lummi island wine tasting july 31 ’15
(note: some photos will enlarge when clicked)
Friday Breads (sign up for preorder list! )
Walnut Raisin Levain- 30% fresh milled whole wheat and rye with toasted walnuts and dark raisins . – $5/loaf.
Kamut Levain – khorasan wheat is an ancient Egyptian grain with lovely golden wheat berries with a nutty flavor, and leavened with natural starter. -$5/loaf.
Traditional Bagels! Shaped, boiled, topped with seeds, and baked– plain, sesame seed, poppy seed, and mixed; one each per order . – 4 for $5.
This weekend: Cloudlift Cellars Special Tasting
For the past several years, the end of July has brought winemaker Tom Stangeland and his wife Joannie to Lummi Island to celebrate their wedding anniversary, and they have always found time to stop in the wine shop to taste and schmooze about all things wine. Gradually we got to taste a few of his early wines (2013 is only his third commercial vintage!), and I have been very impressed with all of them. In recent years I have even had the opportunity to help out a little with fall crush and spring bottling at the winery in South Seattle. As many of you know, we have carried several Cloudlift wines here in the shop to general enthusiastic acclaim, and I am not shy about saying that these wines all strike a resonant chord with my own palate that sounds something like “Mmmmm!”
So we are very excited to offer Our Faithful the opportunity to taste through five of Tom’s current releases this weekend. Since this is their anniversary, don’t expect that he will be here during all open hours Friday and Saturday, but it is likely he will be in the shop for an hour or two in the middle of our open hours to tell you (in great detail if you like!) about his wines and the Craftsman philosophy that he brings to them.
Our Summer Island
I have been living in these parts for, let’s see, forty years now. Not a long time, geologically speaking. The Blink of an Eye. Certainly, one would think, not enough time to change an Entire Global Climate. Yet across these forty years, this is the first year that we have had what the rest of the country calls “Summer,” though it has been getting noticeably warmer and drier for a few years now. So Something is definitely Afoot. And while this “summer” thing is on some levels quite enjoyable, on the Climate Change Channel it is increasingly disturbing. First comes, “Wow, this is So Nice!” and then another part of us thinks,“Wait a minute…where ARE we?” because we have never seen it be this Hot, or this Dry, and every year it seems to be getting More So.
We did get a little rain last week, and with it a small but welcome sense of Relief for the worrying Spirit, and a little Color back to the landscape. We worry about Fires, and about our flora and fauna getting enough to drink. We worry about the future of salmon fishing everywhere but particularly right out front in Legoe Bay. Last year warm water drove almost all the returning fish north of Vancouver Island, and our local reefnetters were pretty much shut out. Now it seems even hotter, and yes, the boats are launched and in position again, but now it all seems fragile and tentative. Still beautiful, still a great place to be, this Island, this World. But the more we look around lately the more some part of us thinks: “We Really need to start taking better care of this place– Immediately!”
Reefnet rigs in early morning light– ready for salmon that may not come this way– or Any Way– much longer
Great Blue in the Slough knows how to make do…seven million years of adaptation practice
These hydrangeas next door are absolutely irridescent about the heat…
Sunset skies have been unusually cloudless
This week’s wine tasting featuring wines from Cloudlift Cellars
Cloudlift Updraft ’13 Washington $18
Bordeaux-style blend of Sauvignon Blanc and Semillon; aromas of apple blossom, mango, papaya, and lime; flavors of Bosc pear and juicy tropical fruit leading to a palate-cleansing rush of citrus acidity.
Cloudlift Rosé ’14 Washington $14
100% Cabernet Sauvignon; nose of fresh ripe strawberries with a touch of citrus that continues on the slightly off-dry palate, followed by a long, crisp finish.
Cloudlift Ascent ’12 Washington $27
80% cab franc, 18% merlot, 2% petit verdot; aromas of black cherry, dark strawberry, sweet herbs and notes of minerality; light and silky mouthfeel with flavors of black cherry, cocoa powder and crushed herbs with bright acidity and hints of toasted almond on the finish.
Cloudlift Panorama ’12 Washington $26
Enticing aromas of raspberry, cherry, plum and cassis, with scents of roses, mulberry and incense, and balanced flavors of red currant and Rainier cherry.
Cloudlift Stratus ’12 Washington WE 93pts $32
85% PetitVerdot, 15% merlot; brings aromas of fresh and dried herbs, pencil lead, mocha, potting soil and flowers; in the mouth shows rich coffee and cherry notes backed by exceptionally integrated tannins and a lingering finish.
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2072 Granger Way