lummi island wine tasting may 29 ’20
click on photos for larger images
Bread, Wine, and Socially Distant Wine Tasting
As mentioned last week, Friday Bread pickups have morphed into an impromptu Covid Aversion Therapy Tailgate party at the Ferry Parking Lot beginning around 4pm. Many set up folding chairs, wine, and glasses to share company and conversation (with appropriate Spacing!). Last week we opened Our Own tailgate for a mini-tasting (3 wines), and now declare the experiment a Success! We have missed the conversations and camaraderie of our customary weekend gatherings at the wine shop, and the Parking Lot Scene definitely provides some much-needed Social Nourishment!
Our current plan is to continue our Tailgate Tastings. See this week’s tasting notes below; we look forward to seeing you this weekend!
How to Make an Online Wine Order
We are continuing to take individual wine orders online or by phone for pickup at the wine shop. Click on the “Order Wine” heading at the top of this page for a partial list of our current offerings. When you have made your selections there are two ways to order:
- Click “Contact Us”on the website header bar at the top of this page, enter the names and quantities of each wine you would like to order, and click “Submit,” or…
- Phone us your order at the number next to our logo, above.
It’s that Simple!
MAN Vinters, South Africa
Some of us (who will remain unnamed) have a taste for wines with a certain “rustic” quality, the kind of wine you would drink with a game stew cooked over a fire pit in an old cabin in the wilderness. There might be elements of “barnyard, with notes of damp earth and vegetation, or garrigue, which includes a wide range of aromatic herbs (rosemary, thyme, tarrogon, basil, and more) that appear on both the nose and the palate.
Pinotage, perhaps the dominant red grape in much of South Africa, often displays many of these qualities. The varietal was created in 1925 by Izan Perold, crossing seeds from Hermitage in France with pinot noir, and planting them in his yard where they were forgotten. Years later they were discovered, and cuttings grafted onto various rootstocks eventually created today’s pinotage, which became the backbone of South African red wine production.
MAN winery is a partnership formed in 2001 among three young couples in South Africa. The name MAN is an acronym of the wives’ initials (perhaps a lobbying point to gain their support?) for the venture. Who knows? All we can say is that we were impressed enough with their pinotage, which we first tasted a couple of years ago, to be curious about their chenin blanc.
We are offering both wines as part of this week’s Tailgate tasting (see notes below) from 4 – 5:30pm Friday. Come by and taste!
Mar a Lago Update: Fox News is the New Joseph Goebbels
In 1932 the Nazis leveraged the Reichstag Fire into a populist victory that swept them into power a few months later. One of Hitler’s first actions was to create a Ministry of Propaganda with Joseph Goebbels as its Director. Goebbels preferred it to be called the “Ministry of Culture and Public Enlightenment,” but Hitler insisted. While there were numerous propaganda offices in the Reich, Goebbels controlled the content newspapers, films, radio, and theater with detailed restrictions on content. Violators could be sent to concentration camps. Propaganda became the hallmark of the Soviet, Nazi, and Fascist regimes that spread across the world and ignited WWII, and which today remains a central strategy for dictators both petty and grand.
Over the past few weeks we have been reading On Tyranny: Twenty Lessons from the Twentieth Century by historian Timothy Snyder (watch interview). This little book is recommended reading for all citizens; using examples from WWII, it is a carefully crafted Wake-Up call to the Existential Threat our country faces from the Right from a movement that started decades ago and gained enormous traction after the 9/11 terrorist bombings on US soil.
There were countless ways our nation could have responded to 9/11 that would not have committed us to endless war in the Middle East. But Neocons in the Bush Administration, including Wolfowitz, Cheney, Rumsfeld, and others, had all been members of the Project for a New American Century, formed in in the late 90’s, when they had asserted to then-President Clinton that “the removal of Saddam Hussein’s regime from power” should be a top goal for the United States, and also that their goals would have to be accomplished slowly, unless “some catastrophic and catalyzing event, like a new Pearl Harbor,” should occur. You know, like their very own Reichstag Fire. We all remember how quickly and irrationally the US invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq were conceived and executed. And how they turned out. It was their Reichstag moment, and they seized it.
In the last thirty years we have seen the Republican Party withdraw almost completely from its Constitutional responsibilities in favor of its own agenda. That agenda has seen the refusal even to consider Democratic appointees or legislation under Obama, the undermining of the Constitution by failing to hold the Tweetster Administration accountable for its lies, failures, excesses, and crimes, and at the state level, the vast disenfranchisement of likely Democratic voters through unconscionable gerrymandering and voter suppression.
There is clear evidence that the new agenda for the Republican Party is, like the Nazis before them, to turn our country into a one-party Authoritarian State. Wrapped in the Flag and carrying a Cross, lauded 24/7 by Propaganda Media, it has already succeeded in altering the perception of Reality for nearly half the population of the country. The Dept of Justice is now a wholly owned subsidiary of the Empire. Arguably there has not been a fair Federal election in this country for nearly thirty years. Democracy is being dismantled before our eyes. There is a lot of work to do!
This Week’s Friday Tailgate Tasting
MAN Vintners Chenin Blanc ’19 South Africa $11
Uses only the free-run juice (no pressing of the grapes) to preserve a clean and natural character, refreshing acidity, and delicious ripe fruit flavors, with vibrant aromas of quince, pear and pineapple. On the palate, fresh stonefruit and apple flavors are backed by refreshing acidity, minerality and a pleasing, rounded mouthfeel. A versatile food wine that will pair well with poultry, shellfish and vegetable dishes.
La Vielle Ferme Rosé ’19 France $10
Classic and tasty blend of grenache, syrah, and cinsault from Ventoux; fruity, dry, crisp, delicious, smooth, at a bargain price.
MAN Vintners Pinotage ’18 South Africa $11
Pleasing aromas of mocha and dark coffee beans, accented by red berries, nutmeg, and vanilla spice, pairing well with spicy or gamy dishes. Dark berries, plum and a smoke on the nose. Rustic yet silky and juicy, with wild cherry flavors, smooth tannins and well-controlled acidity with good intensity to the plum and mocha flavors.
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2072 Granger Way