Wine Tasting January 19, ’13 Spanish Delights
Sunset over Orcas, Jan 17
This shot was taken tonight– first one on the NEW camera– and it clearly shows that in one month the sunset has moved from the left edge of Orcas Island to the bright spot in the photo, nearly halfway along the ridge. So, yes, Baby, It’s Cold Outside, but today was sunny, the wind was calm, Spring is just around the corner.
Wine Club and Online Store Update
I had hoped that by the time we reopened after inventory we would be up and running with our online store and wine club. It turns out that these things take time for the uninitiated (including yours truly), more time than any reasonable person could call, you know, “reasonable.” It has turned out that every small step forward requires a great deal of trial and error. The set of WordPress plugins we are using to set this up could, theoretically, be installed with a few clicks of the mouse, and voila, we would be in business. The truth is that it is far less like “click here for the cheese” and far more like “click here to enter the Maze where there may or may not be cheese for YOU, although we can honestly report that SOME who have entered have reported seeing cheese, or what they think would have been cheese if they had been running a different operating system, and, you know, figured out how to tweak the code a bit in their import.php file.”
Despite these setbacks, some progress has been made. Although the store is not actually functional at the moment, you will notice at the top of the page that there are three new links, each representing a functional element in progress that should be operational in the next week or two (we are that close!).
Wine Club
If you click on the “Wine Club” link at the top of the page, you will go to a page that describes the many benefits of wine club membership. At the bottom of the page is an online form where you can join the club. (yes, at some point you will be billed!) When you submit the form, a personal page will be created for you where you can enter more info about yourself, the wines you like, and eventually keep track of the wines you buy from us. You will receive an email with a link to your page, and you should definitely save the email and the link where you can easily find it again. Eventually we hope to provide opportunities for you to make notes about the wines you have bought.
Buy Wine
The “Buy Wine” link takes you to our online store, which is still in development. As you can see, the plan of the moment is to give you a chance to shop by region. Clicking on the region will give you a list of our wines from that region. We hope to provide you with some details about the varietals (merlot, cab franc,…), the subregion (California/Napa…), and more detailed notes from winemaker or reviewers. The idea is that it will look like an online store for the world even though it is really aimed right here at Lummi Island, where you can order online and choose between picking up at the shop or having us deliver. The familiar online “shopping cart” is on the bottom of the right sidebar. ALL of this has turned out to be way more complicated than expected!
Your Account
The “My Info” link will take you to a page where you can log in to your own account, update your information, evaluate the wines you have bought, or check out your purchase history.
In summary, this has turned out to be a much bigger set of tasks than expected. We think it will be up and running very soon, and no doubt it will take some time to iron out the expected wrinkles, get feedback from you on what works and what doesn’t, and learn our collective way into the Modern Era.
This Week’s Wines–Spanish Beauties!
A few weeks ago I was contacted by a gentleman from the mainland about whether I could find a certain Spanish wine for him. He had found a few bottles (on the East Coast), and liked it a LOT. Btw, critic Robert Parker gave it a whopping 94 points, absolutely unheard of in a wine that sells for less than $20. Turned out the wine was not yet available in Washington, and as far as anyone knew, it might never be available here. So I advised him to buy more from his East Coast source. Meanwhile I placed an order for five cases should it become available.
Last night I got a call that, literally, my wine-ship had come in, and not only was the wine available, but even though it was highly allocated (not enough to meet the demand, read “rationed”), I was still on deck for the five cases. Oh, and by the way, there was another beautiful Spanish wine, but there were only TWO cases, so I got those, too. And all of this just when I was feeling downtrodden by the Costcos and the Haggens of the New Washington wine world, and their special volume deals with distributors.
The important thing here is that we have some great wines this weekend, and you don’t want to miss them!
Martina Prieto Verdejo ’10 Spain $14
Verdejo thrives in the hot days and cold nights of the mesa and yields one of the most refreshing white wines of the world, delighting the palate with flavors of nettles, ripe pineapple, dried mint, and pencil dust on a crisp, fresh frame. From vines planted in clay, shells, and limestone in the Rueda wine region.
Bodegas Breca Garnacha de Fuego ’11 Spain 92 pts $9
Dark ruby/purple color, jammy black cherries intertwined with crushed rock minerality. On the palate, a full-bodied, voluptuous texture develops towards ripe raspberries and black currants intermixed with camphor and forest floor.
Bodegas Breca Breca ’10 Spain 94 pts $16
100% Garnacha from 80 year old vines yielding less than one ton per acre in an amazing terroir of steep hillsides and ancient head-pruned vines. Black raspberry, truffle, kirsch, lavender and liquid rock-like characteristics emerge from this astonishing wine. An absolutely incredible value in today’s market.
Bodegas Convento Las Claras ’11 Spain 93 pts $18
From vineyards dating back to 1900; dense ruby/purple color accompanied by abundant notes of pencil shavings, white chocolate, espresso roast and creme de cassis. This modern-styled Spanish, super-rich, intense red takes ripeness to the limit.
Reminder–closed this weekend, reopening January 18
Reminder: closed for another week!
Just a reminder to all our friends that we are closed for annual inventory and a little respite. We expect to be closed till Friday. January 18, when we will reopen for our regular Friday and Saturday wine tastings. We apologize for any inconvenience, and look forward to seeing you in two weeks!
A couple of travel memories
This was taken at the opening event of the Falset (Spain) 2012 Priorat Wine Festival last April, called “Night of the Garnatxes.” This was the main floor of the winery, the Capcanes Cooperativa; there were other buildings and other floors and all looked like this…btw, the party didn’t even START till 11pm! Fortunately it was only a five minute walk from where we were staying. GREAT wines, GREAT party! In aught-fourteen we’d like to go back with a group. Anyone interested??
