lummi island wine tasting sept 8-9 ’23
Hours this weekend: Friday & Saturday, September 8-9, 4-6 pm
This week’s wine tasting
mantis (not that easy to spot!)
Mas des Bressades Rosé ’21 France $14
Bright and refreshing classic Rhone blend of grenache, syrah, and mourvèdre, with splashes of Carignan and Cinsault; nice flavor balance of bright red fruit, wild herbs, and a vibrant, spicy finish.
Bodegas Ateca Atteca ’19 Spain $16
Displays aromas of cedar, an earthy minerality, black cherry, and lavender leading to a savory, deep, well-balanced red with succulent fruit and a lengthy, seamless finish.
Seghesio Zinfandel ’21 California $23
Aromas of deep dark fruits lead to a juicy, vibrant palate with notes of black cherry, black raspberry, fig, baking spice and fresh plum, and layered fruit flavors, finishing with supple, textured tannins and a lingering, complex finish.
Friday Bread Pickup This Week
Levain w/ Dried Cherries and Pecans – a levain is made the night before final mixing of the dough using a sourdough starter. This allows the fermentation process to start and the gluten to start developing. The final dough is made with the levain, bread flour and fresh milled whole wheat and then loaded up with dried cherries and toasted pecans. A nice rustic loaf that goes well with meats and cheese – $5/loaf
Pan de Cioccolate – Also made with a levain, this bread is a delicious chocolate artisan bread not an enriched sweet pastry dough with lots of eggs, butter and sugar. Rather it is a rich chocolate bread made with a levain, bread flour and fresh milled rye flour, honey for sweetness, vanilla and plenty of dark chocolate. Makes fabulous toast, even better french toast – $5/loaf
and pastry this week…
Bear Claws!! – Made with a danish pastry dough rich in cream, eggs, sugar and butter. The dough is rolled out and spread with a filing made with almond paste, powdered sugar, egg whites and just a bit of cinnamon to round out the flavor. Then, because bears love honey, topped with a honey glaze after baking. As always, quantities are limited, be sure to get your order in before you miss out- 2/$5
To get on the bread order list, click the “Contact Us” link above and fill out the form. Each week’s bread menu is sent to the list each Sunday, for ordering by Tuesday, for pickup on Friday. Simple, right..? If you will be visiting the island and would like to order bread for your visit, at least a week’s notice is recommended for pickup the following Friday.
Wine of the Week: Seghesio Zinfandel ’21 California $23
The Seghesio family has been growing zinfandel grapes in Sonoma since 1895, some five generations ago, most likely starting with cuttings from closely related primitivo vines brought from southern Italy. Zinfandel from the region has built a reputation for big, fruit-forward red wines that coat the palate and fill the senses with their plush flavors and aromas. Over the decades the winery has developed numerous single-vineyard labels, each with its own special characteristics and sometimes hefty prices.
As is the case for many top wineries, “deselected” portions of the harvest that are not selected for the single-vineyard bottlings are blended to make this annual blend, which is predictably delicious and enticing in its own way. From year to year it reliably delivers a delicious zinfandel at a modest price…and elicits an appreciative “mmmm” after the first sip….! read more…
Economics of the Heart: Momentary Calm
By Honoré Daumier – Own work Yelkrokoyade, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=44152850
We are delighted and relieved to report that Tuesday brought something of a resolution to the struggle our community has been having with County government since last November about ferry funding. This outcome follows a hard-fought campaign by an indefatigable group of islanders seeking fairness, transparency, and following the rules in the management and funding of ferry operations.
This battle has been going on since last November when our County Public Works, which manages ferry operations, predicted financial deficits in 2023 and requested the Ferry Advisory Committee to approve an immediate fare increase. But since significant rate hikes would have a substantial impact on those ferry users who had to make frequent trips to the mainland, some of us wanted detailed documentation for the fare increase.
Instead, in March PW introduced a complete rewrite of the ordinance governing fares that would allow the County to charge very large capital improvement costs (up to 20 times higher than ever seen before) against fare revenue as “routine maintenance” when everybody knew it was for repairing the failing infrastructure of a 60 yr old vessel.
From January to April a four-member majority of LIFAC became increasingly committed to passing that ordinance while also blocking open discussion of it, while the other three of us wanted more discussion about how the proposed changes would remove all the guard rails provided in the existing statute limiting the kinds of maintenance expenses that could be charged against fare revenues.
In April, these issues generated enough community concern that an ad hoc volunteer citizens’ “Working Group” formed and began gathering detailed data about existing law and the validity of County accounting assertions. Attempts to negotiate with LIFAC and County government proved challenging, but when the LIFAC majority resigned under pressure the volunteer group gained some traction with both the County Council and County Executive to postpone further action on the ordinance until August, a momentary relief.
But Wait! That promise was dramatically broken when a Council minority sneaked through a surprise passage of the controversial new ferry ordinance in late July, heaping August with a LOT of intensive lobbying, argument, discussion, and uncertainty. That all culminated in the County Executive’s veto of that bill two weeks ago and the subsequent failure of the full Council to override the veto just this week, definitely something of a victory for fairness and the first real exhalation in a long time. Whew!
So this moment brings a deep sense of relief that we can say, finally, at least for the moment, that both the Ordinance from Hell and the deceptively conceived fare increase are off the table. All of this is just another reminder of a favorite working principle, perhaps one Don Quixote might have embraced during his many trials and frustrations, though as he well knew, it was often futile…
“Where principle is involved, be deaf to expediency.” —Matthew Fontaine Maury
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2072 Granger Way