Lummi Island Wine Tasting Sept 10 ’11

Here it is only the Tuesday after the Labor Day Studio Tour, and I am writing this week’s post already while still a little dazed from a FULL Saturday and Sunday. Especially Saturday, which had possibly the most visitors and the most tastings we have ever before done in one day. It was loud, it was festive, it was summer, it was crazy! By comparison Sunday traffic was steady, but much lower key, much quieter, and more personal, with more opportunity to connect with our visitors personally, which is of course the fun part of this whole operation.

We departed from our usual practice of offering four or five wines for our weekend tasting menu. Instead, we rotated wines among selections from four of our neighbor wineries here in Whatcom County: Legoe Bay Winery right here on Lummi Island; Mt. Baker Vineyards , Whatcom County’s oldest and best established winery, dating back some thirty years; Dynasty Cellars, barely a mile away across Haro Strait on the ferry; and Masquerade , Whatcom County’s newest winery, which just moved to Bellingham from Walla Walla.

As usual, the most recent Legoe Bay viognier continues their consistent tradition of quality with this grape, and the 2007 syrah is very possibly their best one yet. The throngs agreed, and we saw a lot of these wines go out the door. If you are one of those locals who poo-poos your neighborhood winery, I urge you to give these wines another try, as they offer terrific quality for the meager price.

We also bought a pretty good stash of Mt. Baker Roussanne, and have been pouring a lot of samples to a growing following of believers. After we bought another five cases a few weeks ago they raised the price back up (it was lowered because so few people had ever heard of Roussanne!) ; the next batch will sell at $12 a bottle, not $9, so if you like a mouth-filling, full-textured white wine, come by soon and load up– this is a great wine at this price!

Finally, we were very impressed with several wines we poured from Masquerade Cellars, with its new winery just moved to Bellingham (Iowa St) from Prosser. Their bubbly "Effervescent Elephant" is terrific and reminiscent of some very expensive French champagnes, and their syrah and cabernets are big and rich. All were showing exceptionally well over the weekend, as were the wines from Dynasty.

All in all, our neighbor wineries are making some great juice out there, and it was great to promote their efforts. We will continue to offer their selections and to pour them for you from time to time.

WHY am I writing the blog early , you might wonder…? It is so we can take off for a few of these beautiful late summer days on the boat. Somehow the summer has slipped through our hands like water, frictionlessly, leaving all the imagined outings and explorations on the impossibly cluttered and overloaded Shelf of All the Things You Didn’t Get Around To, and it seems important to wrest from the relentless Hands of Time at least a few days of bobbing at anchor in a quiet cove. (not our boat, but you get the idea…!)

Our artist for the next month or two, as I mentioned last week, is our friend Brendan, with a lot of new paintings from recent travels to New Zealand, Italy, and Hawaii. Gallery supporter and regular visitor Mary Jane bought the painting of the Whatcom Chief, our stalwart ferry, which MJ has coveted since Brendan first showed it here a year ago. (If you click on the image below I think a larger version will open…) Though it only shows a small portion of the boat, it is instantly recognizable to every Islander.

This Saturday’s tasting:

Casa Lapostolle sauv blanc ’10    Chile     $10
Brilliant pale lime yellow. Intense aromas of sweet citrus, tropical fresh fruit;  light and fresh on the palate, with pleasant roundness and a grassy, minerally finish.

Chateau D’Oupia Minervois ’09    France      $12
A blend 60% Old Vines Carignan (from vineyards up to 100 years old), 30% Syrah, and 10% Grenache. Elegant and balanced, It is aromatic, full and densely colored, with a long finish of dark fruits, enjoyable to drink young and can age 5-7 years.

Sant’ Antonio Monti Garbi Ripasso  ’08   Italy    $17
Nose of roasted meats, raspberries, and red licorice; full bodied and crisp, with smooth, ripe tannin on the palate;   Intense and up front fruit of plum, blackberry and black cherry.

The Warrior Red ’07 Washington $14
A blend of 88% Merlot, 10% Cab Sauv, and 2% Petit Verdot; offers classic plum and red fruit notes with hint of chalk and minerality to support the delicious bouquet of cassis, spice, and blackberry. The balance is impeccable, with real elegance and restraint that gives this wine the kind of class that’s remarkable at the price.

Wine Tasting

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