Lummi Island Wine Tasting August 24 ’13
Lemmings
Perhaps no one really likes surprises, except maybe those who spring them on others. Still, there are some predictable events which are, depending on how you look at them, a little annoying, a little irritating, a little— how does one say it with grace– ill-conceived, thoughtless, and burdensome– you know. like the annual Drydock scheduling…?
Back in the Day, drydock periods were only two weeks long, and they were mostly in May, when traffic was light. Somewhere along the line them-as-decides-without-reason shifted Drydock to September…a really Bad Idea that continues to this day. While we are strong supporters of a well-maintained Whatcom Chief — (where would we be without her??!!), and thank our County officials for an efficient passenger service while the car ferry is out of service each year, I am on this soapbox tonight to exclaim: 1) closing the car ferry in September rather than May imposes a huge economic cost on Island businesses, and 2) taking the ferry out of service the day after Labor Day (instead of one or two days later) is Cruel and Unusual to the point of bureaucratic Sadism, leading us all to line up for hours on Labor Day for our own chance to throw ourselves off the island like lemmings afraid to get left behind in the mass exodus. I mean, is there really someone who sits around making this stuff up, or what??? How do things like this Happen??
Loading Up for Drydock
Speaking of Drydock, we have written in past years about the unique cultural dynamics that manifest during Week 1, Week,2, and Week 3, better known to Islanders as “LoL,“ “OMG,” and “WTF”…which is, at root, about the de-evolution over time from “novel cameraderie” to “the warmth of shared inconvenience” to “smile bravely over barely contained rage.” When I was commuting every day, the effect was co-measured by how much farther from the ferry I would have to park each evening as drydock lingered on. Now that there is no longer an actual parking lot on the mainland (see above), our hearts go out to those stalwart souls who still somehow find the fortitude to carry on.
Since we can’t change any of that, the best we can do, individually and collectively, is to adapt as best we can. For us it means loading up on enough wine to tide us over through Drydock, because schlepping wine down the dock on a handtruck, vaulting it on and off across the gap between dock and commuter boat, and then getting it home, is, as someone once said about sailing a small boat in a hurricane, “most devoutly to be eschewed.” Bottom line: today we brought in 20 cases of really interesting new wines we will be pouring over the next few weeks, and we think you are going to like them! So stick around, and remember: although our regular hours are Friday from 4-7 and Saturday from 2-6, we are open Anytime for Wine Emergencies!
This weekend
So, beginning this weekend, look for a lot of new wines in our weekly tasting lineup. For example, our white this weekend is the Hermann Moser Gruner Veltliner, which I confess I have not tried, but bought on the recommendation of a friend. Gruners (“gee-vees”) are the predominant white wines of Austria, and combine a delightful array of unique features, including a complex palate that is at the same time crisp-minerally on the one hand while being fruity and aromatic on the other. Falling somewhere on the spectrum between riesling and chardonnay, gruner veltliner has it all: fruit, aroma, acidity, and complex flavors. Similarly, the Eric Texier Cotes de Rhone represents a style of winemaking that values age old traditions (Ryan loves it, I’m not so sure). And the Caldaro Kaltern Lagrein, from the northern Alps of Italy, is another adventure in tasting, with dark fruit and complex nuances that may challenge your palate (Ryan hates it, I like it!)
This week’s wines
Hermann Moser Gruner Veltliner ’11 Austria $14
Light yellow with hues of green. Shows fruit, smoke, spice and pepper on the nose; crisp and balanced, dense and complex on the palate with flavors of quince, apples, pears and mineral notes.
Underwood Pinot Noir ’11 Oregon $11
Notes of cranberries and red raspberries with hints of smoke and spice. The palate is filled with sweet raspberry fruit intertwined with warm cinnamon tones.
Real de Aragon Garnacha ’07 Spain 88pts $11
expressive nose of cherry and cassis. On the palate it has a touch of silky tannin, good grip, savory fruit, and a medium-long finish
Texier Vaison la Romaine Cotes de Rhone ’10 France $16
Bright purple. A wild, intensely perfumed bouquet evokes dark berries, violet, Indian spices and cured meat. Sappy, sharply focused black raspberry and licorice flavors are given depth by a touch of licorice pastille and pick up a smoky quality with air. Finishes long and spicy, with resonating bitter cherry and violet notes.
