lummi island wine tasting oct 12 ’18
Bread Friday this week
Black Pepper Walnut- Bread flour, fresh milled whole wheat and rye. A fair amount of black pepper and toasted walnuts give this bread great flavor with a peppery bite. Goes well with all sorts of meats and cheese and makes a great grilled cheese sandwich – $5/loaf
Flax seed currant Ciabatta – Made with an overnight poolish ferment mixed with the final blend of bread flour and fresh milled whole wheat and rye flours, flax seeds and dried currants for a really flavorful artisan loaf – $5/piece
Pastry this week…
Pumpkin Spice Muffins – Delicious autumn muffins made with pumpkin and all the spices that go with it, and topped with a streusel made with butter, brown sugar, pumpkin seeds and a cream cheese filling. Yum! some have called these crack muffins because they are so addictive…! – 4/$5.
St. Peray
Here is is Year 13 in our little wine shop adventure. And over those years, following whatever Eccentric Muse has caught our fancy, we have developed a curious fondness for wines from a number of small and vaguely obscure growing regions. One such region is St. Peray, which sits at the southern end of the Northern Rhone Valley of France, and which totals only 130 acres of vines, most of which are Marsanne and the rest Roussanne. Marsanne is the most popular white wine grape planted in the Northern Rhone wine region.
In Saint Peray the best vineyards are found high on steep hillsides of granite, limestone and clay. In the nineteenth century wines from St. Peray were in high demand but gradually fell from favor. Now they are again being produced by serious producers willing to make the investments necessary to extract the unique characteristics of this tiny region.
Then again, we have established over these many years that there are certain wines that we really enjoy but which turn out to draw only puzzled expressions from our Faithful. In any case, we did just open a bottle, and yeah, okay, it Definitely Strikes a Chord. It is quite light in the mouth on entry, with a subtle, minerally, white-peachy, and slightly peppery weight that lingers in a seductive yet refreshing– and habit-forming– way. It will be fun to see how it is received…!
October Schedule
We will be here this weekend for our usual schedule, Friday 4-7 and Saturday 2-9 pm. However please be advised that we will be away and the wine shop will be open Fridays only between Oct 12 and Nov 6, and closed Saturdays during the same period, Oct 19, 26, and Nov 2. We regret any inconvenience, but know you will be comforted by the continuing Luxury of Bread Fridays during our absence. We will keep you posted on our adventures.
Hauling Out
Well, as it turned out it wasn’t a great summer for sailing. Actually, it was a great summer for sailing, but very little sailing happened. Nevertheless, a number of little projects got completed on Dreamtime, including some veneer replacement in the cabin that had been damaged a few years ago, replacing some failing shrouds, and learning more about tuning the #@8% outboard, which has been very finicky. The lesson learned, or “re-learned,” is that time “simply messing about in boats” is a relaxing distraction, whether it is actually sailing or rowing out to pursue maintenance chores.
Yesterday we sailed her into town for haulout this morning. Both went well, and she is now safely moored on her trailer in town for the winter. The trip to town from the Island was marked by light winds and sometimes glassy seas and abstract reflections.
Mar a Lago Update: Power and Women Scorned
Heav’n has no Rage, like Love to Hatred turn’d,
Nor Hell a Fury, like a Woman scorn’d. — William Congreve, The Mourning Bride, 1697
It is difficult not to see the recent confirmation of Judge K to SCOTUS as an affront to the last fifty years of Feminist Progress in our Country. True, there has been some learning in the Senate since Anita Hill confronted Clarence Thomas 25 years ago. Then, as now, the Witness was poised, intelligent, thoughtful, courteous, dignified, and Credible, while the Accused was none of those things. And then, as now, the Nominee was confirmed to a lifetime position on the Supreme Court as if the Woman did not exist, or even worse, Existed but Did Not Matter.
This time feels a little Different, with a few Signs of Minor Progress. This time comes after a year of MeToo has marked the Fall of many men from high positions. This time it touches More Deeply than MeToo, beyond workplace discrimination to the day to day cross-cultural Battlefield that girls and women face every day in growing up and going about the business of living as Prey in a world of Predators. This is discussed eloquently in an article read earlier this week (sorry, can’t remember where) that makes a compelling case that This Time, as with PTSD, it is evoking deep resonance and personal memories in ways that are empowering Rage in women across every cultural Divide.
While we cannot remember the name of the article or the author (or as former Poet Laureate Billy Collins put it in an amusing poem):
All you need to know for now is that the Article we can’t remember ends with the compelling line that prompted this note: “Before Kavanaugh, I was just Angry; Now, I’m F~#king Furious!” Here on Lummi Island, where all the women are Strong, and most of us Old Guys are more Handy than Handsome, that sounds like a Mantra we can all Get Behind. see more
This week’s wine tasting
Paul Jaboulet Aine Saint-Peray Blanc Les Sauvagères ’15 France $22
100% Marsanne; A pure, fresh, mineral style of Saint-Peray, saline and citrus driven – a true Rhone revelation from steep hills of pure limestone.
Montes Classic Merlot ’13 Chile $11
Bright and complex, with blackcurrant and black cherry flavours and a rich, juicy finish. Aged in oak for six months before release.
Atalaya Laya ’17 Spain $11
70% Garnacha and 30% Monastrell; Cassis, blueberry, pungent herbs and mocha aromas lead to an open-knit palateof fresh cherry, dark berry, and a hint of black pepper and a subtle floral note.
Colome Amalaya ‘16 Argentina $12
From one of the highest and most remote vineyards in the world (8000 ft). Dark, with a core of crushed currant and plum fruit laced with black tea, fig, raisin and cherry with hints of mesquite and fruitcake. Stays fresh on the finish. Malbec, Cabernet Sauvignon, Syrah and Tannat.
Glaetzer Wallace Shiraz Grenache ’15 Australia $22
From century-old vines; heady aromas of dark berry liqueur, candied licorice and mocha; supple, broad and seamless, with sweet blueberry and cassis , and lush, decadent style, smooth and long, with repeating spiciness and velvety tannins.
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2072 Granger Way