Lummi Island Wine Tasting August 25 ’12
Drydock Looms
Like a great shadow looming in the foreground of consciousness, a vaguely threatening phantom haunting the unconscious, or like Arctic natives feeling the first vestiges of the coming Winter, Island residents are consciously and unconsciously bracing for the annual Ordeal of Drydock. This is when our trusty ferry, the Whatcom Chief, goes out of service each year for annual maintenance. In recent years that has been for three long weeks, though for many years it was only two.
During drydock the car ferry is replaced by a passenger-only ferry, which means that the only way to get to the island (and back) is to park your car at Gooseberry point (the mainland end of the passage), and catch a ride with a friend or take the shuttle bus or take your “island car” to your destination on the Island. This year is particularly challenging because there is no longer a parking lot on the mainland, only a strip of Lummi Shore Road where only a small number of cars will be able to park. A thoughtful person has to ask, “how in the world did we get into this situation??!!”
In searching for an answer one can, I suppose, look to many fields of thought and inquiry for some kind of explanatory rationale, but almost certainly there is no narrative that could possibly make sense of what we have seen over the past few years.
The first week of drydock is actually novel and somewhat Festive; you sit at tables across from people you usually see in their cars on the daily commute. The second week is more sobering. If you are a regular commuter, you notice that at the end of each day you are driving further and further to find a parking place because the spaces closer the the ferry are taken by people who park earlier in the day. The third week is at best a kind of Truce, a sense that you are Really Tired of this but you are pacing yourself to last just a few more days, and you are really thinking seriously about how you can structure your life to be far away from Lummi Island next year during Drydock…well, here we go again…are you ready?
Stocking Up
In preparation for drydock we are trying to stock up for the inevitable Wine Emergencies that are sure to arise. Sure, we all do the best we can to prepare for various emergencies, but no one can think of Everything. That’s why, with you in mind, we are loading up the shelves in preparation for both the Labor Day Weekend (Studio Tour!) festivities and the following three weekends of Drydock. We are stocking lots of favorites from the past year, and if necessary we will be replenishing as necessary. For this weekend, though, all you need to know is that the shelves are full with lots of great values, and we will keep them that way so you can sleep easier during the Ordeal that is Drydock. Remember, though our regular hours are Fridays 4-7 and Saturdays 2-6, we are here “Anytime for Wine Emergencies,” a responsibility we take very seriously!
Hints of Autumn
We all remember that just a few days ago we had a few of the hottest days on record here. While temperatures around 80 are not big news to the rest of the country, here on the Island it seemed both psychologically and physically taxing– being Too Hot is not something we experience very often around here. And now while the last few days have been for the most part very pleasant, with warm sun most afternoons, there is the beginning of a morning chill. The blackberries have dramatically slowed their ripening process; random unscientific sampling suggests that the average blackberry harvested at random today shows some sweetness but still a fair amount of tart acidity (probably just about right for making wine…?) , and that’s not much different from a week ago. Another little warm spell would be good for the blackberry harvest, whether you are just browsing while you walk or actively foraging to make pies, jam, or jelly.
Still, there is some ancient magic about harvest time, the end of the growing season and the beginning of the slide into Winter. We are just on the cusp of the seasonal change, and this one, from summer to fall, is a rich blend of plenty and warmth on the one hand, and a need to stock up for keeping warm in the coming months. Somehow that makes these days in late August a little poignant…
This week’s tasting:
Legoe Bay Viognier ’08 Washington $7
The new release of Lummi Island’s only winery’s flagship wine offers subtle floral and fruit notes with lots of fruit, great texture, and balanced acidity.
Hahn pinot noir ’11 California $11
Softly fruity California pinot, with classic notes of strawberry and peach, good acid balance, and an unbelievable price. Like the riesling, this should pair well with just about everything on the table.
Pend d’Oreille Bistro Rouge 08 Washington $13
Garnet black color. Aromas of black raspberries and plum chutney with a silky, dry-yet-fruity medium-to-full body and a tangy green apple, nut, and peach skin accented finish. A fun, flavorful wine for the table.