Caldaro Kaltern Lagrein ’10 Italy $18
Ripe and dark and loaded with earthy cherry and plum fruit and bitter chocolate notes. The texture is generous and round- making it a nice sipper – but bright acidity and fine tannins let it shine at table
Lummi Island Wine Tasting August 18 ’13
Something for Everyone
We have a lot of friends who don’t drink wine, and who therefore don’t come by the wine shop very often. Given how many hours we spend at this almost-a-real-business, long periods of time can pass without visiting with them. As one way to address this, we have stocked a few interesting non-alcoholic beverages for those who might have felt excluded by our limited offerings.
Who knew there was a world of innovative, relatively low-sugar, natural-ingredient beverages out there these days, wonderful alternatives to the likes of Coke, Pepsi– and of course their Ilk and their Kith and their Kin, including especially their diabolical “diet” versions which could only have come from the Subterranean Kitchens of Hades! But I digress…let’s just say we are looking for interesting and enjoyable non-alcoholic tasting options, and we would like those options to be “artisan” creations like the wines we prefer to carry.
For starters we have a little supply of Fever-Tree Ginger Beer, Hubert’s (i.e., Hansen’s) lemonade/iced tea blend, and Dry Soda’s juniper-berry flavor… all very tasty and unusual. For example tasting notes (I am not making this up) for the Fever Tree Ginger Beer say it “has three different gingers: from Ivory Coast, a green ginger to add lightness and surprising notes of lime; Nigerian ginger adds intensity and complexity; and Indian ginger is earthy with intriguing chocolate notes.” (Sounds like a nice pairing with Ginger Beef…!)
Last Weekend
After several weekends of record crowds (for us), last weekend proved to be very low-key. It was a little reminiscent of our early years, when the measure of success was how many interesting conversations we had in an afternoon. Those relaxing lulls when there are only the handful of people at the bar seem to happen less often in the Summer, so this past weekend it was nice to be able to spend more time with each of our visitors, including almost-locals Matt and Kyoko. Much of our conversation orbited around the Japanese Tea Ceremony, of which Kyoko is a student, and our interest in supporting Tea classes or events here on Lummi Island. Tea is a long-term interest of mine– I made raku tea bowls for each of our wedding guests back in 2000– and I admire the form as a meditative discipline that weaves mindfulness, movement, and service into a demanding practice.
Cloudlift Updraft
Since most of you didn’t come by last weekend, most of you didn’t get to taste the sample bottle of Cloudlift Updraft that Seattle winemaker Tom Stangeland had given us the previous weekend. We poured it for the Faithful who showed up, and lo and behold it was gone, but not until sometime Saturday (you see what I mean about a diminutive turnout…!). I haven’t contacted Tom about the wine yet, but suffice it to say it was a beautiful interpretation of a classic White Bordeaux (sauvignon blanc and semillon) with the added weight of the ripeness that Washington can deliver (compared to Bordeaux on average). All hands were uniformly in favor! So kudos, Tom, on a delicious wine…we WILL be in touch!
Support your local woodworker
Another of our infrequent guests last weekend was local woodworker and builder (and sailor!) Steve Thomas, whom I first met many years ago when we had our ancient wooden sailboats hauled out at the same time in Bellingham. It is probably enough to know that we have both had fiberglass sailboats for many years now despite our aesthetic preference for the beautiful (but so demanding!) wooden boats of our dreams. Of course, ‘glass makes a lot more sense for me than for him, because he is in fact a master woodworker, while I spent most of the twelve years I owned “Windsong” replacing little bits of rotten wood with various hi-tech plastics and epoxies. I mean, eventually it would all have been plastic anyway, right?
More to the point, Steve has recently completed an extensive remodel of a guest cottage on the North end of Lummi Island near Point Migley. “The goal was to redesign and remodel an island guest cottage originally built as a shed in the 1930’s.” Amazingly, the project was completed in a mere six months of intensive effort, and is a contender for recognition in Fine Homebuilding Magazine. If you drive around the north end of the Island you can see the cottage, and if you go to this link, you can vote “thumbs up” for his project. And if Enough of us vote for it, the project will get written up in a future issue of Fine Homebuilding! So Please, Please, click on the link and vote “thumbs up!’ Yes, we can do this! Do it NOW, thanks!
This week’s tasting
Morgues du Gres Fleur d’Eglantine Rosé ’12 France $14
Light orange-pink. Spice-accented aromas of redcurrant, strawberry and roses, with tangy red berry and orange zest. Finishes spicy and firm, with a lingering floral note.
Cantine Farro Falanghina ’11 Italy $18
Fresh, vibrant nose full of citrus, melon and mineral notes—a good example of a tighter, leaner version of golden yellow grapefalanghina, common in the mineral-rich Campi Flegrei area of Campania.
