Lummi Island Wine Tasting May 3 ’14
Got tree pollen?
Been outside with the wood chipper the last week or two grinding up branches from February’s limb-snapping snowstorm. So that’s Item One. Item Two is that most of us have noticed the extraordinary layer of golden pollen that has been piling up on our cars, houses, and every other outdoor surface over the last month or so. Yesterday I was chipping a pile of small fir branches that were lying under a couple of willows right behind the wine shop. Fairly quickly I noticed the air filling with a golden dust cloud, with very strong aromas of pitch, pepper, and something akin to nutmeg. (sounds like wine tasting notes, huh…?) Powerful stuff! I had been imagining that this golden layer of pollen was coming from the fir trees. But interestingly, in the last few days willows have been heavily casting their spawn to the winds, and I imagine that’s what I was stirring up yesterday.
Fortunately I do not seem to be sensitive to it, so no ill effects, but in thirty-some years in these parts I have never seen a Pollen Spring like it. Many of you, I know, have been suffering with intense allergy issues over the last month. Someone suggested that because of the cold early Spring, everything is popping out at once, concentrating the pollen season.
The Rosé Shrine is back!
These last couple of days, reaching all the way up into the (I’m not making this up!) seventies* is Reason Enough to take a moment for a long exhalation, a relieved smile, and most definitely, a cool, crisp, summery glass of rosé. Pour it, take it outside on the deck, sit back. Sip and listen to the birds. Feel the warmth of the Sun. Unclench. Let yourself sigh with the pleasure of it. Yes, your senses tell you: this moment is perfect. This moment is magical. And this wine is perfect…!
*for those of you from Hot Places, all you need to know is that out here on The Island we all staht fannin’ ahselves and talkin lahke Tennessee Williams charactahs any tahme the temperatuah goes ovah sixty-nahn…ah’m just sayin’…
Climate Change, Local Version
Like the snow, like the pollen, like the Winter, like the Spring, it feels like something is changing in the wine shop. And like Mr. Jones in the classic Bob Dylan tune “Ballad of a Thin Man,” (click on the image to play) We Don’t Know What It Is. And although the Wine Shop is, like, picking up the Vibes, it doesn’t feel to be About the Wine Shop. Rather, there is Something stirring in the larger Human Field that smells of Change, and it’s a little Creepy.
Consider a few Items: Item 1: Malaysian Airlines plane goes offline, flies for seven hours, and disappears. Item 2: The other-worldly, cruelly capricious landslide not far away from here in Osso. Item 3: A bizarre “court” in Egypt sentences about a thousand people, many or most in absentia, to Death, for vague political crimes. Item 4: Vladimir Putin stakes a claim to parts of Ukraine, echoing fading notes of the Merry Old Cold War that defined our generation (when I was little I thought there really was, somewhere, you know, an actual Iron Curtain); Item 5: Red State Executions go terribly wrong, but no one goes so far as to think “Hmm, maybe institutionalized vengeance has some karmic problems”…Item 6: Climate change is striking back in oh so many ways.
I’m just saying there has been a deluge of Weirdness unfolding lately. One way or another it seems to be cutting into our weekly attendance, as if– I mean, really, AS IF, something else were more important. Since that can’t Possibly be true, obviously it must have something to do with something bigger, something Karmic involving All of us. And I fear that maybe we have gone as far as mostly-chimp mutants can go, and we are running hard against our genetic limitations. Like 24/7 estrus, insatiable needs for power, unrelenting self-delusion, and of course your basic anthrocentrism, i.e., it’s All about Us. What if– and I am laughing as I say this– I mean, just try this absurd idea on for a moment– what if the Wine Shop weren’t the Center of the World?!!!
This week’s tasting notes
Altavins Blanc ’12 Spain $11
65% grenache blanc, 30% macabeo, 5% muscat, from 400m, 45-yr old vineyards planted in chalky, silty, low-permeability soil, yielding fruity aromas and palate of mango, apple, and apricot, with a bright dash of zesty citrus.
Chateau Lancyre Rose ’12 France $15
Light orange-pink. Fresh tangerine and strawberry aromas with notes of white pepper and white flowers. Juicy and seamless on the palate, offering plump red fruit, candied citrus, and a hint of bitter herbs.
Venta Morales Tempranillo ’12 Spain $9
Bright purple; pungent aromas of cherry, blackcurrant and dark chocolate. Supple and juicy in the mouth, with spice-accented cherry and fresh herb flavors, finishing on a tangy note.
Napa Cellars Merlot ’11 California $14
Aromas of toasty baking spices, vanilla, malt and fresh, ripe plums alongside alluring flavors of warm berry compote, juicy blueberry, blackberry, cherry, and a hint of dark chocolate and toffee.
William Church Bishop’s Blend ’10 Washington $18
Cab-dominant Bordeaux blend with a splash of Grenache; lush and round with notes of grenadine, black cherry, sweet tobacco and forest spice.
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2072 Granger Way