Lummi Island Wine Tasting Winter Solstice ’12
Rumor Spreads: Days to Get Longer…?
Unconfirmed reports suggest that the Gloom that has washed the color out of our landscape for the past several weeks may be peaking (nadiring?) in the next few days. Predictions are highly suspect, but some people say this is a regular cycle and that it has happened before. Others insist that the shorter, gloomier days we have been experiencing are payback from the gods for various unspecified sins committed by unspecified voters, and will continue to get worse until Tax Cuts for the Rich are made Permanent. Those of us with nerdy scientific minds are withholding judgment until either the sinning stops or the rich get richer, and then we have only to look at the weather to see which way the wind was really blowing. Of course, if the days get longer and the rich don’t get their tax cuts made permanent, well, I guess we will have to conclude that either the sinning stopped, or more likely, that these things do happen on some kind of recurring cycle. Either way, it’s a fascinating subject to ponder with friends over a nice glass of wine. Stay tuned!
Holiday Truffles Ready for Pickup!
Preordered truffles have been made, boxed, and tied with holiday ribbon, ready for giving or personal indulgence. There are four flavors this year: Classic Dark, Coconut, Fleur de Sel Caramel, and Chai Spice. There are still a few unboxed available at $1 each, but calling to reserve is still highly recommended. (758-2959)
Please pick up Friday, December 21 (4:00 – 7:00) or Saturday, December 22, (2:00 – 6:00), or call to make other arrangements, thanks!
Online Store Coming Soon
Beginning in the next month or so, Artisan Wine Gallery will launch an online store, allowing those of you who purchase wine regularly to shop online and enjoy free delivery on the island. If you haven’t shopped with us before and you normally purchase your wines on the mainland, we would like to do whatever it takes to make us your go-to wine shop! Send us an email, call, or come in for a free introductory tasting. Won’t it be great to have the wines you like in stock right here on the Island? Over the last few years we have explored several online store software packages, but so far none has met our criteria of being simple, attractive, and of course free! We have settled on the software, but it is still going to take a lot of personal attention to give you the personalized service we have in mind. For the moment you may see strange headings coming and going on this blog, but please ignore them until we have worked out the bugs!
Finally, the “Artisan Wine Club!”
The online store will be an essential part of our new Artisan Wine Club as a way to solidify our “artisan wine” vision, make the business end of our shop a little more viable, reward consistent supporters with special offers, discounts, and special wine tasting experiences, and most important, give us even more ways to enjoy wine and each other. Working directly with some of our favorite winemakers, both locally and abroad, we intend to provide exceptional wines at great prices. Many of the wines offered will be exclusive to Artisan Wine Gallery members. We will ask members to pay a small annual fee ($35/individual, $50/couple) and commit to buying four bottles a month (one case per quarter) to maintain their membership, which will give them these benefits:
- One free tasting each quarter
- 10% off on all purchases
- 17% discount on special orders
- Weekly email offers on special markdowns and exclusive imports
- 10% Discount on all Wine Events (Classes, Seminars and Winemaker Dinners)
- Annotated personal wine history so you can remember what you like!
- Special tasting events for members only (dinners, winemaker visits, winery tours and tastings)
We will look forward to hearing your thoughts on these ideas!
Last week’s tasting
Okay, I admit it: we didn’t pour last week’s scheduled wines last week. Since, as I mentioned, we were reinstating our $99 case sale last weekend through the end of 2012, featuring in particular several amazing bargains on Spanish wines, we did not pour the wines scheduled for last weekend, but instead poured four or five of the sale wines…which were a big hit, by the way!
Among these is the latest tinto from Borsao, where we visited last spring for a tour of winery and vineyards. This wine is a rich garnacha, which critic Robert Parker describes as “possibly the single greatest dry red wine value in the world”…! Also included in the sale are another several cases of the Garnacha de Fuego that we poured a couple of weeks ago, which Parker described as “full-bodied and voluptuous, with a sweet kiss of jammy black cherries intertwined with an undeniable minerality.”
