lummi island wine tasting labor day weekend sept 1-3 ’17 artists studio tour
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Bread this week
Spelt Levain –Spelt is an ancient grain similar to wheat and has a nutty, slightly sweet flavor. It has gluten but it isn’t as strong as the gluten in traditional wheat. This bread is made with a levain, or sourdough, traditional bread flour and about 1/3 spelt flour and fresh milled whole spelt. Makes a great all around bread – $5/loaf
Buttermilk Currant – A really flavorful loaf made with bread flour and fresh milled whole wheat, and a little honey, lots of currants and just a little rosemary to round out the flavors. Makes great toast and even better french toast- $5/loaf
And for pastry this week, a Labor Day tradition…
Hamburger Buns – bread flour and freshly milled whole wheat, some milk and butter for a tender crumb and topped with a flavorful onion topping. Great with any kind of sandwich – not just hamburgers! – 4/$5
Doors of Lyon
Our Studio Tour artist this weekend is Mary Beth Watkins, our neighbor across the road and down a short path through the woods. This is a reprise of her show of the same title back in May of 2011. Since then we have also been in Lyon, famous for all kinds of things, but particularly the food and, in our small circle, the doors as well!
A brief search online for information about these beautifully made, richly carved and heavy front doors did not reveal a history or explanation. However, it did reveal a website with lots of photos of these doors. Curiously, the very first one is the same door we featured in this blog for Mary Beth’s first show of these photos six years ago!
We welcome comments and links to more information about the Lyonnaise penchant for putting such effort into their entrances. In the meantime, we hope you stop by and take a look at the whole collection this weekend.
Tristan Returns!
A couple of years ago we had a great run with our friend Tristan, for several years a wine rep from our favorite importer Small Vineyards who developed their portfolio of French and Spanish wines. Tristan came to the wine shop of several Studio Tour occasions to pour some of the wines he represented over the weekend. He has been scarce the past two years because he started his own wine importing/distributing company, Vinea Imports, specializing in Spanish and French wines.
Tristan will be here pouring wines from his portfolio on Saturday and possibly on Sunday. As with Small Vineyards, these are terrific wines at bargain prices, so we encourage you to come by and taste through some interesting wines!
Tator Talk
Earlier this year we chronicled the illness and loss of our younger dog Cooper. And how our grief led us to adopt a new puppy from the same breeder, Ulee. And even about the evolving relationship between Tator and Ulee.
Well, about a month ago our senior dog Tator (aka ‘Stole my Heart in the First Minute”) started slowing down and losing energy. And getting a lot less tolerant of Ulee. Seemed too fast a decline for chalking up to “Age,” so we took her in for some tests. A blood count revealed the strong likelihood she had a nasty autoimmune blood condition, Immune-Mediated Hemolytic Anemia or IMHA: her immune system was destroying her own red blood cells.
The Protocol for this condition is to suppress the immune system with steroids, including prednisone. Within a week of starting heavy doses, she began losing the ability to stand up or walk. She has had a hearty appetite, drinks lots of water, relieves herself regularly (with a little support), and a chest x-ray today revealed no abnormalities in heart or lungs, definitely Good News! So…over the next few days we will be tapering her off the prednisone and monitoring her muscular function along with her red cell count. Best case scenario is that she regains her strength and muscular control (she has always been very athletic and graceful) and her red cell counts continue toward normal. All healing thoughts, prayers, and wishes are welcome. Stay tuned.
Mar a Lago Update
There’s a New Feeling in the Air. A Prelude to Fall, perhaps…? We feel it as a sort of Burden, a psychic Weight on the Shoulders, a tendency toward Despair on one level. But on another, it is a Glass Growing toward Overflowing with Insults to All we Hold Most Dear. We grow Weary of this Strange World in which wherever we go, whatever we do, Fifty or a Hundred or a Thousand times a day we are Bombarded with the Latest Outrage from the Tweetster. Like a Burlesque Magician pulling rabbits from a hat, or cards from his sleeve, or a coin from behind your ear, the Spotlight is Ever Fixed Upon Him.
And a lot of little voices are rising within us, telling us this is Not Entertainment, it isn’t Fun, and it isn’t Productive. The feeling is becoming a gut-level Need to see this Entire Circus torn down, and all the Freaks and Clowns and Fake-Reality Acrobats put back on the Carnival Train and sent back to The Twilight Zone where they belong.
The Tweetster is a Media Creation, a product we consume every day, and we have been willing geese force-fed for the eventual harvesting of our engorged livers. We are all Addicted. We need to start saying “No.”
