us they will stop hurting Us if we give Them our women and our stuff. Either way campaigns are about convincing a plurality of Chimpdom that All will be Weller with them than with the other Walruses in the race. Sadly, these People are All Lying! No One is going to make the world safer by killing people or destroying their communities or stealing their stuff. Fourteen years after 911, endless wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, extraordinary rendition, drone assassinations, complete destruction of civil infrastructure, tens of thousands killed, and millions displaced, how can people still be asking, “Um, gosh, why do they hate us?”
Can it really be true that in the middle of so much Suffering and Desperation, the best our Leaders can come up with is the still-somehow-popular “let’s bomb them back to the Stone Age!” Really? Again? WTF is wrong with these people? Our policies so far in the Middle East have only been successful at sowing Dragon’s Teeth; each Innocent killed generates a family of warriors bent on revenge. We kill them and we keep killing them and then we ask why they hate us?
It’s really pretty simple, folks: all of us beings are in this Life thing together. We should do our best to keep everyone safe from harm. One of my teachers once suggested a good test for evaluating an action: “Is it good for Children?” Imagine being a drone pilot ordered to fire on an unidentified family in a faraway place: 1) would you do it?, and 2) how would you feel if your family was blown away by a foreign attacker?
Eleventh Annual “East Coast New Year’s Eve” Extravaganza
Well after ten years our “East Coast New Year’s Eve Party” has become an established Tradition. From 7-9pm on New Year’s Eve we provide the wine, you bring something delicious to share, and when the ball drops in Times Square three hours away, we all hoist our glasses and toast the New Year! The Young at Heart can move on to the next party on their dance cards, and we old timers can get to bed at a decent hour! It’s also our chance to thank you for your support this past year, and to look ahead to more fun in aught-sixteen. Mark your calendars and start planning your finger food. And please–RSVP if you are coming! (758-2959 or Email us.)
This week’s wine tasting
Peneca Sparkling Rebula Slovenia $15
Floral and slightly honied with intense meyer lemon aromas, gorgeous bubbles, and a pleasing earthiness. Delicious– and just in time for the holidays!
Villa Sparina Gavi di Gavi ’13 Italy $17
Bright golden color. Scent of overripe pears, spices, citrus fruit and aromatic herbs; Well balanced notes of honey and butter; full-bodied and savory. And a wine bottle worth saving!
Verso Nero d’Avola Terre Siciliane IGT ’14 Sicily $12
Unctuous style with “the structure of Trapani, the aromatics of Siracusa, and ripeness of Palermo.” Plus: 10% of the grapes are raisined, yielding rich notes of cranberry, black fruits, and sage.
Podere Ciona Montegrossoli ’13 Italy $14
Merlot from a hilltop vineyard in Chianti Classico, showing bright red fruit, subtle smoky notes, and a full-bodied, lush, feminine style.
La Quercia Aglianico ‘14 Italy $12
The new vintage of one of our favorite italian reds; full bodied with notes of ripe plum and white pepper on smooth, fine-grained tannins. A lovely match with a wide range of savory dishes.
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