Lummi Island Wine Tasting Memorial Day Weekend ’14 Artists’ Studio Tour
Now showing at the Gallery: Recent works by Mary, Myra, and Pat
They call themselves the “IQ’s,” short for “Island Quilters.” They have been meeting somewhat regularly for many years to support and encourage each other and to exchange ideas. And of course in the process of sharing their work they also share, as friends do, a little food and wine, a bit of gossip, a lot of warmth, and a passion for their craft. Their last show here at the Wine Gallery was even before this blog started in 2009 (sorry, no links to pictures!) and since then two shows at Mindport in Bellingham. Though their styles are individually very different, they share a common craft with uncommon skill and expression. This is a great show, so be sure not to miss it! (click on photos to enlarge)
Second Reminder: stock up for June!
As we have told our visitors for many years, we are open most of the year Fridays 4-7 and Saturdays 2-6. Or any time for Wine Emergencies! That is to say, we do what we can to help you avoid that most forlorn, most pitiable, most inhospitable– let’s face it, most-devoutly-to-be-eschewed situation of…I shudder to imagine it…running out of wine! Although modern Science has generally established that the Universe is not exactly Friendly to the fragile, obscure, and ephemeral beings like us that periodically bloom here and there in its Vast Bosom, neither is it actively Hostile. On the other hand, there is no particular evidence that it is inclined to Suffer Fools with any particular patience or affection either, so we humans will always have that to worry about.
So this is your Second Warning: The wine shop will be closed the weekends of June 7 and June 14! Not for regular hours, and not for Wine Emergencies! And while it is true that various sorts of Artisan Wine Substitutes will sell themselves to you in your dark hour of need, could you ever look yourself in the eye after such degeneration? Of course not! Therefore, we hope you will plan ahead and stock up the cellar. This is probably a good time to remind you that we pay sales tax on any mixed-case purchase…nearly a 10% discount! So stock up!
Small Vineyards Special Tasting!
It’s now almost a Tradition here at the Wine Gallery– if it’s Studio Tour, we must have Tristan here pouring some of the delicious and breathtakingly under-priced Spanish and French wines he has brought into the Small Vineyards portfolio in the last several years. Long-time Gallery supporters will also associate the name “Small Vineyards” with high-value yet low-priced Italian wines we have been carrying for many years, and Tristan has expanded their portfolio to Spain and France. These are always great tastings because Tristan knows each of the winemakers personally and has a story to tell about each wine. Surprisingly, I do not seem to have a photo of him in my files, so I posted this one from his Facebook page with his fiancee, Emily (wedding is coming up soon on July 27th!).
It is very likely that a few more wines might be poured than are on the list below, and it is also very likely that (see paragraph above!) you will be able to use this opportunity to stock up for the coming two-week wine drought here on the Island!
This week’s tasting
Pech Celeyran 5th Generation White ’12 France $12
A fresh, food-friendly Languedoc blend of Bourbolenc, Marsanne, Grenache Blanc, and Roussanne from the La Clape appelation, high on a hill between Narbonne and the Mediterranean. Great with rich seafood, pork, or even Thai food.
Pech Celeyran Ombline Rouge ’12 France $10
Nose of black fruits; flavorful mouth that calls for a second glass, especially with barbecue sausages and spicy meats.
Cepas de Zorro ’10 Spain $10
100% Monastrell from chalk and clay soils; a powerfully authentic wine with aromas of plum preserves, Partagás cigar ash, soy, and sage blossom; a fantastic match for Manchego cheese, Marcona Almonds, and olives.
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Finca el Tesso Tempranillo ’10 Spain $10
From clay and limestone soil in western Spain at 600 meters above sea level, providing cool nights and an unusually long growing season, where the wines develop a rich, alluring complexity.
Altavins Tinto Joven ’11 Spain $11
Mouth and sense-filling blend of garnacha, syrah, and carinena, full of ripe dark fruit and berry flavors from Terra Alta’s hot days and cool nights close to Tarragona and the Mediterranean.
Lummi Island Wine Tasting May 17 ’14
note: Click on the Title to go to the online version
Wide open spaces
We are back from a week on the road. After a few days in Walla Walla we meandered west through the Columbia Gorge, giving the word “Gorge-ous” an entirely new meaning. Certainly the time of year with its cooler temperatures and glorious green expanses of spring wheat add an unexpected freshness to the experience.
And then there are the windmills…I mean, look at this, Don Quixote would love it!
Load up for June!