This week’s wine tasting
Friday’s tasting list is undecided. Think of it as a Surprise. Saturday and Sunday we will pour the following wines from Vinea Imports:
Jane Ventura Blanc Seleccio ’15 Spain
Aromas of white fruits, citrus, white flowers and aromatic herbs; intense, unctuous and very fresh and crisp. Long, persistent finish.
Chateau de Carguilhes Corbierres Rose
Nose of zesty fresh redcurrant and strawberry sherbet and mineral notes, echoed in a round, smooth and ripe mouth of raspberries and strawberries, and zingy gooseberries.
Bodegas Ayuso Estola Reserva ’15 Spain
Warm aroma of spices and ripe fruit; wide and round palate, great buy!
Chateau Les Croisille Cahors Malbec “Croizillon” ’15 France
100% malbec organically farmed by hand; aromas and flavors of black cherry, saddle leather, blackberry, cocoa and spice.
Pardas Negre Franc ’14 Spain
Cab Franc, Cab Sauv and Sumoll aged for one year in oak; intense herbaceous nose with notes of bell pepper and raspberry leaf and aromas of wild berries; medium-bodied, with a fine texture, round tannins and moderate acidity.
lummi island wine tasting august 25 ’17
Bread this week
Cinnamon Raisin – Made with a nice mix of bread flour and freshly milled whole wheat as well as rolled oats. Some honey for sweetness, a little milk for a tender crumb and loaded with raisins and a healthy dose of cinnamon. This is not a rich sweet bread with a swirl of cinnamon sugar, the cinnamon is mixed in to flavor the entire bread and it is a hearty rustic loaf. Great for breakfast toast, even better for french toast – $5/loaf
Seeded Country Hearth- Also made with a mix of bread flour and some fresh milled whole wheat. Then loaded up with pumpkin, sunflower and poppy seeds. A nice rustic bread that is a great all around loaf – $5/loaf
And for pastry this week:
Kouign Aman – Made with croissant dough layers laminated with a butter and sugar mix. The baking form is then brushed with more butter and sprinkled with more sugar. I don’t make these often, and Di says they are her favorites so get you order in early or they might all be gone! – 2/$5
Wine tasting this weekend
The wine shop will be open the usual hours on Friday and Saturday this week. Since on Friday we will still be making our way home from our Eclipse Trip to Oregon (more on that below), with uncertain arrival time, Friday’s tasting will be conducted under Janice’s buy-share program, which works pretty well, and with which most of you are familiar.
On Saturday we will have our usual five-wine tasting format, though tasting menu will not be selected till Saturday (after we get home!).
Yes, Totality Matters!
After widespread Expectations of Clogged Highways as Countless People made the Pilgrimage to see the Solar Eclipse this past Monday, we were relieved to find the going Quite Easy on our trip to Oregon. We camped at Memaloose State Park on the Oregon side of the Columbia at The Dalles. Nice park, but sandwiched between I-84 on one side and RR tracks along the Columbia side, it was way too noisy for Ulee, kinda freaked him out.
At a wine tasting (of course!) on Sunday afternoon we got a tip from a local and early Monday morning drove to the Warm Springs Reservation, which had just experienced a forest fire a few days before. We found a perfect viewing spot where the firefighters had made camp, complete with sani-cans and handwash stations!
It is now late Thursday night, and limited internet access…to be continued, and hope to,see you all this weekend!
lummi island wine tasting august 18 ’17
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Bread this week
Pain au Levain – Made with a nice mix of bread flour and freshly milled whole wheat and rye flours. After building the sourdough and mixing the final dough it gets a long cool overnight ferment in the refrigerator. This really allows the flavor to develop in this bread. A great all around bread – $5/loaf
Semolina w/ Fennel & Raisins – Also a levain bread made with bread flour, semolina and some fresh milled whole wheat. A little butter for a tender crumb and fennel seeds and golden raisins round out the flavors. Judy A. says this is her favorite! These flavors go really well with meats and cheese, but it also makes pretty darn good toast – $5/loaf
And for pastry this week:
Brioche au Chocolate – A rich pastry dough made with plenty of butter, eggs and sugar, rolled out and spread with pastry cream before sprinkling with dark chocolate. The dough is folded over all that delicious filling and cut into individual pieces. 2/$5
This Weekend’s Schedule: Open Friday, Closed Saturday
The wine shop will be open as usual on Friday this week, and we look forward to seeing all of you for wine tasting and Bread Pickup.
But on Saturday we are heading South in our little trailer hoping to see the Total Eclipse of the Sun. We are camping along the Columbia at Memaloose State Park in Oregon along the Columbia near the Dalles Sunday night. Early Monday morning we hope to make it south about fifty miles into the Path of Totality (not to be confused with Current Politics). But Everyone and Family will be trying to do the Same Thing. And though there is a kind of Futility to the Entire Effort, it is a Rare Thing, so we make the effort.