Till the end of 2012 we will continue to offer any mixed case of wines priced at $10 or less for $99. In addition, until the end of 2012 you can put 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.
This week’s tasting
includes four more of the “delicious wines under $10” that are included in the $99 case sale extravaganza!
Yamhill pinot gris ’08 Oregon
Nicely captures typical varietal aromas and flavors of apple and pears, with crisp acid and a gentle butteriness on the palette
Wrongo Dongo ’10 Spain 88pts:
Highly perfumed bouquet offers fresh blackberry, blueberry, potpourri and peppery spices. Pliant, medium-bodied dark berry flavors pick up silky tannins with air. pretty sexy stuff, especially for the price.
Venta Morales ’11 Spain 88pts
Pungent aromas of cherry, blackcurrant and dark chocolate. Supple and juicy in the mouth, with spice-accented cherry and fresh herb flavors. Finishes on a tangy note, with good cut and length.
Garnacha de Fuego ’11 Spain 92pts
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.
Baguala Malbec ’08 Argentina
Rich, elegant, and full-bodied, with ripasso-like notes of raisins, cassis, and a dash of bitters.
Lummi Island Wine Tasting December 15 ’12
It’s Back! Holiday Wine Sale!
Since our $99 case sale last year was such a big hit with all of you, we have been scratching our heads trying to find a way to offer the same deal again in the face of generally rising wholesale prices. These musings have been very recently helped by the release of several new vintages of some of our favorite Spanish wines at really amazing prices!
Among these is the latest tinto from Borsao, where we visited last spring for a tour of winery and vineyards. This wine is a rich garnacha, which critic Robert Parker describes as “possibly the single greatest dry red wine value in the world”…! Also included in the sale are another several cases of the Garnacha de Fuego that we poured a couple of weeks ago, which Parker described as “full-bodied and voluptuous, with a sweet kiss of jammy black cherries intertwined with an undeniable minerality.”
We have loaded up on some of these wines and are combining them with a few other “best buys under $10” to provide a pretty nice selection for your $99 cases. In addition, until the end of 2012 you can put together ANY 12 BOTTLES into 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.
One Stop Christmas Shopping Ideas!
I have it on good authority from one of our indispensable business mentors that the big question you are all asking yourselves as Christmas approaches is “what in the world are we going to give Uncle Farnsworth???” Well, you need look no further than your local wine shop! Besides the obvious choice of a bottle of Farnie’s favorite wine, we also have delicious hand-made chocolate truffles (see below!) , two delicious artisan olive oils, a new batch of scrumptious Theo’s chocolate bars, and a good supply of (oh I love this stuff!) Theo’s sipping chocolate to warm your cockles by the winter hearth. And as if that’s not enough, you can combine all of these by giving Uncle Farnie an Artisan Wine Gallery gift certificate, that he can use as he chooses amidst our astonishing array of crowd-pleasing wonders. He will thank you, we will thank you, and, ah, all will be well. (Q.E.D., or, in more contemporary idiom, “WWWWW“…!)
Holiday Truffles!
Yes, there WILL be truffles for Christmas! While Janice explores further into the world of bread*, Pat soldiers on alone (someone has to do it!) in the realm of Chocolate. This year, as in past years, there will be four varieties of truffles, boxed in groups of four, tied with a holiday ribbon, ready for hostess gifts, Christmas stockings, or simply for your nibbling pleasure. All will be enrobed in Dark Vahlrona French chocolate, with centers including Classic Dark, Coconut, Fleur de Sel Caramel, and Chai Spice.
Box of four, $5. Singles, $1 each.
Place your orders soon, as Pat will be making these beauties in the next week to be fresh and ready for pickup next weekend: Friday, December 21 (4:00 – 7:00) and Saturday, December 22, (2:00 – 6:00) –i.e., the Wine Gallery’s usual hours. With luck, there might be some available after pre-orders are filled, but to be safe, pre-orders are highly recommended.
Three ways to place orders: in person at the shop; call (758-2959), or email .