Urban Ribera ’07 Spain 90pts $14
Deep purple in color with an inviting perfume of violets, Asian spices, black cherry, and blackberry, on the palate it is layered, plush, and intense
Wine Tasting August 18 ’12
Thoughts on the First Annual (?) Lummi Island Jazz Festival
Last Saturday was complicated around our place, for two reasons (see last week’s post). First, it was the day of the Jazz Festival, ostensibly a fund-raising event for the remodel of the Island Library, which, as I pointed out last week, belongs to the people of Lummi Island via the Friends of the Island Library (FOIL). The library is long overdue for an upgrade, and the remodel project– years in the making– is kicking off its fundraising campaign, and therefore FOIL will be soliciting donations during the coming year to pay for it.
The Good News is that the Jazz Festival over-delivered in a big way; the weather was perfect, the music was fantastic, and the sound system was just right, all contributing to a sensational event! If you missed it, you REALLY missed something special.
The Bad News is that it was relatively poorly attended, so all day there were more empty seats than filled ones. That means that a lot of people missed out on a really Amazing event. It also means that the event underwriter generously took a very big loss, and the Library construction fund made only what it earned on the raffle (Many thanks to all of you who bought raffle tickets, and all of you who donated prizes!). So in the coming year I hope all of you will be able to dig deep and pledge some $$ to keep our library Strong!
Will there be another Jazz Festival next year? All you need to know is that if there is, you definitely want to be there!
Lullaby Winery
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nyway, we manned the entrance booth for a few hours before heading back to the wine shop for the second event of our day, the special tasting of wines from Lullaby Winery, owned by our long-time acquaintance, winemaker Virginie Bourgue. This was a real treat for all of us. Virginie’s winemaking style is definitely “Old World,” with considerable restraint in the use of new oak and a tendency to pick her grapes a bit before they are fully ripe in order to preserve their food-friendly acidity.
Her rosé was dry, 
pale, and delightful; her sauvignon blanc was crisp, fresh, and balanced; her viognier was refined and complex; and her special red wine, called “Lalayee,” is a stunning wine that showcases deep blackberry and black cherry aromas under layers of earthy leather, sandalwood and tar. Folks. the wines were Awesome, and yes, we have all of them in the shop!
Gascony
We recently discovered a couple of lovely wines from Gascony, a French wine region west of Toulouse near the Pyrenees. The whites have crisp, minerally notes of lemon, lime and orange rind, and the reds have a “wild and rambunctious character of smoke, dried herbs, roasted meat and black currant.” We poured the red, Terres d’Artagnan, named after the Three Musketeers’ dashing confrère) a few weeks ago, and it sold out immediately. The white wine from the same region, the Casterot Gascogne Blanc, was also very popular. This is to tell you we now have more of both, on our “Under $12” rack and of course qualifying for our ongoing $99 case sale!
Heat Wave
I know some of our regulars are old enough to remember the great Motown hit Heat Wave from Martha and the Vandellas (around 1965), but little did we expect we would, like, experience an actual Heat Wave right here on Lummi Island! OMD! It’s been nearly 80 degrees here, and ninety-something in Seattle and even Bellingham. What’s THAT about, huh? We have had to drag our AC unit out of the closet in the wine shop four times already this year, and this week I have to turn it on every afternoon. By comparison, in previous years we have maybe two or possibly three days where the temperature gets over 70 in the wine shop for a few hours before dropping back to the usual 50’s or 60’s overnight. All YOU need to know is that in honor of the hot weather we will be pouring five wines on Saturday, with two whites and a rose to start off with on both Friday and Saturday. So come by, cool off, and chill out!
This week’s tasting notes (Five Wines!):
Perazzeta Rosado di Montalcino ’11 Italy $14
It’s back! From the same grape as Brunello (sangiovese grosso), this beautiful rosado has it all: rich, bold, flinty, and summery.
Casterot Gascogne Blanc ’10 France $10
Light, bright, crisp and minerally, just the thing for our little spate of hot weather!
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.