Bottom Line: Wine shop CLOSED on Saturday, August 19…Make a Note of It!
Kalfu
For some while we have been exploring carmenere, the Chilean grape varietal that for 100 years was thought to be a clone of merlot. Thirty years ago, modern genetic testing identified it as carmenere, a Bordeaux varietal thought extinct since the phylloxera epidemic that devastated French vineyards in the late 19th century.
One of those carmeneres was from a producer called Ventisquero, about which we knew nothing except it was in Chile. I tried to order more, but that was in the market chaos here in Washington State after the Costco Referendum (lobbied to the extent of about $20 million in, you know, the interests of “competition”) did away with State Liquor Stores and did away with the three-tiered pricing system that had endured since the end of Prohibition. Under the Old Rules all wholesale buyer paid the same price to producers and distributors for every product. Under the New Rules, volume discounts were allowed for volume buyers. Like Costco, Bevmo, and their Ilk. In the Old Days we had Antitrust Laws to level the playing field in most industries. No more. But we digress.
We received our semi-annual shipment of Italian (mostly) wines from Small Vineyards a couple of weeks ago, and have been pouring a few of them at our weekend tastings since then. One of those was a Chilean cabernet sauvignon from Ramirana, which made most of you Smile, always a good sign. It turns out that Ramirana is a sub-label of Ventisquero. This weekend (see above) we are pouring a Chilean pinot noir labeled Kalfu, which turns out to be Another label for Ventisquero, referring to a region on the coast, more or less due west from Santiago, and at about the same latitude as Mendoza, the prime vinicultural region of Argentina on the other side of the Andes. It’s a cool climate for Chile, not unlike the California coast where pinot noir thrives. Mmm, looking forward to trying it again…will I still like it??!
This week’s wine tasting
Lumos Pinot Gris Rudolfo Vineyard ’15 Oregon $18
Clear light golden straw color. Lively and complex aromas of lemon, green apple, nectarine. A vibrant, dry yet-fruity body and a tingling, breezy, nicely balanced nut-skin finish.
Chat. Campuget Rosé ’16 France $12
Incisive red berry and citrus fruit scents pick up a sexy floral nuance as the wine opens up. Fresh, focused and lithe on the palate, offering nervy strawberry and orange zest flavors and a subtle honeysuckle flourish.
Kalfu Kuda Pinot Noir ’14 Chile $15
Red currant and strawberry aromas and flavors, with hints of dried rose and white pepper. Clean, focused and juicy, with a refreshingly bitter edge of blood orange. Finishes on a subtly sweet note, showing good persistence and no obvious tannins.
Lar de Maia 5° ’13 Spain $15
Tempranillo, Garnacha and Syrah; mouth-filling notes of concentrated fruit leather with lingering notes of cherry and pomegranate; lively and fruity with hints of vanilla, coconut and licorice.
Antonio Sanguineti Nessun Dorma Toscana ’15 Italy $16
Super-Tuscan blend of sangiovese, cab, and merlot, with notes of black currant and cherry, followed by spicy chocolate. Rich and spicy on the palate, the red fruit comes on strong in the middle, with chocolate rounding out the finish.
lummi island wine tasting august 11 ’17
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Bread this week
Dried Cranberry Walnut – Made with a nice mix of bread flour and freshly milled buckwheat and whole wheat flours. Orange juice and olive oil are a unique combination in this bread that add flavor and keep a soft crumb, then loaded up with dried cranberries and toasted walnuts. Makes great toast- $5/loaf
Barley, Whole Wheat & Rye Levain – A levain bread is also known as sourdough that is built over several days and allowed to ferment before the final dough is mixed. Made with bread flour and freshly milled whole wheat, barley and rye flours. A hearty whole grain bread that is a great all around bread – $5/loaf
And for pastry this week…
Plain Croissants – Pastry dough made with butter and sugar and then laminated with more butter before being cut and shaped into traditional french croissants. I’ve heard some say these are the best they have ever had. 2/$5
Vranec
Vranec (pronounced ‘Vran-etz’), is Macedonian for “Black Stallion;” wines made with it are deep red, almost black, and imagined to manifest a stallion-like strength and vigor. Vranec can also means “raven-colored,” which is why the wine is known also as “black wine” in Macedonia. An ancient Balkan varietal, it represents the warmth and strength of the Macedonian people.
Vranec wines have an intense, dark red color and rich aromas of dark ripe fruits. The palate is full and balanced. When young, it shows a light purple color and aromas of strawberry jam and wild berries. With age, vranec develops darker color and complex aromas of wild berries, dried fruits, and chocolate, with rich tannins. It is often blended with merlot, cabernet sauvignon, and syrah.
