lummi island wine tasting may 22-24 ’15 artists’ studio tour
Bread Friday (sign up for preorder list! )
NOTE: Because the Wine Gallery is hosting the opening of Anne Gibert’s new show for Studio Tour, Friday may be crowded. Just in case, bread pickup will be on the deck outside the shop (weather permitting).
Pain Meunier: (“Miller’s Bread”), includes all parts of the wheat kernel, bread flour, whole wheat flour, cracked whole wheat and wheat germ. A great all around bread. – $5/loaf.
Dried Cherry, Walnut & Buckwheat: Bread flour, buckwheat flour, and some whole wheat, packed with dried cherries that pair well with the buckwheat. – $5/loaf.
Hamburger/Sandwich buns. Soft bun of bread flour with fresh milled white whole wheat and topped with onions. Limited, order early. -4 for $5.
Sablet
Sablet is a small village about thirty minutes east northeast of Avignon in the southern Rhone Valley of France, with a history of viticulture dating back to the 14th century. Although essentially all of the area’s vineyards were wiped out in the nineteenth century by the phylloxera infestation, it was a resident of Sablet, Francois Leydier, who developed the machine used to graft phylloxera-resistant rootstock onto local vines, a major factor in rescuing the French wine industry. Sablet mostly produces red wines blended from Grenache, Syrah, Mourvèdre and Cinsault. The wines tend to be full bodied, with notes of blackberry, ripe plum, and hints of violets.
The Sablet Rouge we are pouring this weekend is a favorite of ours, which we first tasted at Bertrand Stehelin’s winery in Gigondas a few years ago. We are also great fans of his Sablet Blanc, a blend of roussanne, marsanne, and grenache blanc, and which we like to think we helped bring into Washington by lobbying strongly with the importer who was already bringing in Bertrand’s red wines. We hope you like it as much as we do!
Portraits of Lummi Island Women: Studio Tour Opening Reception Friday. May 22!
Our guest Artist for Studio Tour this weekend is Anne Gibert showing her latest works, “Portraits of Twenty-three Lummi Island Women.” We just put up the show this afternoon and so now we know Who They Are! The portraits are mostly painted from photos Anne has taken in recent years, so many of the subjects probably have no idea their portraits even exist. We can tell you that any Islander will recognize lots of familiar faces!
We will have a Special Opening Tasting on Friday, May 22, from 4-7. Anne will be in the wine shop to talk about the paintings, and all of you women who are subjects will be entitled to a free wine tasting!
Memorial Day and the Meaning of Time
When I was a child, each Memorial Day my mother would take us to the cemetery where her parents were buried. It would always take a while to find the graves, which were poorly marked and in an old and untended area. Her father died in 1920, when she was five years old, and her mother in 1933, when she was 18. Which also means that this July would have been my mother’s 100th birthday.
We have all noticed that the older we get the Faster time seems to go. When my mother talked about her parents, I sort of understood that, sure, she had been a child once. But it was a pretty fuzzy concept. It is only through the perspective of our own years that it begins to sink in that, as Alan Watts put it, “being born is like being pushed off a cliff.”
So Memorial Day is essentially about Mortality. There is nothing Heroic about young men killing each other for Glorious Causes. There is nothing Honorable in torturing or killing another human being in the name of Justice. At root there is never any reason for causing another being pain, or injury, or death. We are all fragile and mortal. Wouldn’t it be nice if everyone everywhere would commit themselves to this little idea from the Metta Sutta…
Let none deceive another, or despise any being in any state,
Let none through anger or ill-will wish harm upon another.
Even as a mother protects with her life her child, her only child,
So with a boundless heart should one cherish all living beings,
Radiating kindness over the entire world,
This week’s tasting:
Jardin Unoaked Chardonnay ’13 South Africa $10
Alluring aromas of ripe pears and honey lead to a bright, crisp palate of fresh lemon, honey, and a touch of quinine. Delicious!
Villa des Anges Rosé ’14 France $10
Spicy and focused on the nose, showing fresh citrus and red berry and a hint of white pepper. Dry and nervy on the palate, with refreshing bitter cherry and berry skin flavors.
Pugliano Treggiaia Italy $11
A smooth and satisfying blend of sangiovese, canniolo & cab, serious but friendly, delightful with anything from pizza to lamb chops.
Le Rote Massimo Chianti Riserva ’11 Italy $18.
95% sangiovese, 5% canniolo; lovely notes of cherry, black tea, sage, and red clay, with a delightful rustic flair
Bertrand Stehelin Sablet Rouge ’12 France $22
(70% grenache, 25% mourvedre and 5% syrah): Vivid purple. Bright, perfumed aromas and flavors of candied red fruits and lavender, with subtle spiciness and a soothing palate from a year’s rest in concrete tanks.
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2072 Granger Way