Talamonti Montepulciano d’Abruzzo ’11 Italy $10
High-toned, with a candied edge to the dark cherry aromas and flavors that are backed by hints of mace and dried flowers, with a dash of bitters on the finish.
Terres D’Artagnan Gascogne ’10 France $9
Alluring nose of black raspberry, flowers, and garrigue leads into a very juicy, round and harmonious palate with velvety, soft, ripened tannins and fresh acidity.
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 August 10 ’13
Optimization
One of the most interesting topics I explored as an economist was the idea of “optimization.” To understand what optimization is about, just think about Goldilocks and the Three Bears: whether it is the temperature of a bowl of porridge, the comfort of a chair, or the softness of a bed, many things can either be too this way or too that way or, optimally “Just Right.” So, given my long interest in this subject (optimization, not the Three Bears), it was exciting to get an email this week with the interesting Venn diagram image at left, confirming what I have known to be True for a very long time! Wow! (Warning: zone of optimality may vary among individuals..!)
Lummi Island Run
The Beach School PTO is doing an ambitious fund-raiser in early September that should appeal to many of you who read this blog. It’s a Run on the Island, a bit more grand than the “Run on the Rock” events held a few years ago (by odd coincidence I am at this very moment wearing my T-shirt from the 2006 event!). See the complete (and gorgeous!) brochure online for all the ways you can participate and make the event a success. You youngsters should sign up for the half-marathon, and maybe a bunch of us geezers should sign up for a nice long walk that day…! Here are the options:
Start times
14-mile: 8:30am
7-mile: 9am
3.5-mile: 9:30am
100-yard dash: 9:45am
Cloud lift Cellars
Once a year about this time we get a visit from Tom (pink polo) and Joannie Stangeland (black jersey), who make an annual summer visit to the Willows Inn to kick back and celebrate. Tom is a master furniture builder turned winemaker who lives in Seattle. For years we have been trying to connect with him in Seattle to taste his wines, and on their Lummi visits they never seem to have any wine with them for us to taste..! So during our tasting and conversation last week, at some point Tom took off and came back with a sample bottle of his 2011 Cloudlift Updraft, a classic Bordeaux white blend: “The 64% Sauvignon Blanc steps up and takes control of the nose and palate, while the 36% Semillon adds a subtle backbone to the texture.”
We only have the one bottle, but we will open and pour it along with our regular tasting this weekend, beginning Friday night. Note: the way things have gone the last few weeks, it will probably be gone by 5 or 5:30 Friday night, so don’t dally!
Rollerball
I moved here in 1975. Sometime that first year here I went to the sci-fi movie “Rollerball” starring James Caan as the brutal-and-stupid-yet-sensitive Hero Athlete of the fast-paced and violent game of “Rollerball”, and John Houseman as the Corporate Bad Guy. For those who weren’t around at the time, there actually was a somewhat popular TV sport of the era called “Roller Derby,” which involved mostly young women with abbreviated costumes and few other options racing around an indoor track on roller skates. At the time, it was a pretty short leap from the reality of Roller Derby to the Science Fiction of “Rollerball.”
Despite the fact that it was NOT a great film in the usual sense, the story had an impact on me that remains today. So last night I sat up late and watched it online. and as I suspected, its premise was prescient of our time in many ways. Because this is, after all, a “wine blog,”, I will not venture too far into the political implications here. However, the scene below pretty well captures what I recall as the main message of the film, one which is even more relevant now than it was 35 years ago (omd, did I just say “35 years ago”…?!…Btw, was Houseman a GREAT actor, or what?)
This week’s tasting
Il Filare Rosado ’08 Italy $8
A rosé of 80% Bombino Nero and 20% Montepulciano; aromas of strawberries and fresh-cut grass. Dry as bone with brilliant minerality, beautiful fruit and crisp acidity.
Altavins Garnacha Blanca ’11 Spain $18
A beautiful, expressive, admirably complex wine with elegant notes of sweet grass, herbs, gooseberries and crisp pear.
Palama Primitivo ’11 Italy $13
Floral aromatics mix with notes of tobacco, citrus, and wild herbs; ripe, fresh, lush, and bright, with notes of dark anise, cedar, and blackberry confit.
Vignavecchia Chianti Classico ’10 Italy 89pts $18
(90% sangio, 10% merlot) Aromas of redcurrant, cherry pit, violet and tobacco lead to intense flavors of redcurrant, bitter cherry, spices, and merlot-derived nuances of cocoa and coffee.
