Lummi Island Wine Tasting September 17 ’11

f you receive this by email, click on the heading to see pictures. If there are any…but of course you won’t know if you don’t click!).

As I am sure you all realize, this Saturday is National Apple Dumpling Day. Curiously, if you click on the link you will find a few words by whoever made up this holiday, but — I’m not making this up– no apple dumpling recipes! Are you KIDDING me? What’s THAT about? So I looked around the Web for a recipe and found a lot of variations, several of which ARE familiar to me, but they weren’t called “apple dumplings.” No, “apple dumpling” sounds like a pastry that somehow uses apples as an ingredient in a light, delicate creation from the local artisan patisserie.

No, the “apple dumplings” I am familiar with involved pastry and apples, but were aptly named “Cannonballs.” They were an occasional dessert served in the Mess Hall at the Naval Academy when I was a midshipman back in the early sixties. Picture a whole apple (cored), soaked in cinnamon-sugar sauce and surrounded with pie crust, and topped with buttery hard sauce. This is a man-sized dessert, all right, and we are not talking about wimpy little apples, no sir, we are talking about fist-sized, belly-filling apples. The important point is that eating even one is a challenge.

That’s why, on the odd occasion on which cannonballs were served, there was an old tradition that any plebe (freshman) who could eat TWELVE of them could escape the rigors of all of the remainder of Plebe Year, which were many and unpleasant. I had one classmate who did that: Mike Mcneely. Mike was slight in stature, a boxer of some skill, feisty, funny, terminally irreverent, and  and an avid reader. And he ate twelve cannonballs in less than an hour. Mike, wherever you are, we salute you and wish you well, and if you ever drop by I can find a great bottle of wine to share with you! Aye, hoist yer glasses, lads! And another bottle for anyone who can get me in touch with him!

TRUFFLE ALERT!  TRUFFLE ALERT!  TRUFFLE ALERT!  TRUFFLE ALERT!  TRUFFLE ALERT!
For no particular reason, Pat is making truffles for this weekend. All I have been told is that they involve Dark Chocolate and Toasted Coconut. My devious mind is thinking, let’s see, this is spur of the moment, no pre-orders, and Drydock, so traffic is low…hmm, I might actually be able to snag one of these for myself this time!  That is no easy feat because usually they are sold out before they are even made! Call now to reserve (360.758.2959) , or drop by and take your chances, maybe there will be some not spoken for…(yeah, right…!)

DRYDOCK DRYDOCK DRYDOCK DRYDOCK DRYDOCK DRYDOCK DRYDOCK
Yes, folks, here it is Drydock again, this time in spades. This year, maybe because of budget issues, maybe because of the just-ended-after-two-years-of-negotiations approval of the new 35-year lease with Lummi Nation for the right to cross their little patch of tidelands with our mainland dock, or maybe because large numbers of Islanders just lit outa here for September to avoid the hassle– for whatever reason, the Island seems deserted, and the wine shop is very, very quiet.

This is Thursday evening as I write this, and we had two visitors tonight. Well, actually two who passed through, and two who stayed to taste and chat. The conversation revolved around the Noise issue in Scenic Estates from the Quarry. Truck engines, truck backup beepers, explosions, rock fragments sliding and crashing–it ain’t exactly serene. If that’s an issue for you, get together with your neighbors, get some noise measurement equipment, document the problem, and take it to your friendly, supportive County Council; I’m sure they will be responsive and helpful. After all, they have a great track record over the past several years with ferry fares and negotiations with the Tribe to cross their little patch of tidelands, for which we may already own a right-of-way dating back a hundred years, but which would require going to court to prove. But I digress…I have written elsewhere about my feelings about all of that…

At the moment, a lot of folks on the Island are feeling Euphoric about the two-years-in-the-making Closure of the County Council’s approval of the new 35-year lease agreement with the tribe, as if it were bringing come kind of closure, some kind of dressing to a festering wound. Many are optimistic, and see this is a Brighter Day, a Good Thing. And I bet it’s really, really nice to be able to reframe a total defeat into some kind of long-fought Victory. Seems as optimistic as expecting to get some truffles this weekend without calling to order any (!), so I wish you “good luck with that.” But at the same time I think of words from a song by Leonard Cohen (an old acquaintance) from his song/poem “A Thousand Kisses Deep:”

The ponies run, the girls are young,
The odds are there to beat.
You win a while, and then it’s done –
Your little winning streak.

I sincerely hope it all works out for everyone. In the meantime, I invite you all to drop by on what will probably be another quiet weekend, a good opportunity to hang out, talk about whatever, drink some nice wine, and, Zorba-like, shrug your shoulders over it all and dance (but not on our new window tables, as our woodsmith advises he did not plan for that in his design!)

LAST WEEK   LAST WEEK   LAST WEEK   LAST WEEK   LAST WEEK   LAST WEEK
Last week’s wines were all superb, and all enjoyed a following. One of the more interesting of them was the Sant’ Antonio Monti Garbi Ripasso, which is made in a particularly interesting way, by “re-passing” new juice over the skins of dried (raisined) grapes that had been used to make (the quite expensive) wine Amarone. (read more) The ripasso method adds some of the texture and flavor from Amarone (which is lovely) to what would otherwise be vin ordinaire (althought a pretty nice one!) Try some!

This week’s wines:

Novelty Hill Chardonnay Stillwater Creek 09   Washington    91pts     $17
Smooth and round, with a spicy, creamy blanket wrapping around a deftly balanced core of pear and citrus flavors that extend into the graceful finish.

Kiona cab-merlot ‘05      Washington     $10:
Rich, earthy, spicy, and crisp; good showing of Washington fruit at a real bargain price; great for sipping or with any meal.

Rubio San Polo  ’09   Italy     $14
From Montalcino, but neither a Brunello nor a Rosso, this lovely upstart bursts from the glass with layers of dark fruit that build with notable intensity. Plump and engaging, thi wine is a huge overachiever in its price range.

Dynasty Cellars DCZ zinfandel ‘07    Washington      $26
Sourced from the premium Walla Walla “Les Collines” vineyard, this wine is jam-packed with rich, dark, berry fruit and a long, lingering, slightly peppery finish that will leave you gasping for more.

Wine Tasting

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