* Most Friday nights Janice shares her latest artisan loaf with the Faithful at the wine shop! Yumsters!
This week’s wines:
Fouquet des Aubuisieres Vouvray ’10 France WA90 pts $17
A superb, essentially dry Vouvray, the 2010 Cuvee Silex exhibits wonderfully flowery, melony aromas in its fragrant aromatics along with medium-bodied, crisp, pure flavors and an attractive flinty character.
Terres D’Artagnan Gascogne ’10 France $11
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.
Borsao Garnacha ’11 Spain WA90 pts $8
85% Garnacha, 15% Tempranillo; its deep ruby/purple color is followed by classic aromas of kirsch liqueur intermixed with raspberries, loamy soil and flowers, remarkable depth, an expansive texture, and wonderful freshness and purity.
Idilico Garnacha ’10 Washington $18
From two highly regarded Washington (Upland and Elerding); fermented in small lots and barrel aged in neutral French oak; bottled unfined and unfiltered; exhibits aromas of tart cherry, strawberry jam, moist rock and citrus; full bodied with luscious mouthfeel and a lingering finish. Only 240 cases produced.
Lummi Island Wine Tasting Dec 7-8 ’12
Viognier
One of the white wines we are pouring this weekend is an old favorite, the bargain-priced Peirano Estates viognier (pronounced “vee-on-yay,”) from California. As the linked article says, Viognier is an “aromatic grape variety known for producing textural white wines with strong stone-fruit flavors. On the nose Viognier wines can be very floral, showing lavender and pollen aromas that are quite honeyed in sweeter examples. Apricots are the variety’s classic flavor association, often with a richness that can be interpreted as ripe peach.” Or, as wine writer Karen McNeil puts it, viognier is “the most drippingly sensuous white wine varietal.” !! Personally, I also often find notes of pear and lychee in the flavor profile.
It turns out that by the early 60’s “ just 40 acres of Viognier vines were all that remained in the world.” Wow, that’s, like, the verge of extinction! But then, beginning with plantings in Australia, it began a global comeback. It is tricky grape to grow well, because small changes in weather can have big effects on sugar content, resultant alcohol content, and acidity of the final wine. Some producers also let the wine age on the lees or in oak barrels to give it more body and character. This shows in small ways in the differences between California viognier, which tends to be big, fruity, and high in alcohol and those from France or Washington, where the overall climate is cooler. Some of the world’s best viognier comes from the French region of Condrieu (we have some, and it’s both delicious and pricey!), where latitude, microclimate, and granitic soil evoke its best qualities.
Some of you may recall last summer when Virginie Bourgue of Lullaby Winery poured her wines for us. We still have some of her Lullaby viognier, in which she captures many of the minerally, crisp, and aromatic characteristics of Condrieu in her delicious Washington viognier (a French import herself, all her wines have an Old World freshness and authenticity).
More Italians!
We continue to unpack our recent shipment of Italian wines and offer them for your tasting pleasure. This week we are offering three that we have not carried before, and which are (trust me!) totally yummy. Two weeks ago we introduced you to the very seductive blend of corvina and cabernet franc in the soul-soothing Lonardi Privilegia. This week we have another delicious wine from the same producer, the Corte Lonardi Rosso, a blend of 80% merlot and 20% corvina. As with its big sister, in this wine the corvina adds a sensuous element to the fruit and minerality of the old world merlot. AND winemaker Giuseppe Lonardi (his wife calls him “Bepi”- see label to left) also has the perfect toast to go with his wines: “Peccato gravissimo e quello di stare senza vino e senza amante.” Translation: “It is a grave mistake to live without wine and a lover.” …ah, Italian wisdom!
Another new wine for us is the Le Rote Chianti Colli Senesi. with 90% sangiovese, and a touch of malvasia nera and canaiolo. This wine bears the classification “DOCG”, or Denominazione di Origine Controllata e Garantita, which basically means it not only has to meet geography and blend proportion requirements, but must also pass a taste test, usually conducted by other winemakers in the area, who take turns as stewards of the appellation. In this way, DOCG wines enforce a higher standard of quality to distinguish their wines from the hoi polloi of “Vino da Tavola” (not that, in many cases, there is anything at all wrong with that!). You can decide for yourself whether this really makes a difference or if it is just another case of “alla the wines, theysa way above average!”