The Warrior Red ’07 Washington $14
A blend of 88% Merlot, 10% Cab Sauv, and 2% Petit Verdot; offers classic plum and red fruit notes with hint of chalk and minerality to support the delicious bouquet of cassis, spice, and blackberry. The balance is impeccable, with real elegance and restraint that gives this wine the kind of class that’s remarkable at the price.
Baguala Malbec ’08 Argentina $8
This was a hit a couple of weeks ago, just brought some more in. Rich, elegant, and full-bodied, with notes of raisins and a dash of bitters. Delicious!
As for this last picture, all I can say is that our little camera gets fairly creative from time to time, having a little trouble focusing, a little confusion about colors. So no, this is not edited in any way, this is just the way it came out. Kinda looks like “wine shop during acceleration to Warp Drive”…??
click on photo for larger view
Lummi Island Special Wine Tasting August ’12 Lullaby Winery
Lullaby Winery
A few weeks ago we mentioned we had recently been in touch with an old acquaintance, Virginie Bourgue, the winemaker/owner of Lullaby winery in Walla Walla, and we poured one of her wines that weekend. We first met her a few years ago when when she was the winemaker for Bergevin Lane Winery in Walla Walla, where she helped establish their reputation for quality wines. Now she has her own winery, and the Good News is that she will be visiting and pouring several of her wines at our shop this Saturday from 2-5. Don’t Miss It! See below for wines and winemaker notes.
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Lummi Island Jazz Festival and Island Library Upgrade
Virginie’s visit to Lummi coincides with the the kickoff of the Island Library’s fundraising campaign to support the expansion/remodel of our Library. Curiously there are still a lot of folks who don’t realize that even though our library is part of our excellent Whatcom County Library System (in which our dear friend Polly Hanson played such a major role years back), the building itself is owned by all of us through our own Friends of the Island Library. It is truly a community asset, and because of that maintenance of the buildings is our collective responsibility.
The Jazz Festival marks the beginning of the fundraising efforts to pay for the library upgrades to better serve our community. We hope you will support these efforts by attending the Jazz Festival and by donating generously during the coming year.
Hopefully there is no conflict between attending the Jazz Festival and dropping by the wine shop to taste these great wines. Your hand will be stamped at the Festival, so you can easily come and go. It’s a pleasant 15-minute walk from the Festival to our place; hope you can make it!
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Ongoing Case Sale continues!
There is this well-
known picture we have all seen of a man (obviously French) riding a bicycle along a tree-lined country road, with a small boy behind him and a lovely baguette tied on cross-wise behind the seat. It captures, as the French say, a certain je ne sais quoi about what is really important in life.
As it turns out, we encountered many roads like this one during our time in France last October. We found ourselves on many beautiful sections of rural highway lined with big old plane trees that seem to embrace everything in sight: you, the road, the vineyards or fields on either side, the sky—something about these trees is warmly welcoming.
Well, we don’t have plane trees lining the road on Lummi Island, and as yet there is no bakery where you can get a fresh baguette in the morning (although you can usually find something tasty at the Islander, and at the new incarnation of the Beach Store, and Janice keeps threatening to open a bakery sometime soon, so yes, we got bread!), and we still rely more on motors than pedal power for most of our transportation.
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Still, there is something of the same feeling to this little scene of our friend Megan loading a case of wine into the little trailer she had made to tow behind her scooter. And by the way, some of that wine will help Megan and Chris celebrate 25 years together…hoist yer glasses, mates, it’s cause fer Celebration!
And don’t forget: we are losing money hand over fist on this deal, but we just can’t stop, so the Madness continues: any twelve bottles from our $11 and under rack for just $99! Bring your scooter, bring your bike, bring your car, or take a hike, but hurry, cuz we can’t keep this deal going much longer!!!
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This week’s wines from Lullaby Winery in Walla Walla
2011 Lullaby Rosé $22
This single vineyard rosé is 100% Grenache from Alder Ridge Vineyard. It is dry, fruity, delicate and elegant. Lullaby Rosé has floral and fruity aromas of cherry, red currant, raspberry and citrus. Crafted in the true spirit of Provençal Rosé. Only 183 cases produced.
