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.
Lummi Island Wine Tasting April 26 ’14
Touring French Wine Country, Part I
Saturday night at 7:30 pm at the Island Library Ryan will present photos and descriptions of vineyards in France, which he has been visiting annually for the last 14 years, working directly with independent winemakers as an importer and tour guide. Many of you, our members, have participated in his tours, and will be familiar with many of the people and places. His presentation will focus on the “terroir” of the specific regions as well as the organic farming and biodynamic viticulture techniques that affect how grapes are grown, harvested, vinified, and even bottled according to natural cycles. It promises to be an informative and enjoyable evening, so mark your calendars. If you come by the wine shop for the preparatory tasting, there is just time after our wine tasting to grab a bite of dinner before heading on down to the Library to put it all into perspective…!
Touring French Wine Country, Part II
Since wine tasting is not permitted in the Library, we are filling the hospitality gap by adapting our wine tasting this weekend to Ryan’s presentation. As you can see from the list below, we will be pouring five (maybe even six!) wines from three French wine regions: Loire, Languedoc, and Southern Rhone. Loire is particularly famous for its array of well-crafted white wines, all designed, arguably, for pairing with shellfish. Quincy (Keh(n)-see), like nearby Sancerre, is superb sauvignon blanc, laced with bracing acidity, seashell minerality, and lovely lemon-lime-grapefruit citrus notes…yes, even I would eagerly eat a raw oyster with this wine in hand!
The other four wines are grown and produced on a line that stretches from Narbonne in the west to Entrechaux near the eastern edge of the southern Rhone Valley. What all of these places have in common are many centuries of wine-making dating back to Roman times. In fact, the last wine comes from an area very close to the town of Vaison-la-Romaine, which we visited two years ago. It is home to some of the best-preserved Roman ruins (photo, above left) on the planet. We happened to be there on Market Day, which made for strange transitions from Roman ruins to streets teeming with vendors, shoppers (this is SO much more fun than Walmart), delicious aromas, and general Festivity. It is probably an exaggeration to say that wine has anything to do with it, but on the other hand places like this beg the Big Question…is Unbridled 24/7 Economic Consumption really an adequately nourishing substitute for, you know, an actual Culture…?
Chimps and Compassion
Recently this story caught my attention, about a Japanese man who had been on Death Row for fifty years, essentially his Entire Life. How horrible is that? But the most arresting thing about the story was the astonishing fact that, although capital punishment is rare in Japan, it has a long history, evolving to the present day, of only giving the convict about an hour’s notice of his/her impending execution. So that is Item 1— the real meaning of what it is to be on Death Row— for years and years and years.
Item 2 is a recent story revealing that current Current Supreme Court Chief Justice Roberts was, some years ago, appointed Defense Attorney for accused murderer John Errol Ferguson, who was executed by the State of Florida last August for crimes committed in (I am not making this up) 1977. Given that Ferguson was pretty likely Out of His Frigging Mind (his last words were “I just want everyone to know that I am the Prince of God.”), you have to wonder what exactly Society gained by his Execution.
What comes up for me in these stories is that sentencing people to Death Row for perhaps decades under completely Inhuman conditions while their Fate is slowly, painstakingly, and completely Impersonally determined, is pretty much a Textbook case of Cruel and Unusual Punishment. Some years ago I was invited to speak of the Buddhist viewpoint at an anti-capital punishment gathering, and I had a difficult time sorting out the contradictions. Now, however, it is much more clear. No crime, however heinous, can justify 50 years of subhuman, solitary incarceration. Indeed, it is difficult even to imagine such a thing. So my take-away from this recent series on the Death Penalty is that it is in the Nature of Chimps to jump up and down and kill each other for really Stupid Reasons. Our country is one of a tiny minority that still murders people in the name of some kind of “Justice,” and it is shameful beyond comprehension. Surely we can do better than this…
This week’s wine tasting …
Dom. Tremblay Quincy ’11 Loire Valley $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.
Villa des Anges Cinsault Rosé ’13 Capestang (near Beziers) $10
Pale peach color. Aromas of tangerine, pit fruit, lavender and chalky minerals. Juicy and focused with sappy nectarine and citrus fruit flavors sharpened by a kick of white pepper.
Pech Celeyran Ombline Rouge ’12 Fleury (near Beziers) $10
Nose of black fruits; flavorful mouth that calls for a second glass, especially with barbecue sausages and spicy meats.
La Rocaliere Lirac Rouge ’10 Lirac $16
Equal parts grenache, mourvedre, and syrah. Clay hillsides and serene aging in cement tanks yield this
inky purple wine with deeply pitched aromas and flavors of cherry-cola, licorice and violets.
Mas Oncle Ernest Instant Present Entrechaux, Rhone $19
80% grenache, 20% syrah; from Cotes de Ventoux in southern Rhone Valley, this wine seduces with Old World charm, dark fruit, and earthy richness.
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