Volver Tarima Hill Monastrell ’10 Spain 93pts $14
Notes of chocolate fudge, black ink, graphite, blueberries and blackberries. This full-bodied, 100% Monastrell should drink well for a decade or more.
Lummi Island Wine Tasting August 3 ’13
Credit where credit is due
Being, like many of you, a “recovering Catholic,” I am easily shamed when any of my many shortcomings are pointed out– mea culpa, mea culpa, mea máxima culpa (all you Heathens need to know is that you strike your heart with your fist each time you say “mea culpa”…you know, a little groaning and anguish is so good for the soul…). So this is to note that the photo I posted last week of Lummi Island as seen from Vendovi was actually taken by our dear friend Kier, who visits Lummi for a few weeks each year, and who is reliably tethered to her smart-phone at all times and thus able to email, search the web, or take pictures wherever and whenever duty calls. So muchas gracias, amiga, for always being prepared and for sharing your technology with us…!!! And yes, it was a lovely outing!
Leapin’ Lizards, Sandy!
When I was a kid in the Fifties, each Saturday morning brought our local paper, the Bangor Daily News (established in 1889 and still in the same family) to the doorstep, and with it the “colored funnies,” which we would read over a Saturday treat of Eastern Maine’s famous chocolate doughnuts (imho, you can’t buy a decent doughnut anywhere west of Augusta, Maine…). The comics section was only both sides of two full sheets of newsprint, so only eight comic strips. For years and years, the first page had Dick Tracy at the top and Little Orphan Annie at the bottom. Both strips had been around a very long time and already bizarre and anachronistic, so to this day, I couldn’t really say what Orphan Annie was really about. It always seemed disjointed and strange, especially since all the characters had little white circles where their eyes should have been! I mean, how weird is That?
What is important about all of this is that THIS FRIDAY at 7PM (August 2) a group of students from Beach School will perform ANNIE. The players have been in Theater Camp for several weeks, and have been working hard to put this show together. We certainly intend to go, and encourage all of you to attend as well!
Love in the Afternoon
One of the great perks of our little business is that it is often pretty quiet early on Saturday afternoons. That means that when someone comes in early (you know, before 4!), there is often space to hang out and chat; and after all, that’s a big reason why we keep doing this. So last week our early guests (anonymity preserved) exemplified a relationship that perhaps only those of us of a certain age can truly appreciate: a couple trying to condense the accumulated artifacts of two mature households into one. She did it by ditching everything Back East before moving here. He is doing it piece by piece, room by room, gift by gift, yard sale by yard sale.
As an old friend advised while viewing our garage in town just before we moved to the Island almost 20 years ago: “You know what this is? It’s Karma. Get rid of it!” Good idea, but it’s not that easy in a culture that is trained to acquire more and more stuff, but knows little about how to pare it down. Personally I have a really hard time even throwing away bent nails...I mean, they can all be straightened and used again, right?
Still coming off the sobering yet entirely pleasant experience of the 50th HS Reunion, I confess a fond appreciation for our deep, collective instinct to pair off into household units. Btw, don’t you think he looks a lot like somebody famous?! Go ahead, guess, and then click!
Mt. Baker Roussanne ’10 Washington $12
Notes of apricot, honeyed white peach, grassy aromas and lengthy dried apricot flavors with a plump mouthfeel and a cleansing minerality and acidity.
Borsao Rosado ’12 Spain $9
Spicy strawberry and orange zest on the nose, with a light floral quality. Juicy and clean, offering tangy red berry flavors, a kiss of white pepper, good focus, and a light touch.
Pech Celeyran 5th Generation Rouge ’11 France $14
A fifth generation French wine maker produces this blend of GSMC (grenache-syrah-mourvedre-cinsault) on an estate which dates back to 1868, on land that was once an island, first planted in vines by the Romans.
Andeluna Cabernet Sauvignon ’10 Argentina $11
Currant, pepper and coffee on the nose, complicated by licorice and menthol notes. Juicy, brisk and intense, with a savory quality and toothcoating tannins.
Bodegas Triton Entre Suelos ’10 Spain 90pts $12
Sexy, oak-spiced aromas of black raspberry and cherry, with pipe tobacco and floral nuances building with air. Fleshy, supple and sweet, offering bright red and dark berry flavors and a smoky, spicy quality. We sold out of this almost instantly when we last had it a few months ago.
2072 Granger Way
