lummi island wine tasting february 21 ’15
(note: some photos may click open to larger versions)
Friday breads!
Note: breads are now largely by pre-order; email Janice to get on her list!
Heidebrot. Made with a 50% rye sourdough culture with coarse ground fresh milled rye. Try with cheese or smoked salmon – $5/loaf.
Dried Apple & Honey Egg bread. Four-braid loaf packed with dried apples and a bit of honey, great for toast (or even better, french toast) – $5/loaf.
Kouign Aman. Made with croissant dough laminated with butter and sugar, cut into squares, folded and baked till the sugar caramelizes in to a yummy crunchy pastry. Oh my! O\Limited, order early! – 2 for $5.
2015 Wine Club– Better than Ever!
This will be the third (or is it fourth?) year of the Wine Club. We have reviewed the pros and cons of various features (and how much work they make for us), and have decided to simplify the rules even more in a couple of ways.
First, all memberships will now be for the calendar year. Whenever you join the club, you get full benefits for the remainder of 2015. That shouldn’t be a problem for most of you, who last signed up in the first half of 2014. For those of you who joined after August 1, we will automatically extend your membership through 2015.
This year’s dues are again $35 per person. Membership benefits include:
— 50% off on all wine tastings (value up to $420!! –you know, if you came every Friday and Saturday!
— No sales tax on ALL wine purchases! (yes, yes, we must be Crazy!)
OS Revisited
Their original name was Owen-Sullivan Winery, named for the two founders, Bill Owen (winemaker), and Rob Sullivan (the business guy). As it turned out, some winery in California had the name “Sullivan” in it, and after years of legal sparring, they had to change the name, and it became just OS Winery seven or eight years ago. The winery was located in the Georgetown district of Seattle. In those days they self-distributed, so periodically I would drop in and hang out with Bill while he poured me the current releases, which would inevitably lead to some barrel tasting. I would then load up several cases and bring them back to the wine shop for all of you.
A few years ago they got a distributor, and though we have usually carried their basic OS Red and their Riesling, and I didn’t get to visit the winery anymore. Well, now Bill has his own winery, and there is now a new winemaker at OS. I ran into Rob at a wine event last summer and tasted through the current releases. I am happy to say the original vision is still intact: “Our focus since the beginning has been on select sites (i.e., the best vineyards in Washington) and low yields combined with a winemaking ethic centered on simplicity (i.e. no fining, no filtering, gravity fed production) all with one aim: Opulent, Voluptuous, Concentrated Red Wines.” This week we will be pouring their new “16th St. Bridge” Red, which I believe is the new incarnation of their always-popular “OS Red” of recent years.
Newtonian Physics
I took a fair number of physics classes as an undergraduate. When it came time for an exam, the joke was, well, if you just remember F=ma (i.e., Force equals mass times acceleration), you can easily derive from it all the equations you would need to solve most of the problems you were likely to encounter on your physics exam using a little basic calculus. (which, believe it or not, we actually learned to do).
So it is with some puzzlement approaching consternation that all these years later I hear it claimed that a ferry boat weighing several times as much as another can operate on half the fuel. Yes, folks, I am talking about the Hiyu, the giant “free” boat that may be available on the cheap very soon, and which some people think should replace our trusty Whatcom Chief.
The “m” in Newton’s First Law is for “mass,” which we can consider a measure of inertia, which is to say, “how much it wants to stay in one place and not get moved around.” If we consider two boats, one of mass “m” and one of mass “3 x m ,” then for a given acceleration (like, leaving the dock at zero knots and increasing to 11 knots, and then doing the opposite a few minutes later on the other side), other things being equal, we would expect the amount of energy required to be about three times as much for the more massive boat.
Why is that interesting? Well, our back of the envelope calculations suggest that this larger vessel would most likely use about three times more fuel doing the same job. Which is to say, “hey, let’s take another look at those numbers…!!
This week’s wine tasting
Crios de Susana Balbo Torrontes ’12 Argentina $14
Highly perfumed aromas of lemon drop, white flowers, peppermint and white pepper. Supple, pliant and easygoing, with citrus, herbal and floral flavors joined by a hint of licorice.
OS 16th Street Bridge Red ’11 Washington $12
Polished, open-textured and appealing, with green olive-accented cherry flavors and a graceful bearing. Finishes with delicacy; Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon, and Merlot.
Domaine Donjon Minervois Tradition ’11 France $16
60% Grenache, 30% Syrah and 10% Carignan; aged 12 months in stainless steel. Meaty and complex, with sweet red and black fruits, loads of white and black pepper, bay leaf and dried herbs, it stays fresh and lively on the palate, with medium-bodied richness and length.
Eguren Codice ’09 Spain 90pts $11
Aromas of cassis, cherry, licorice and mocha. Dense, alluringly sweet and juicy, with excellent concentration, silky fine-grained tannins and lingering spiciness.
Alto Moncayo Veraton ’06 Spain 93pts $25
Offers a sensational aromatic array of pain grille, pencil lead, earth notes, wild black cherry, and black raspberry. Dense, layered, and full-flavored on the palate, this hedonistic effort is balanced enough to evolve for several years…an awesome value!
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