lummi island wine tasting september 8 ’17
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Bread this week
Multi Grain Levain – Made with a sourdough culture and using a flavorful mix of bread flour and fresh milled whole wheat and rye. A nice mixture of flax, sesame sunflower and pumpkin seeds and some polenta add great flavor and crunch. And just a little honey for some sweetness. A great all around bread that is full of flavor – $5/loaf
Braided Challah – a delightful soft loaf made with bread flour, lots of eggs, sugar and vegetable oil, with no butter or milk. Makes great toast and even better french toast- $5/loaf
And for pastry this week…
Individual Cinnamon Rolls – Made with a rich sweet roll dough that is full of eggs, butter and sugar. The dough is rolled out, spread with pastry cream and sprinkled with cinnamon sugar, rolled up and sliced into individual rolls for baking. And boy are they delicious!! – 2/$5.
Tator Talk
We spent much of the early part of the week waiting in the Post-Labor Day Weekend/ Pre-Ferry-Drydock Exit Extravaganza…several days of two-hour waiting lines getting on or off the Island. Tator went to our regular Vet two of those days, and yesterday went to the Ultrasound Vet for a very detailed internal exam. The Good News is that no major abnormalities or growths were discovered. The Less Good news is that, tests being what they are, there is still no definitive explanation for her condition.
Today delivered more Good News, though, because through the day today she has shown more energy and focus than for several weeks. One hopeful interpretation is that indeed her weakness and muscle wasting the last several weeks have been artifacts of the high doses of prednisone she started with. Now that we have tapered off the prednisone to small doses, while her red cell count has climbed into the “low normal” range, the changes we are seeing might be the “bouncing back” we have been looking for as her red cell count has been increasing.
We are keeping all our paws crossed. In the meantime, keep those Healing Vibes headed her way…!
Comparing Pleasures
Culture is Multidimensional. Many of us got a Good Taste of that in Ryan’s presentation series at the wine shop several years ago on The Art of Wine. The format was to pick a region, and then to explore the wines, the food, the art, and the literature. Each component of the exploration yielded a Dimension of the Region.
In this week’s tasting we offer two seductive red wines, one from Italy and one from Spain. The Tommasi Poggio Al Tufo Rompicollo is a Tuscan blend of sangiovese and cabernet sauvignon. Tuscany enjoys an archetypal Mediterranean climate, with rolling hills, seasonal rains, and hot, dry summers. The Maremma region of Tuscany extends toward the sea on the west, and allows both Italian and French Bordeaux varietals in regional wines. Look for a richness typical of the volcanic limestone soil and climate and a relaxing raisiny softness that wafts through your senses.
Contrast this with our comparably-priced offering from the Priorat region of Spain; the Esplugen blend of Garnacha, carinena, cab sauv represents a somewhat similar volcanic soil in a more austere micro-climate. In Priorat the vines must dig very deep (30 feet or more) into the dry layers of rocks and sand to find enough water to survive. This results, especially in the case of Old Vine Carinena (my One Wine Weakness…!), in Dark Wines of Depth and Subtlety. In comparison to the rich and seductive Super-Tuscan sangio-cab blends, the Priorat blends show the Austerity of their Roots as Deeper and Darker Shades of Red. Musically, if the Rompicollo is Rich and Opulent, the Priorat is Complex and Profound, Deep and Resonant. And Both are Delightful!
Mar a Lago Update: Hurricane Season
The Big News this week is (sort of) about Hurricanes. Last week Harvey smashed into the Texas Coast and liked it so much it stayed around for a few days to keep sucking up water from the Gulf and dropping it onto Houston and the Gulf Coast. This week Florida prepares for Hurricane Irma, with the Highest Winds Ever Recorded for an Atlantic Hurricane, on the order of Two Hundred Miles Per Hour. All you need to know is that the Force of Wind is proportional the the Square of the Velocity. That is, each time you double the wind velocity, you quadruple the destructive power of the wind. So a two-hundred mph wind has 100 times the destructive power of a 20-mph wind, not “just”10 times!
These Hurricanes seem to have made for Strange Bedfellows yesterday, when the Tweetster Made a Deal (OMD, he really Can Make Deals…?) with the Democratic Leadership that was pretty much of a Major Eff-Yu to McConnell and Ryan, judging from the Steam billowing from their ears.
Then today, the Tweetster sent a Special Tweet at the request of Speaker Pelosi (it’s almost Romantic!) and has been Delighted with the Great Publicity all this has gleaned for him. So he is Pleased. Let us hope All the Dems will be taking note: Public Approval is now The Coin of the Realm for Policy because he is Addicted to it! Watch out, Republicans…once the Tweetster Gets It that the Accolades of the Many are Much More Satisfying than the Condescending Tolerance of the Powerful Few, he might actually Get Liberal Religion. Remember…you heard it here First!
This week’s wine tasting
Cloudlift Updraft ’13 Washington $18
Bordeaux-style blend of Sauvignon Blanc and Semillon; aromas of apple blossom, mango, papaya, and lime; flavors of Bosc pear and juicy tropical fruit leading to a palate-cleansing rush of citrus acidity.
Bieler Pere et Fils Rosé Cuvée ’16 France $12
Pale brilliant orange. Bright, energetic and focused nose of fresh red berry, orange zest and honeysuckle. Juicy raspberry and cherry flavors with a core of tangy acidity; silky and perfumed on the refreshing finish.
Crios Malbec ’15 Argentina $14
Bright, dark red. Redcurrant, black cherry, ripe strawberry and spices on the nose; sweet red fruit flavors are complicated by earth, licorice and menthol; creamy fruit is firmed by smooth tannins…a terrific value.
Esplugen Priorat ’14 Spain $17
Garnacha, carinyena, cab sauv; Priorat’s famous slate soil and arid climate give this wine great intensity and structure, with deep and complex aromas of rich ripe fruit, toast, and a long pleasing finish .
Tommasi Poggio Al Tufo Rompicollo ’12 Italy 93pts $17
Opulent, with an Amarone-like raisiny nuance to the ripe, soft red cherry, sweet spice, and herb aromas and flavors. Velvety, opulent, well balanced and smooth, with long, lush, smooth tannins. Terrific buy!
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.
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