lummi island wine tasting feb 17 ’22
Hours this weekend: Open 3:30- 5:30 pm Friday Only
Our current plan is to be open Fridays only through February. We have been enjoying the familiar company of friends and neighbors at recent tastings, and have to admit we have also been enjoying having the day off on Saturdays for awhile..! 🙂
Covid (and a bunch of other winter bugs) is still around, more contagious than ever, but far less threatening for the vaccinated.
We all have our own comfort zones; these days we all have to manage the space around us in our own way. Just be mindful of the risks, thanks.
Friday Bread This Week
Dried Cherry and Pecan – A levain is made the night before final mixing of the dough using a sourdough starter. This allows the fermentation process to start and the gluten to start developing. The final dough is made with the levain, bread flour and fresh milled whole wheat and then loaded up with dried cherries and toasted pecans. A nice rustic loaf that goes well with meats and cheese – $5/loaf
Pan de Cioccolate – Also made with a levain, this bread is a delicious chocolate artisan bread not an enriched sweet pastry dough with lots of eggs, butter and sugar. Rather it is a rich chocolate bread made with a levain, bread flour and fresh milled rye flour, honey for sweetness, vanilla and plenty of dark chocolate. Makes fabulous toast, even better french toast – $5/loaf.
…and pastry this week…
Black Sesame & Candied Lemon Brioche – A delicious brioche dough full of eggs, butter and sugar. Filled with fresh lemon zest and candied lemon and as if that wasn’t enough, topped with a black sesame streusel before baking. Ooh la la, what’s not to like? – 2/$5.
To get on the bread order list, click on the “Contact Us” link above and fill out the form. Each week’s bread menu is sent to the list each Sunday, for ordering by Tuesday, for pickup on Friday. Simple, right..? If you will be visiting the island and would like to order bread for your visit, at least a week’s notice is recommended for pickup the following Friday.
Wine of the Week: Vall Llach Embruix Priorat ’17 Spain $26
click image to watch video
Just about ten years ago we spent a week at the annual Priorat Wine Festival in Falset, Spain, which lies at the southern end of the steep and austere landscape that defines the soil, the people, the vineyards, and the wines from this amazing wine region. It is rugged and dry, with rocky limestone soil called licorella between the vines and the water they need to grow. It may take years for vines to develop any fruit. This struggle for water gives Priorat wines a unique and nuanced intensity as you can see by watching the video or checking out their website. The extreme aridity and unique soil of the region produce wines of great depth, structure, and nuance.
This particular wine is made using grapes from young vines that are 30 years old or less. The grape varieties used are: Carignan, Grenache, Cabernet, Merlot and Syrah. The vineyards are located over broad geographical settings with varying altitudes and terrains where exposure to sunlight comes from every point of the compass. Some original carignan and grenache vines used for the best wines are over 100 years old. All of these varying factors combine to make Embruix well-structured, complex, intense, and age-worthy, and a great example of what this magical region can deliver.
As you will see in the video, the terrain is challenging, the vines are stunted, and every grape requires a lot of hand labor and physical effort.
Notes: A blend of grenache, merlot, syrah, carignan, and cab sauv from 7 to 30-yr-old vines on steep slopes, Embruix (pronounced Embroosh– “bewitching” in Catalan) is made and bottled using biodynamic methods. It is cherry red in color with soft aromas of black plums, cherry liqueur, freshly milled spices and earthy mineral note. It is intense and concentrated, with well-integrated acidity, round tannins, great age-worthy structure, and alluring aromas of ripe plums, fresh black pepper and clove.
Economics of the Heart: Every Game Needs a Referee
Nearly sixty years ago, when I was a midshipman at the Naval Academy, one winter sports season I was a referee in a strange game called fieldball. The myth of the game’s origin is that it was once played by prisoners at Alcatraz, and somehow long ago wound up as an intramural sport at the Academy. It is played on a lacrosse field with a soccer ball held with both hands. The opposing goals are lacrosse creases and there is a midfield line that separates each team’s 4-man offense and defense. The object of the game is to get the ball into the opponent’s goal. A winter sport, it typically draws lots of football (fall sport) and lacrosse (spring sport) players.
We referees went through some training and were then assigned randomly to games that didn’t involve our familiars. So there I was, definitely not a jock, refereeing a game with a lot of action. So I had lots of misgivings going in.
Like any game it has a unique set of rules, like keeping two hands on the ball and not raising it above your shoulders except when shooting or passing. The interesting thing and the point of this story is that fairly soon I often found myself blowing the whistle before I could consciously name the infraction, which would come split seconds later. There was no need for thinking, almost as if the whistle blew by itself. And you learn to trust– and enjoy–your instincts; all in all a very valuable experience.
In all the years since then I have had great respect for referees and umpires, and generally believe that the practice of doing their work is so immediate and in the moment that there is no time to make bogus calls. So while it is always possible that someone might see a play differently from another angle and get a call wrong, the spontaneity of the calls guarantees a strong element of guileless truth.
Metaphorically, it occurs to me lately that whistle-blowing of all kinds has many of these same elements. People disagree about all kinds of things, but since the beginning of language and civilization people have generally signed on to some broadly accepted set of rules to sort out differences of opinion. That’s why we have rules, regulations, laws, codes, contracts, and courts: to create and maintain order from the chaos of human needs, desires, emotions, experiences, and values… not to mention deception, lying, ignorance, or convenience.
Off the field of play, in real life, the rules are more ambiguous, and “whistle-blowers” can take life-destroying heat for raising “inconvenient truths” to the powerful when they see that important rules are not being followed. Well, we all have whistles around our necks, some amount of desire to play by the rules, and opposing instincts to blow them for the sake of justice, and to refrain from blowing them to avoid attention and push-back. But deep down we all know where our greater duty lies.
More video: https://youtu.be/8PnEzMacrC8?t=495
This Week’s $10 Wine Tasting
Ponzi Pinot Gris ’21 Oregon $16
Aromas of honeydew melon, candied citrus peel, white peach and honeysuckle; balanced palate
of sweet tangerine peel, meringue, lime, apricot and light white pepper.
MAN Vintners Pinotage ’20 South Africa $12
Aromas of dark coffee beans, red berries, nutmeg, and vanilla spice turning to dark berries and smoky plum; rustic yet silky and juicy, with smooth tannins, balanced acidity, and comforting intensity.
Vall Llach Embruix Priorat ’17 Spain $26
Blend of grenache, merlot, syrah, carignan, and cab from 7 to 30-yr-old vines vines on medium and steep slopes; alluring aromas of ripe plums, fresh black pepper and clove. Intense and naturally concentrated, lush, and round on the mid-palate with notes of chocolate-covered cherries and soft black licorice on the finish.
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2072 Granger Way