Last year’s order from Small Vineyards introduced us to merlot from Macedonian producer Jordanov, and it was a big hit with most of you. This weekend we are pouring the Jordanov Red Blend made from Cab, Merlot, and Vranec. While the cab-merlot foundation will seem familiar, we think you will also be pleased to find some deeper, darker, smoother notes brought by the vranec…!
Quincy
To those of us who grew up in New England, this French wine region could only be be pronounced “Kwin-sea.” But since it is a small town in eastern part of the Loire Valley, different pronunciation rules apply. Which no doubt raises two questions in your mind: HUH? and Who cares about that? Fortunately we can help you with both questions!
As it turns out, the English expression “Huh?” is a Clue to how to pronounce “Quincy.” Most people do not say “huh?” as simply h-u-h. That would sound like the laugh version of the word, spoken more declaratively, meaning something like “You Don’t Say,” or “Well, I’ll Be,” so as to rhyme with Suh, as in “Yes, Suh.” But that’s not how we say “Huh?” Rather, there is a nasal element in the word as if there is an implied “n” that never actually gets pronounced, sort of HU(n)H?, if you see what I mean; you feel it as a little tightening in the part of your nasal passage just behind your hanging palate. So “Quincy” becomes “keh'(n)see.”
All you really need to know is that the village of Quincy, like Sancerre, its neighbor to the East, produces an iconic version of sauvignon blanc, with the kind of crisp acidity and minerality that the French call nervosité: a crisp, clean, bright, saline tension that also evokes a sense of the ocean and sea breezes. And btw makes you Crave Shellfish…mmm, yum!
Mar a Lago Update: Kim Chee Kronicles
Statesmanship seems to have evolved as a sort of Dance, a Formalized Ritual Combat in which Form and High Theater are substituted for Actual Warfare. Throughout History many civilizations have Risen and Prospered, sometimes Dominant for Millennia, and eventually Fell. So there has always been Something Going On, some Tacit Agreement that Everybody is In Peril when any single Player Rocks the Boat Too Much. Each Nation has its Role to Play, and each must conform in order to Preserve Order– and of course apply Pressure to other nations to do the same.
As Twentieth Century Survivors know, periodically Nations or Groups of Nations go Too Far. Having Prospered and Developed Military Might, they Rebel against the Rules and Decide to Make Their Own. Almost invariably this happens under the Control of the Latest Incarnation of the Psychopathic/Sociopathic Dominant Males of the Time. Like Walruses or Elephant Seals they Trumpet (no pun intended), Growl, and Bluster, from time to time Biting the Nose of some Rival or his Offspring or his Mate, Claiming Victory, and demanding Homage and Spoils commensurate with their Greatness. It’s an Old Story, a Sad and Stupid story about how a small number of Deeply Insecure Men so often rise to Power who are completely willing to Destroy the World if they can’t be In Charge of it.
Here in the Present we have the Tweetster facing off against the Kimster, as if they are the Only Two People in the World who Matter. Well, besides Putin, anyway. The tension here is between these Unstable Individuals and the Rest of the World. At the moment it’s a bit of a Tossup; the Kimster seems to have no Moderating Forces acting on him at all, while the Trumpster keeps getting Green Lights from the Spineless Toadies in his Party for each Daily Madness . Scary times; stay tuned…
This week’s wine tasting
Dom. Tremblay Quincy ’16 France $18
Nose of yellow grapefruit, tangerine and sea air. Suave, fine-grained and concentrated, with zesty green apple & citrus flavors with a surprisingly creamy mouthfeel and finish.
Mas des Bressades Rosé ’15 France $12
Spicy aromas and flavors of ripe red berries, orange, and pungent flowers; concentrated and supple, gaining weight with air, with cherry and melon notes and a lingering red liqueur quality.
Chateau de Cabriac Corbieres ’14 France $14
Syrah, Mourvèdre, Carignan, Grenache; aromas of black berry fruits; palate shows blackcurrant, blackberry and hints of coffee. The flavors continue to develop to a dense and powerful finish.
Jordanov Red ’15 Macedonia $11
Cab, merlot, and vranec from limestone and sandy soils; shows notes of blueberry and densely concentrated fruit with a dusty, rich, long minerally finish of cherry and cherry pit. read more
Marchetti Rosso Conero ’15 Italy $11
Rich and inviting aromas of flowers, plums, brown spices, and hillside brush. On the palate, round notes of cherries, blackberries, cocoa and spice. Culminates in a satisfying, lengthy finish.
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