lummi island wine tasting june 15 ’18
(note: some photos will enlarge when clicked)
Bread Friday this week
Seeded Multi Grain – A portion of the flour, water, salt & yeast is mixed and fermented overnight in the refrigerator before mixing the final dough to begin the enzymatic activity and gluten development overnight in a cool environment. The next day it is mixed with bread flour and fresh milled whole wheat and rye, then flax, sunflower and sesame seeds are added for a nice bit of crunch and some extra flavor. A great all around bread – $5/loaf
Rosemary Olive Oil – Bread flour and freshly milled white whole wheat for a little more flavor and texture. Fresh rosemary from the garden and olive oil to make for a nice tender crumb and crisp crust. – $5/loaf
For pastry this week…
Pain aux Raisin – made with the same laminated dough as croissants, but rolled out, spread with pastry cream and sprinkled with a mix of golden raisins and dried cranberries that have been soaked in sugar syrup. Rolled up and sliced before baking. – 2/$5
Wild Onions
Most nice days our mid-day dog walk takes us down along the shore of Legoe Bay. The pups like little side trips onto the beach or into the meadows or woods along the road. Today Pat pointed out these little wild onions growing pretty much everywhere. Each flower is about the size of a fingernail. They smell like strong, sweet onions, with a lovely, surprisingly robust flavor. One has to imagine that some day soon, it it hasn’t happened already, a little army of sous-chefs from the Willows Inn will be out foraging them as an ingredient in Chef Blaine Wetzel’s dinner menu.
They are not only tasty, they also have an exotic beauty and aroma. Sprinkled some on our hot dogs tonight…added a savory tang!
Juggernaut Hillside Cabernet
We have learned over the years that Wine Labels are Big Business. Many of our visitors have admitted having bought wines on impulse because of the label. So it is understandable that when Judy the Wine Merchant stopped in with some samples on Bread Friday a couple of weeks ago, most people commented on the amazing label (shown at left) on this wine. Want more…? You can get an animated view of this Pretty Powerful Image as the winery page opens up here.
This wine is a project of old-time family winery Bogle in Clarksville, California, on the edge of the Sierra Foothills east of Sacramento. They make a LOT of wine, yet some 92% of their vineyards are farmed sustainably (whatever that means). The Juggernaut concept, besides its knockout label graphic, is to use blend fruit from several of Bogle’s best hillside vineyards, including Alexander Valley, Sierra Foothills, and Livermore. Then, true to the Great American Way that “Anything worth Doing is worth doing to Gross and Ugly Excess,” the wine (presumably all of it…?) then spends 20 months in new French oak barrels before bottling.
The result of all of this a a very American red wine, big in every direction, modestly priced for the Effort that has gone into it, and, like any New Ride at the Carnival, an exotic Entertainment on several levels, Addictive to some, Anathema to others, but its own Side Show with its Own Tent. Step Right Up!
Mar a Lago Update: Dead Reckoning
The term “dead reckoning” is a navigational concept. It is all the things you do to keep track of your best guess about where you think you are at sea during any period when you are unable to confirm your location. For example, aboard ship in all the centuries before GPS was available to provide moment-to-moment precision on your location on the Earth’s surface, navigators kept an ongoing plot of their best guess about where they were on the Earth’s surface. Beginning with the ship’s last confirmed position, a track was laid out a a chart based on hour to hour course and speed changes and wind and surface conditions until a new position could be confirmed with actual geographic or celestial observations. There is always some level of Uncertainty about it, and therefore some vague sense of Anxiety…maybe there is an Unknown Current, or underwater Hazard, or, you know, Pirates or Sea Monsters. The thing about Dead Reckoning is that, like addiction in general, you Never Know Where you Really Are until you Get Your Next Fix.
This past week in Tweetsterviille has been like navigating in the Twilight Zone; the dials are all spinning wildly, the airplanes are winging over and spinning toward the Ground, and Strange Drums are beating in the Distance as Prehistoric Moans, Grunts, and Shrieks echo through the air. Well, okay, on second thought maybe that’s overdramatizing a bit, but you have to admit there Is a Lot Going On!
This week we had: 1) the Kim and Don Show in Singapore (sold out!) ; 2) the FBI-Comey show about what Hillary knew and when she knew it, when others thought they knew it or thought she knew it, and when and what Comey knew and why he Had to Say Something about it; 3) Bill Clinton asserting that indeed it was Comey’s precision-timed mention of Hillary emails one week before the election that gave the Tweetster the election; 4) Robert de Niro using the F-word toward the Tweetster in his opening lines as host of the Tony Awards; 5) New York filing suit against the Trump Foundation for illegal use of campaign funds; and 6) the Tweetster storming out of the G7 in a Tweetstorm targeting Canadian PM Justin Trudeau, mortifying Americans and outraging our European allies (see iconic photo), and 7) new evidence suggest the Antarctic Ice Sheet is melting twice as fast as we previously thought, you know, whether you believe in Global Warming or not.
What we have here is a Presidential Impostor who is pathologically addicted to Throwing Monkey Wrenches into any system that seems to be working, for no particular reason besides Taking yet Another Spotlight, another Photo Op, another Curtain Call, another Hyperbolic Wedgie against Everyone he has Sworn to Defend. Things are happening so fast it is becoming impossible to step back far enough and fast enough to get and maintain a Meaningful Perspective, and all the while behind the Scenes Entire Sets are being Dismantled, Privatized, Marketed, and De-regulated. This pervasive sense of Disorder is taking a Toll, a Growing Need for Order and Predictability. Hal 9000 nailed it when he (It) said, “Stop, Dave…my Mind is going…I can Feel It…I can Feel It……I’m Afraid…!
If you are not Afraid yet, you haven’t been Paying Attention.
This week’s wine tasting
Bergevin Lane Linen Sauvignon Blanc ’16 Washington $11
Tropical aromas of pineapple, mango and a hint of lime, evolving in the mouth into fresh pear, peach and apricot with an undercurrent of citrus.
Descendants Ligeois Dupont Rosé ’16 Washington $12
Brilliant coral color.Aromas of srawberries and cream, orange hibiscus, and jasmine, with hints of white pepper and roasted hazelnut with flavors of strawberry, orange zest and a touch of white pepper spice and bright acidity that nicely balance the fruity creaminess.
Fantini Montepulciano d’Abruzzo ’16 Italy $11
Aromas of red and black cherry plus other ripe red berries; soft, fruity and easy to like, with flavors of maraschino cherries, plums and a touch of spice; velvety smooth, luscious and richly plummy.
Chateau la Croisille ‘Silice’ Malbec ”15 France $19
Plots located on the Luzech limestone plateau of Cahors, with its iron-rich siliceous red clays, aged one year in neutral oak, yielding a wine that is both rustic and polished.
Juggernaut Hillside Cabernet ’15 California $20
Huge, rich, and opulent, with complex flavors of chocolate, coffee, blackberries, cassis, mint, and velvety tannins. New French oak adds notes of vanilla and toast; concentrated, rich, and smooth on the palate.
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