Our final Italian wine this week is from one of our long-time favorite Italian imports, Perazzeta, which is in Tuscany just south of the dividing line between the DOCG Montalcino area and the more unruly wine region of Maremma. What this means, as nearly as I can tell, is that on the one hand they can (and do) grow sangiovese grosso, the grape used in Rosso de Montalcino and Brunello di Montalcino (prized DOCG labels), but their wines can never use those labels because their vineyard is not located a few miles to the north, within the Montalcino boundary. On the other hand, it also means they can grow a wide range of French varietals (syrah, cab, merlot) and blend them into whatever wines they want. And I think you will agree, this syrah is so delicious that it won’t matter at all where it came from!
This week’s wines
Peirano Viognier ’10 California $12
Peaches, pineapple, and tropical fruit are complemented by the scent of lemons and ginger, and balanced by flavors of apples, pears and orange marmalade. (read more on how this wine was made)
Corte Lonardi Rosso ’11 Italy $11
Unusual blend of 80% merlot, 20% corvina that yields a smooth, even blend with notes of bright, spicy cranberry and wet granite.
Le Rote Chianti Colli Senesi ’09 Italy $14
Rich, chewy, dark fruit, evolves into a smooth palate with notes of black cherry and sweet tobacco.
Perazzeta Syrah ’08 Italy $38
From one of our favorite Italian wineries, this beautiful artisan syrah (only 80 cases produced) was made from meticulously selected grapes beginning with open-barrel fermentation. Very special!
Lummi Island Wine Tasting December 1 ’12
Artisan Wine Club
Back in 2004, when we started planning this venture, we had just returned from a road trip to Napa Valley with a car full of wine (12 cases, as I recall), and quite deeply enamored of the delightful experience of tasting wine poured by the person who made it, often in a garage-like setting, and learning about how it was made, where it was made, and what the winemaker was trying to accomplish. This set of connections among place (aka terroir), winemaker, varietal, and vintage is for us the endlessly fascinating kaleidoscope of small production, hand-made, artisan wines, and our goal has always been to give our visitors, literally, a taste of that artisan experience– taste the wine, learn a little bit about where it came from, and get a feeling for the relationship between the wine and the person who made it.
By the way, also back in aught-four is when Pat designed our logo, which I have always thought captured some essential je ne sais quoi of our vision. In all these years, I don’t recall anyone’s ever having commented on it one way or the other, but for what it’s worth, I really like its vaguely art-deco style.
Not-so-fast forward to today, and we are still committed to the same “artisan wine” goal, even though, I must admit, it is only in retrospect that we can detect an actual, you know, “goal” in all of this. At times we have carried large production wines; for example, the Garnacha de Fuego mentioned below, and which we are pouring this weekend, produces something like 10,000 cases a year. Is that too much for an “artisan wine? Hard to say, when you consider that Yellowtail (we recently carried their “Reserve” for awhile) makes something like eight million cases a year! Anyway, periodically it is good practice to take time to review one’s goals and recommit to those that still resonate.
So…back in aught-four, when we were first contemplating this venture, “artisan wine club” was the name on our initial application for a State Liquor License. However, it turned out that the folks at the WSLCB (Washington State Liquor Control Board) were not happy with the word “club,” because it sounded way too much like, you know, a “Night Club,” where people get roaring drunk, dance on tables, and regularly need visits from the police. So to oil the wheels of our progress we changed our name to “Artisan Wine Gallery,” though we had already purchased the domain name “artisanwineclub.com.”
Over the last seven years we have built a wonderful community of people who met us and each other right here in our shop. That is deeply satisfying, and we are continually surprised and enriched by it. Over the next few weeks we will be making a renewed effort to get back to our “artisan” roots with the (finally!) formation of a more formally structured “Artisan Wine Club” which we hope will bring more good wines– and the relationships that go with them–to more people. Stay tuned!