‘Blanc de Virginie’ ’11 $22
Clean and crisp, combining grapefruit, lime, lemongrass, pineapple, star fruit and passion fruit, with mouth-watering acidity, a perfect match for shellfish or a simple mixed green salad.
Viognier ’10 $32
Opens up on aromas of dried apricot, pear, hints of fresh hazelnut and vanilla followed by candied orange peel, gooseberry and marshmallow. Its silky texture and vibrant acidity will make this Viognier the perfect companion with food like scallops, prawns, pasta a la carbonara or roasted chicken.
Lalayee cab-merlot blend ’08 $45
Blended from two vineyards,this Cab-Merlot blend, called “Lalayee”, has a fragrant nose of blackberry, leather, cedar and tar. The mouth showcases blackberry and black cherry aromas over earthy notes of leather, sandalwood and pencil lead.
Lummi Island Wine Tasting August 4 ’12
A Rosé is a Rosé is a Rosé
It’s definitely looking pretty summery out here these days, with lots of sun and temperatures soaring to almost 70 degrees! That is Very Cool relative to the rest of the country, but that’s just how it is out here on the Frontier, and we are grateful for it. For the past month or so visitors will have noticed the “Rosé Shrine” at the top of the stairs, and hopefully it has gotten your attention. (I also mentioned this a few weeks ago…OMD, has summer lasted a MONTH already??!!) After many years of considerable indifference to rosé, I have been gradually converted over the past couple of years by friends who love it, trips to Europe where it is perfect to accompany the leisurely noon meal, and a sharp upturn in the number and quality of dry, Provencal-style rosés from both Europe and America. With its racy acidity, rosé pairs well with almost any dish, particularly in the afternoon!
Too Much Wine???
I know, I know, it sounds Oxymoronic. But there you have it, I find I can hardly get into the garage we have gotten so much wine lately. We are of course trying to keep our “Under $11” rack stocked for those of you who like to take advantage of our ongoing $99 case sale, and we have some new additions as well as some old favorites. In addition, we would like to invite your attention to the lovely array of beautiful Washington and Oregon wines that are curiously overlooked. These wines range in price from $13 and up, and include whites like gewurztraminer, chardonnay, and pinot gris, and reds from pinot noir to cabernet sauvignon, cab franc, syrah, malbec, and more.
Our Deal for this Weekend: 10% off all Northwest Wines $12 and over!!!
Lagrein
Last year we stocked a wine made from an unusual (to most Americans) grape called “Edelvernatsch.” Then this spring we attended a tasting in Seattle of wines from the same region of Italy, called Alto Adige. It is at the threshold of the Alps in an area equally influenced by Italian and German languages, and it is home to a number of grape varietals found few other places. This weekend we offer another wine from such a grape: Lagrein. We tasted many versions of this at the April tasting, and this one is typically rich, earthy, and vaguely rustic, yet curiously elegant. It is a unique varietal, and I think a lot of you are REALLY going to like it!
Here’s a fairly lengthy video segment about the varietal.
This weekend’s tasting
Bernier Chardonnay ’11 France $10
Light, bright yellow. Lemon, herbs and lees on the nose. Juicy but dry, focused, and refreshingly brisk.
Teutonic pinot noir Rose ’10 Oregon $14
A lovely rosé with all the characteristic aromas and flavors of a good Oregon pinot: pie cherry, forest floor, mineral, and spice, on a beautifully-structured, low-alcohol (10%) framework.
St. Michael-Eppan Lagrein ’09 Italy $17
Intense, with firm tannins and a smoky mineral sublayer supporting the ripe black fruit, espresso bean, iron, dried sage and fennel seed notes. Big and inky, but well-knit and integrated.
Scarafone Montecucco Rosso ’08 Italy $12
90% Sangiovese and 10% Cabernet Sauvignon. A rustic Italian red with aromas and flavors of dried cherry and dark blackberry, with a somewhat toasty character that includes bramble and dried herbs with a hint of leather.
Ciocca Fior Chocolate Grappa Italy $24
A decadent liqueur-like wine combining lots of chocolate with grappa (a rustic Italian brandy)…it will definitely get your attention!
2072 Granger Way