Let’s face it, June is going to be complicated. To the left of the photo is a curious triangular peak, which turns out to be the “Pic” in Pic St. Loup, some distance to the west in this photo. It gets more defined and formidable…and beautiful…as you get closer. (link) There is a depth and a sort of metaphysical groundedness in the wines from this place that I have often found particularly intriguing. Regulars will have recently tasted a lovely rosé from this region two weeks ago, so you know what I mean.
The complication is that in mid-June we are going to be there, and not here. The further complication is that Ryan will be there too, and that means that the wine shop will be closed for the first two weekends in June (6-7 and 13-14)! Following logically from that is that, OMD, what are you going to do for the inevitable Wine Emergencies that will surely come up while the shop is closed??!! It is clearly a deeply disturbing prospect! Our suggestion is that you Plan Ahead and buy the several cases you are likely to need to get you through the two-week Wine Drought. And let us remind you we offer a 15% discount on all case purchases! In other words, Load Up now and avoid the Heartbreak of an Empty Wine Rack!
“Julia’s Dazzle” Rosé
One of the many highlights of our recent trip was a visit in Salem with long time friends Kier and David, who have spent part of the summer here in the Island for many years, and who, incidentally, are dedicated rosé fans, largely responsible for the “Rosé Shrine” display we feature at the top of the stairs from now through the summer. Of course we had many wines to share, including this delightfully over-packaged Washington rosé with quite an interesting story.
Apparently, although the wine has been produced for nearly a decade, this is the first time it has been made available commercially by Washington wine magnate Allen Shoup, former CEO of Chateau Ste. Michelle and founder of the Long Shadows winery group (in which famous winemakers from around the world make their signature style of wines using Washington grapes). These are all stylish, well-made, and well-packaged wines, many of which have been lingering in our cellar for some years. From their first releases (several years ago) I have been impressed with the quality and elegance of this entire group of wines, and so we have built up an inventory over the years. Unfortunately, they proved a little pricey for our market, and they languish. So maybe it’s time to pull them out of the cellar, dust them off, and do a special tasting sometime this summer. Stay tuned!
This week’s tasting notes
Julia’s Dazzle Rose ’13 Washington $15
98% pinot gris, 2% sangiovese; bright, eye-catching orange-strawberry color, aromas of strawberry and orange peel, sweet fruit flavors, and clean, sharp acidity and a light and refreshing finish.
Terra d’Oro Zinfandel ’11 California $14
Vibrant aromas of clove and big, generous fruit lead to concentrated flavors of juicy plums and blackberries,all with a good dose of toasted oak.
Renegade Red ’12 Washington
Blend of mostly Cab Sauv, Merlot, and Cab Franc; shows lots of red and black fruits, scents of loamy minerality, and fine grained tannins that are matched with balanced acidity.
Eric Texier Cotes du Rhone ’11 France $15
Bright ruby-red. Lively aromas of cherry, lavender and white pepper with a delicate floral component. Silky, seamless, and plump in the mouth, with sweet, ripe red fruit flavors, a solid spine of acidity, and supple tannins.
Crios de Susana Balbo Torrontes ’12 Argentina $14
Highly perfumed aromas of lemon drop, white flowers, peppermint and white pepper. Supple, pliant and easygoing, with citrus, herbal and floral flavors joined by a hint of licorice.
Lummi Island Wine Tasting May 10 ’14
Wine from wide open spaces
We are in Walla Walla at the moment, yes, tasting a few wines here and there, and also kicking back in our little trailer. Having only visited these parts once before, some years back, we are both amazed at the beauty of the landscape here this time of year. While there are lots of vineyards, they seem somehow small compared to the mind-filling expanses of lime green, mountainous waves of wheat fields rolling across the Palouse. On the one hand it is easy to see how someone could imagine that the land had to have taken shape under water. But to expand that into a notion of how such waves could ever have existed is just breathtaking.
Ryan will be your host at the wine shop this weekend, and I think the selections might include a lively Provençal rose, a Chardonnay and a zin from California, and a couple of old favorites from France and Italy. Be sure to stop by! We will look forward to seeing you next week!
Lummi Island Wine Tasting May 3 ’14
Got tree pollen?