Wine Deal of the Year?
Over the past several years we have carried a lot of Spanish wines from an importer named Jorge Ordonez, who has put together a remarkable stable of delicious Spanish wines at remarkably affordable prices. One of those wines, that many of you have enjoyed over the last several years, is an old-vines garnacha called Garnacha de Fuego. The wine has typically earned scores of 88-89 points from critic Robert Parker, and we have typically priced it at $10. Well, this year two things have happened: first, the wine earned an astonishing 92-point score (think of it as an A-plus!), and second, they lowered the price, so for the moment it’s only $8. We have a limited stock, not sure if we can get more. Come in this weekend and check it out!
By the way, over the years we have unsuccessfully tried to pin down a relationship between suitability for the label “artisan wine” and “quantity produced,” with mixed results. Our rule of thumb is that an “artisan wine” probably makes fewer than about 2000 cases oer year. On the other hand, we have run into numerous winemakers who consider their wines to be “artisan wines” even if they make, say, 30,000 or 50,000 cases. We still aim for under 5000 cases for an “artisan wine,” but it is definitely not an exact science.
Last week “with the Italians”
Over the years we have learned to lower our expectations for numbers of visitors as the holidays approach. It may be the busy season elsewhere, but people go away and things usually slow down here on The Rock. So it was a bit of a surprise to have boisterous crowds on both Friday and Saturday after Thanksgiving. Lots of Islanders and weekenders were in attendance, and it made for an ongoing festive atmosphere…! All of the wines we poured were Italian, most having just arrived in our semiannual shipment from importer Small Vineyards. They are a little like Lake Wobegon, in that, especially for the price, “all the wines are Above Average!” One of them as it turns out, was a lot more above average than the others, because we sold out of it despite its $36 price tag. That was the Lonardi Privelegia, an elegant blend of corvina and cab franc, possibly the only such blend in the world, and delicious. If you were lucky enough to taste it, you know what I mean. We’ll keep an eye out for more, but it all came in from Italy on special order, so chances are slim.
This week’s wines
This week we are featuring wines from France, Italy, California, and Spain. As it turns out, we have visited the French and Italian wineries, and had great experiences at both. Bertrand Stehelin is a charming young French winemaker just outside the famous village of Gigondas, and shares a winery with his father there. Sablet is a small wine region just south of Gigondas. His wines have a delightful, unassuming richness; this particular wine we played a role in convincing the importer to bring in, and I think you will see why.
Similarly, the second wine, from Ciacci Piccolomini in the southeast corner of Montelcino, not only makes great rosso and brunello, but also makes blends of French varietals like cab and merlot, like this one, which has a very satisfying weight and texture as well as very pleasing, lingering flavors.
Bertrand Stehelin Sablet Blanc ’10 89pts France $23
Blend of grenache blanc, roussanne and marsanne; Aromas of smoky pear and citrus with hints of iodine and lees. Deeply pitched orchard fruit flavors braced by tangy minerality and show good energy and focus.
Ciacci Piccolomini Ateo ’09 Italy 88pts $16
Juicy cab-merlot blend that shows excellent up-front intensity, with notes of freshly cut flowers and mint that give the dark berry fruit an attractive sense of lift.
Peirano Estates Petite Sirah ’10 California $12
Tempts the senses with an array of blueberry, blackberry, cocoa, and black pepper.. The palate is filled with blueberry, blackberry, plum, sweet black cherry, and chewy tannins, with a hint of dark chocolate.
Bodegas Breca Garnacha de Fuego ’10 Spain 92pts $9
This amazing value wine boasts a dark ruby/purple color along with a sweet kiss of jammy black cherries intertwined with an undeniable crushed rock minerality, hitting the palate with a full-bodied, voluptuous texture and flavors of ripe raspberries and black currants with hints of camphor and forest floor.
2072 Granger Way