Lummi Island Wine Tasting Ides of March ’14
Sunsets are Back!
In the Beginning (of March!), the Island was Without Form, and Grayness (snow!) covered the face of the Deep. And the Spirit of Spring saw the Darkness and took Pity and moved the clocks Ahead, and the days grew longer, and it was Good. And the Spirit said, “Let there be warmer days and glorious sunsets again in this dark and dismal place!” And the Light returned, and Color again filled the World, and it was Good. Very, very, Good!
See slideshow of the sunset
Wine Club: Two Thumbs Up!
It has been a year since we launched our Artisan Wine Club, and from our perspective it has been a resounding (…ounding …ounding …ounding_) success! We are deeply grateful to all of you who joined the Club and helped make it a success. For those of you who don’t know, the Club offers two kinds of rewards for membership. First, annual Wine Club dues of $35 entitle each member to save $5 on all of our wine tastings ($10 for non-members), a saving worth up to $200 a year, depending on how often you take advantage of it. Second, the more wine club members buy from us, the deeper their discounts. After $150 in purchases, save 5% on the next $150. After $300 in purchases, we pay your sales tax– 8.7% discount on all purchases.
The Wine Club has increased our weekly attendance (and social energy!) by charging members a little less for tastings, and increased our revenues by allowing us to charge infrequent visitors a little more. We are also very grateful that some members have shifted much of their wine purchasing to our shop, to both their advantage and ours. We hope that being a member of the Artisan Wine Club has been a good thing for you in the past year as well, and we hope you will renew your membership for another year. We will be contacting you individually when your membership is ready for renewal.
The Ides of March
March 15, the Ides of March, is just another day– except for that one day in 44 BC when Julius Caesar was assassinated by, of all things, a conspiring group of Roman Senators, right in the Senate Chamber. Can you imagine that today? Hmmm…well, yes, now that I think about it I suppose we can, but more so in the House than the Senate, don’t you think? Anyway, as we all know, led by Caesar’s friend Brutus (et tu, Brute…!) and moved by a concern that the Republic would be lost to a dictatorship (why is it always the Other Guys who are the Dictators?? ), they turned on Caesar and sliced him to pieces like a bunch of nasty, yapping, razor-toothed little Chihauhua-doodles. For the record, it didn’t do much to restore Democracy. Make a note of it.
It was a nasty and infamous piece of work, further immortalized by Shakespeare, so that two thousand years later the deed– and especially the business about the soothsayer’s warning to Beware– is still an Icon for Treachery. It just makes me wonder: is that because it was so OUTSIDE the realm of Human Behavior, or so TYPICAL of it…? All you need to know is, “Dude, not much has changed in two thousand years.”
This Week’s Tasting
Mt. Baker Roussanne ’10 Washington $12
Notes of apricot, honeyed white peach, grassy aromas and lengthy dried apricot flavors with a plump mouthfeel and a cleansing minerality and acidity.
Hahn Pinot Noir ’11 California $12
Lovely aroma of ripe dark berries, lavender, baking spice and a little smoke. Smooth on the palate of black cherry and dark berries over a layer of spice and a little black pepper.
Stephen Vincent “Crimson” 10 California $11
Firm and spicy, with appetizing blackberry, wild berry, pepper, spice and chicory notes that firm up on the finish. Syrah and Cabernet Sauvignon.
Borsao Tres Picos Garnacha ’10 Spain 92pts $15
Deep notes of roasted herbs, sweet black cherries and raspberries, peppers and spice soar from the glass of this dark ruby/purple-tinged wine. Full-bodied, rich, ripe, silky textured, pure and long
Perazzeta Syrah ’08 Italy $38
From one of our favorite Italian wineries, this beautiful artisan syrah (only 80 cases produced) was made from meticulously selected grapes beginning with open-barrel fermentation. Very special!
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