Night of the Garnatxes, Priorat Wine Festival, April, 2012
French winery chairs
At several wineries we spotted these old chairs with the region name on them. Never did learn the story of their origin, but they all look to have been around for a long time…love to have a collection from different areas! You will recall from previous posts that I am a big fan of wines from Pic St. Loup!
the pic st loup chair
Winter Break at the Wine Shop aught-thirteen
Uh-oh…Closed for annual inventory!
Just a reminder to all our friends that we are closed for annual inventory and a little respite. We expect to be closed till Friday. January 18, when we will reopen for our regular Friday and Saturday wine tastings. We apologize for any inconvenience, and look forward to seeing you in two weeks!
Thanks!
Thanks to all of you who came by and helped make our Seventh Annual East Coast New Year’s Eve Party a great success….again! This year we managed to get online for the actual countdown in Times Square, with Sinatra doing the encore to Auld Lang Syne with his classic rendition of New York, New York. Here is another nice version with an older Sinatra with Liza Minnelli…
In case of Wine Emergencies
Btw, we will probably be around while we’re closed, so the usual policy is in effect: if you find yourself with a Wine Emergency (as so often happens!) feel free to call…! Or, you know, call anyway, it’s a small island!
Lummi Island Wine Tasting December 29 ’12 Happy New K’atun!
Happy New K’atun, everyone!
Wikipedia tells us that the Mayan Long Count calendar identified a date according to the number of days since the Mayan creation date, which, as we all now know, was 4 Ahaw, 8 Kumk’u, or September 6, 3114 BC in the Julian calendar. Long Count days were tallied in a modified base-20 system, which means that 0.0.0.1.5 is equal to 25 (5+20), and 0.0.0.2.0 is equal to 40 (0+2×20), etc.). The Long Count was useful for long-lasting things like monuments or history itself, that would last longer than human lifetimes. The Mayan name for a day was k’in. Twenty k’ins = 1 winal , think of it as longish fortnight. Eighteen winals = one tun, more or less a year. Twenty tuns are known as a k’atun. Twenty k’atuns, around 400 years, make one b’ak’tun, and 20 k’atuns make a piktun, around 8000 years.
So it was a pretty big deal last week on December 21, when at year 5,125 of the Long Count calendar the world moved into b’ak’tun 13 of the current piktun (a complete series of 20 b’ak’tuns), at Long Count 13.0.0.0.0. in the base-20 math of the Mayans. But the next Really big deal in the Mayan calendar will be at Long Count 1.0.0.0.0.0, (that’s right, only 7 more b’ak’tuns!), on October 13, 4772, when we begin a brand new piktun, which, you know, doesn’t come around all that often, and should be pretty exciting in one sense, but cosmologically speaking, pretty much just another day, but why not celebrate anyway? All of which is to say, let’s face it, the Long Count is kind of humbling, especially in our “oh, that is so last week” society…!
Seventh Annual “East Coast” New Year’s Eve Gala Extravaganza
Yes friends, it’s here again! From 7-9pm on New Year’s Eve we provide the wine, you bring something delicious to share, and when the ball drops in Times Square we hoist our glasses and toast the Year of the Snake! (huh?…SNAKE..?? There’s a whole YEAR of the Snake? What’s that about???). Afterward, as usual, you young folks can move on to your next party, and we old timers can get to bed at a decent hour! We have grown quite fond of this annual chance to thank all of you who have visited, schmoozed, chatted, laughed, and enjoyed yourselves with us this past year, and to look ahead to more fun in aught-thirteen. Mark your calendars and start planning your finger food. And please–RSVP if you are coming! (758-2959 or Email us.)
Sale Continues!
Our two sales continue through the end of Julian year 2012. The first way to save on wine is our $99 case sale, featuring all wines on our shelves marked $10 or under. The second way to save is by putting together ANY 12 BOTTLES in a mixed case and get a 15% discount! These are both great deals, and will help to tide you over during January, when we may or may not be open.
Games
Those of you who have frequented the wine shop for some while know Sean and Elizabeth. What you may not know is that they are both serious gamesters. Sean is either extraordinarily lucky or extraordinarily skilled at all kinds of games, and Elizabeth has a gift for learning and teaching games to others, to the extent that a couple of years ago we encouraged her to start the games blog she had been thinking about starting for a long time. You can find her blog at machoheadgames.com . I confess I have little patience for drilling down through yet another set of rules to figure out new games, but when you have a teacher, it is SO much easier! Tonight we played Farkle, which we just picked up a couple of weeks ago, and then a couple of rounds of Archeology. Great fun!
This week’s tasting
Altarocca Arcosesto Orvieto ’11 Italy $14
A crisp, clean, fragrant white wine (grechetto, procanico, malvasia), bright and sunny with minerally notes of flowers, citrus, and dried fruits that pair well with savory dishes.
Bibbiani Treggiaia 09 Italy $10
A smooth and satisfying blend of sangiovese, canniolo & cab, serious but friendly, delightful with anything from pizza to lamb chops.
Sanguineti Morellino de Scansano ’10 Italy $14
An interesting comparison to the Treggaia, with 85% sangiovese; bursting with notes of sun-ripened, slightly smoky fruit, fresh cracked pepper, and minerally ocean brine.
Blacksmith Syrah ’10 Washington $14
Blending grapes from several Washington vineyards yields a classic Northern Rhone-style Syrah with intense aromas of white pepper, blackberries, and smoked meat followed by mouthwatering flavors of earthy, juicy pomegranate and boysenberries.
2072 Granger Way