lummi island wine tasting march 7 ’25
Wine Tasting Friday Mar 7 4-6 pm
clearing morning fog…
Friday Bread Pickup This Week
Kamut Levain – Kamut, also known as khorasan wheat, is an ancient grain that has more protein than conventional wheat. Some people who can’t tolerate wheat find kamut to be more digestible. The bread is made with a levain that is fermented overnight before being mixed with with bread flour and fresh milled whole kamut flour. It has a nutty, rich flavor and makes a golden color loaf. – $5/loaf
Le Pave d’Autrefois – Translates roughly as “old paving stones.” This is a ciabatta-like bread with a lot of hydration so it isn’t really shaped so much as simply divided into approximate squares – hence the ‘paving stones’ name. Made with a mix of bread flour as well as fresh milled whole wheat, rye and buckwheat flours for a lot of hearty whole grain goodness. A great artisan bread -$5/loaf (or paving stone) – $5/loaf
and pastry this week….
Traditional Croissants – Made with a levain as well as “old dough” where a portion of the flour, water, salt and yeast is fermented overnight. The final dough is made with more flour, butter, milk and sugar, & laminated with more butter before being cut and shaped into traditional French croissants. Quantities are definitely limited so if you want croissants this week be sure and get your order in early! 2/$5
Island Bakery has developed a rotation cycle of several dozen breads and pastries. Each Sunday the Bakery emails the week’s bread offering to the mailing list. Orders received before 5 pm Tuesday (and not already claimed!) will be available for pickup at the wine shop each Friday from 4:00 – 5:30 pm. Contact us at least two weeks before your visit to get on the bread list .
This week’s Wine Tasting
It has been many years since we visited Seguret, possibly the Most Picturesque Village in France. Washington winemaker Bob Betz had suggested it was not to be missed, and so we made a point to visit. Like many designated Picturesque Villages, there is little Industry beyond Being, well, Picturesque, constantly Posing in a way. Every turn of an alley, every stone stair climbed, every archway-framed view has its Finger on your Cute Button before you can even begin to shrug and exclaim Jacques Robinson!
This photo was taken from the window of a (of course) Charming Little Tea Shop about halfway up the steep, narrow, and winding cobbled walkways of the village. It was great to sit down, have a little something, and explore the interesting selection of teas. We settled on an Oolong tea called Tung Ting (aka Dong Ding), which has become a Favorite Late Afternoon soother.
I bring this up today because this weekend we are pouring a white wine from Seguret which blends some of our favorite white varietals (see notes, below). Hopefully it will taste almost as good accompanying the view from our wine shop window as it would if you were actually there!
Domaine de l’Amauve La Daurèle, Côtes du Rhône Villages Séguret ’23 France $21
Grenache blanc, clairette, viognier, & ugni blanc; expressive nose of white fruits, mirabelle plum, and acacia honey; soft on the palate with lively citrus flavors…very Food Versatile!
Lancyre Pic St Loup Vielles Vignes ’20 France $18
100 % malbec; unfolds with dark, enchanting notes of blackberry, grilled plum, and jammy raspberry with accents of orange peel, vanilla, and tobacco spice, finishing with balanced structure, plush texture, and a lengthy finish.
Idilico Monastrell ’22 Washington $19
Known as Mourvèdre in France, monastrell typically showcases tart dark cherry, freshly crushed pepper, some game notes, bright acidity and freshness and low alcohol levels. Fermented 10 days on lees and aged in neutral French barrels.
Economics of the Heart: Lock Him Up!
In five short weeks, Heritage Foundation’s Project 2025 blueprint to end American Democracy (which they unveiled a year ago) has already decimated our civil service with many thousands of short-notice firings, deeply compromised the many-layered security systems in our national databases, given away or sold national security secrets to our historic enemies; abandoned our historic international alliances and commitments; gutted long-established civil service protocols and social support networks, eliminated oversight of federal agencies, and replaced competent, long-serving, professional, and dedicated agency leaders with deeply unqualified Maga sycophants who all qualify as “domestic enemies by taking oaths to the Tweetster instead of the Constitution. And all the while Congressional Republicans look away, mumble, and acquiesce.
All of this deliberate chaos is, as designed, taking huge daily tolls on national morale, our national and international institutions and relationships, the smooth functioning of our public sector, and both our own and the global economy. All of these actions violate both existing law and solemn oaths of office, and over 20 Blue-State AG’s have filed scores of federal lawsuits around the country.
Although these arrows have all been pointing in the same Authoritarian direction since the 2024 election in November, No One was prepared for the jaw-dropping and shameful White House shakedown of Ukraine and President Zelensky in the White House last Friday (Feb 28). That spectacle reminded us all, of course, of the 2019 whistle-blower exposure of the Tweetster’s threat to withhold Congressionally approved military aid to Ukraine unless Zelensky would lie about the Bidens, triggering an international scandal and the Tweetster’s first impeachment. The Oval Office meeting on Friday was clearly a well-rehearsed pay-back ambush that backfired by revealing Zelensky the hero, the Tweetster the self-obsessed sh**head he really is, and the others present the sycophantic fools they are.
The inescapable fact is that psychological assessments of the Tweetster’s behavior over many years have consistently correlated with textbook definitions of psychopathy and sadistic personality disorder, both of which were on full display in his aggression against Zelensky on Friday. He was loud, rude, bullying, blaming, coarse, and breathtakingly un-statesmanlike. His every action is solely in service of his hungry-ghost ego.The entire performance was not just a long-awaited act of revenge for Zelensky’s inadvertent role in exposing Trump’s bribe attempt to help him smear the Bidens. It was also part of his long-term fantasy of becoming America’s Putin, and at this very moment he is well on his way to that goal.
It should by now be obvious to everyone on the planet that these hateful, persistent, and ever-deepening personality disorders, aggravated by his obvious mental decline, are completely incompatible with the highly demanding requirements of an effective Presidency to listen, understand, consider, and discuss a broad range of complex topics. Of immediate concern is that with neither Congressional nor Cabinet consultation he has single-handedly abandoned our 80-yr alliances with our NATO allies and many other countries in favor of autocratic states including Russia, Israel, Saudi Arabia, Iran, Hungary, and North Korea, not to mention his weird side shows on Greenland, “Gulf of America,” immigration, DOGE, Musk, air traffic control, or actually having any sense of responsibility whatsoever for anything.
This is NOT politics as usual. Everything our country has stood for for 250 years is on the line, right now, right this minute. Every US Senator and Representative must be bombarded continually with demands that they show up, speak up, and defend our Constitution against Project 2025. Whether by 25th amendment, psychiatric evaluation, arrest, imprisonment, or “compelling retirement package,” Trump and his unqualified traitors must be removed from office IMMEDIATELY or we REALLY WON’T have a country anymore!
LINK: Call/write your Senators and Representatives NOW!
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