lummi island wine tasting july 20 ’18
(note: some photos will enlarge when clicked)
Bread Friday this week
Honey, Wheat, Lemon & Poppy Seeds – Made with a very active poolish pre-ferment using some of the flour, yeast and water, but none of the salt, overnight and mixed the next day with bread flour and fresh milled whole wheat. Some honey, poppy seeds and freshly grated lemon peel round out the flavors- $5/loaf.
Prairie Bread – Named for the ingredients that reflect all the goodness of the grains that grow on the prairie. Using regular bread flour and fresh milled whole wheat as well as oats, and cornmeal, plus poppy, flax, sesame, sunflower and pumpkin seeds with just a hint of brown sugar- $5/loaf
and pastry this week…
Brioche Tarts au Sucre – otherwise known as brioche sugar tarts. A rich brioche dough full of eggs and butter is rolled into a round tart and topped with more eggs, cream, butter and sugar- 2/$5
Refosco
We opened the wine shop in May, 2005, with only a vague idea of what we were trying to do. Now thirteen years later, we still have only a vague idea of what we are trying to do, but realize it doesn’t matter very much, because the whole process just unfolds by itself…!
Sometime that first summer in 2005 a young man came by for wine and conversation (our stock in trade) and asked if we had any Refosco, wherein ensued a lengthy conversation about his favorite wine, a Slovenian varietal of the same name. He returned a year or two later for another visit, during which he continued to extol the virtues of this obscure varietal, inspiring in us a curiosity and a vague sense of Duty to track down this Mythical Varietal and pour it for our Faithful.
Fast forward to last week when after several months of ineffectual communication, we managed to connect with a boutique importer specializing in organic and biodynamic wineries for a wine tasting, which included what may be Slovenia’s best example of its elusive refosco grape. It comes from winemaker Uroš Rojac, who has long been committed to producing organic/biodynamic wines, bottling when the moon is new, adding only as much sulfur as necessary to protect the wine, and using only native yeasts to initiate spontaneous fermentation.
We are pleased to report that after all these years since a customer’s original request, this weekend we will finally be pouring for your Education and Pleasure a Slovenian Refosk that is rustic, compelling, and rare. It finishes with notes of sappy, herb-inflected dark cherry and blackberry fruit complemented by hints of leather, smoke, and pipe tobacco. Stock up now and enjoy over the coming five years with hearty stews, lamb shanks, rich bean casseroles, and marinated Portobello mushrooms!
Sharecropping
There are lots of ways for Capital and Labor to coordinate: Slavery, Capitalism, Socialism, Communism, among others. As in any coordinating agreement, there is a negotiation for Power. Capitalism in practice has been an ongoing Contest to allocate relative returns to Capital and to Labor. All you need to know is that since 1980 the real value of the share going to Labor has remained constant while the real value of the share going to Capital has increased exponentially.
At various times in Human History (our source for both Tragedy and Comedy), the ongoing battle over Shares of the Pie among workers, owners of land, natural resources, and machines has created circumstances for innovation, ingenuity, and compromise. One of this week’s wines is called “Sharecropper,” in acknowledgment of one of the particular compromises once made between owners of land and workers, under which growers contracted to deliver their crops to a particular Buyer, rendering them Interdependent, so that the better either one does, the better they both do. These days this is a relatively common arrangement between wineries and vignerons in many parts of Europe.
Friends of the wine shop know that we have a long-standing Issue that Oregon pinot noirs are Overpriced, and therefore we are always looking for examples that deliver Good Value. We recently met the founder of Owen Roe, which begat Sharecropper, which now has its own label, and will soon offer examples of his newer wines (Lady Hill). In the meantime, this weekend we offer, untasted and sheerly by reputation (always Dangerous) we offer for your Pleasure the latest vintage of Owen Roe Sharecropper Pinot Noir.
Mar a Lago Update: A Bridge Too Far
Wow. It’s been a Big Week for the Tweetster. And for All the Rest of Us. Wow…like, did All of This Really Happen??? We seem to have arrived at a point in our Collective Cognition at which our Tiny Brains refuse to accept More Nonsense, and where we have no better choice than to throw up our Tiny, Ineffectual Hands in Consternation and Disbelief while looking for a Viable Exit.
This is the point in the Dream where we expect to Wake Up, but instead we just see more and more Dots Connect. OMD, we Realize, the Russians have not only put the Tweetster in Charge of America; they have also broken up the EU with Brexit, sown Populist Dragon’s Teeth to disrupt even the most Remote local elections across the Globe, and look forward with Glee to the Collapse of NATO, the EU, and Global Free Trade. As when seeing for the first time the Alien juvenile bursting forth from a human body, we are both Horrified and Frozen with Existential Horror. Really? Has it all come down to this?
We find ourselves at a critical Inflection Point. Mathematically this occurs when a curve changes from increasing at an increasing rate to increasing at a decreasing rate. It marks a first detectable change in Trend, a Small Sign of Hope in a Dark Hour, inspiring us as In the immortal words of Captain James Lawrence as he lay dying aboard the USS Chesapeake, “Fight her Till she Sinks and Don’t Give Up the Ship!” Or, more or less along the same lines, Obiwan Kenobi saying “Use the Force, Luke!”
However we phrase it, our Path is Clear; we are at War, and Everything We Hold Dear is Suddenly at Stake.
This week’s wine ta sting
Popolo di Indie Bianco ’16 Italy $13
100% Cortese; aromas of white fruits blended with sweet citrus and a hint of tropical fruit. These fruits appear delicately on the palate, intertwining with fine acidity and a touch of mineral flavor. The finish is long, yet soft.
Campuget Tradition Rose ’17 France $11
Pale brilliant pink. Nervy, mineral-tinged aromas of orange zest and strawberry; Silky and light on its feet, offering zesty, light-bodied red berry and blood orange flavors and a bracing touch of bitter quinine.
Sharecropper’s Pinot Noir ’16 Oregon $15
Aromas of bing cherry, rose petals and pomegranate with hints of baking spice and forest floor, and flavors of cherry, and olive with toasty cinnamon notes.
Dom. Belair Moulin a Vent Beaujolais ’15 France $19
Perfumed and rich in tannins and generous, ripe black fruits. Aged nine months in wood, it shows hints of caramel and spice that adds extra dimension. It is juicy, ripe and needs to age further.
Rojak Refosk ’15 Slovenia $16
Opaque black-plum hue with classic Refosco aromas of wild blackberries, elderberries, cured meats, bitter medicinal herbs, and piquant soil. Wild and rustic on the palate, with big layers of blackberry, huckleberry, violets, star anise, and white pepper.
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2072 Granger Way