Been outside with the wood chipper the last week or two grinding up branches from February’s limb-snapping snowstorm. So that’s Item One. Item Two is that most of us have noticed the extraordinary layer of golden pollen that has been piling up on our cars, houses, and every other outdoor surface over the last month or so. Yesterday I was chipping a pile of small fir branches that were lying under a couple of willows right behind the wine shop. Fairly quickly I noticed the air filling with a golden dust cloud, with very strong aromas of pitch, pepper, and something akin to nutmeg. (sounds like wine tasting notes, huh…?) Powerful stuff! I had been imagining that this golden layer of pollen was coming from the fir trees. But interestingly, in the last few days willows have been heavily casting their spawn to the winds, and I imagine that’s what I was stirring up yesterday.
Fortunately I do not seem to be sensitive to it, so no ill effects, but in thirty-some years in these parts I have never seen a Pollen Spring like it. Many of you, I know, have been suffering with intense allergy issues over the last month. Someone suggested that because of the cold early Spring, everything is popping out at once, concentrating the pollen season.
The Rosé Shrine is back!
These last couple of days, reaching all the way up into the (I’m not making this up!) seventies* is Reason Enough to take a moment for a long exhalation, a relieved smile, and most definitely, a cool, crisp, summery glass of rosé. Pour it, take it outside on the deck, sit back. Sip and listen to the birds. Feel the warmth of the Sun. Unclench. Let yourself sigh with the pleasure of it. Yes, your senses tell you: this moment is perfect. This moment is magical. And this wine is perfect…!
*for those of you from Hot Places, all you need to know is that out here on The Island we all staht fannin’ ahselves and talkin lahke Tennessee Williams charactahs any tahme the temperatuah goes ovah sixty-nahn…ah’m just sayin’…
Climate Change, Local Version
Like the snow, like the pollen, like the Winter, like the Spring, it feels like something is changing in the wine shop. And like Mr. Jones in the classic Bob Dylan tune “Ballad of a Thin Man,” (click on the image to play) We Don’t Know What It Is. And although the Wine Shop is, like, picking up the Vibes, it doesn’t feel to be About the Wine Shop. Rather, there is Something stirring in the larger Human Field that smells of Change, and it’s a little Creepy.
Consider a few Items: Item 1: Malaysian Airlines plane goes offline, flies for seven hours, and disappears. Item 2: The other-worldly, cruelly capricious landslide not far away from here in Osso. Item 3: A bizarre “court” in Egypt sentences about a thousand people, many or most in absentia, to Death, for vague political crimes. Item 4: Vladimir Putin stakes a claim to parts of Ukraine, echoing fading notes of the Merry Old Cold War that defined our generation (when I was little I thought there really was, somewhere, you know, an actual Iron Curtain); Item 5: Red State Executions go terribly wrong, but no one goes so far as to think “Hmm, maybe institutionalized vengeance has some karmic problems”…Item 6: Climate change is striking back in oh so many ways.
I’m just saying there has been a deluge of Weirdness unfolding lately. One way or another it seems to be cutting into our weekly attendance, as if– I mean, really, AS IF, something else were more important. Since that can’t Possibly be true, obviously it must have something to do with something bigger, something Karmic involving All of us. And I fear that maybe we have gone as far as mostly-chimp mutants can go, and we are running hard against our genetic limitations. Like 24/7 estrus, insatiable needs for power, unrelenting self-delusion, and of course your basic anthrocentrism, i.e., it’s All about Us. What if– and I am laughing as I say this– I mean, just try this absurd idea on for a moment– what if the Wine Shop weren’t the Center of the World?!!!
This week’s tasting notes
Altavins Blanc ’12 Spain $11
65% grenache blanc, 30% macabeo, 5% muscat, from 400m, 45-yr old vineyards planted in chalky, silty, low-permeability soil, yielding fruity aromas and palate of mango, apple, and apricot, with a bright dash of zesty citrus.
Chateau Lancyre Rose ’12 France $15
Light orange-pink. Fresh tangerine and strawberry aromas with notes of white pepper and white flowers. Juicy and seamless on the palate, offering plump red fruit, candied citrus, and a hint of bitter herbs.
Venta Morales Tempranillo ’12 Spain $9
Bright purple; pungent aromas of cherry, blackcurrant and dark chocolate. Supple and juicy in the mouth, with spice-accented cherry and fresh herb flavors, finishing on a tangy note.
Napa Cellars Merlot ’11 California $14
Aromas of toasty baking spices, vanilla, malt and fresh, ripe plums alongside alluring flavors of warm berry compote, juicy blueberry, blackberry, cherry, and a hint of dark chocolate and toffee.
William Church Bishop’s Blend ’10 Washington $18
Cab-dominant Bordeaux blend with a splash of Grenache; lush and round with notes of grenadine, black cherry, sweet tobacco and forest spice.
2072 Granger Way