Lummi Island Wine Tasting July 28 ’12
Retrospective: the Great Chili Cookoff
Last weekend’s Chili Cookoff was a huge success. True, our new vintage of “Screaming Seagull” vegetarian chili did not win any prizes, but the event was Festive and well attended, as the accompanying photos confirm. And the music was great, a bluegrass/R&B band from ( I think) Skagit County, with great rhythm and style. It was a beautiful day, the event was well attended, and a good time was had by all. And after these festivities, we figured, okay, No One is going to want to come to the wine shop, but no, we were wrong about that! Since of a lot of the cooks at the Chili Cookoff were “Artisan Gallery Regulars” (the best kind of militia!), after the cookoff we were joined by many of the chili teams: Beth and “Never met a Pepper I didn’t want to put in my Chili” Blake, Mary Jane and son John (two prizes!), Barbara and Tobey, Mary Beth and Steve, Ian and Robin (another prize!), and of course Pat and yours truly. The interesting thing is that our expected Quiet Afternoon in the wine shop after the Cookoff turned out to be quite a party, very festive indeed. You just never know how things will unfold…so, really, why bother to make plans at all…???!
Celler Capçanes & “Nit de les Garnatxes 2012”
One of the highlights of our trip to Spain in May was a week in the little village of Capçanes. It’s small, it’s totally charming, and it has its own winery, one of several small cooperativa through which many grape growers combine their efforts to produce wine. Started in 1933 by five families, more recently, Celler Capçanes has taken the path of many Spanish coops, with a centralized management and production team that sets standards for the member vineyards.
What is important about Celler Capçanes is that it is at the very entrance to the town, and looks pretty sleepy, a couple of nondescript, modestly sized block buildings of indeterminate age. So it seemed peculiar that the three-day annual Falset Wine Festival celebrating the wines of the Montsant and Priorat regions was to kick off with a Friday night event at Celler Capçanes beginning at 11pm (yes, PM!) called “Nit de les Garnatxes” (Night of the Garnachas). So we drifted down the hill from our lovely apartment to find a pretty astonishing party, spread over both buildings and the space between them; we kept finding more stairways and more levels, with throngs everywhere, lots of delicious wines, food (including the Chocolate Fountain (image left)!), music, and art. AMAZING! Unfortunately, we haven’t figured out how to get any of their wines here, but we are working on it! (SEE MORE PICTURES)
Celler Masroig
We have been slightly more successful finding wines from another Montsant cooperativa, Celler Masroig, the first winery we visited after we arrived. (Btw, Masroig is a Catalan name which is pronounced “mahs roych.”) We didn’t have an appointment, just wandered in, and were greeted cordially by shop manager Eulalia, who spoke excellent English (whew!), and who told us about the many wines made at the coop while she poured samples. We wound up buying several bottles of their wines which we drank over the next several days, and we ran into Eulalia several times in the ensuing days of the Wine Festival…it’s a small region, and an ongoing celebration, so lots of faces became familiar.
At present we have only been able to find one of the Masroig wines here, and all you need to know is that we will be pouring it this weekend. It is called Sola Fred, which doesn’t make a lot of sense for a wine. It is NOT named for someone named Fred, I am sure of that, although I can’t quite remember the story of the name, only that it was created particularly for export. (Figure out what it means and get a free tasting!) more about Masroig
This weekend’s wines:
Alvise prosecco Italy $13
Prosecco is Italy’s famous dry white sparkling wine, offering fruity freshness, notes of green apple and a nice minerality…refreshing and delicious!
Lafond Tavel Rosé ’09 France $18
Light, bright red. Fleshy and smooth, with concentrated red fruit flavors and a touch of orange zest. Rich enough to pair with strong cheeses, grilled poultry, or fish.
Clua Domenech pedres ’09 Spain $10
An eclectic blend of cab, merlot, syrah, grenache, and tempranillo, pleasingly ripe fruit, this wine is fresh and easy to enjoy, with alluring minerality and a dark, smoky complexion.
Masroig Sola Fred ’09 Spain $12
100% carignan. Bright purple, with intense, perfumed aromas of cherry-cola, black raspberry and violet, with a suave mineral underpinning; juicy and precise, with very good clarity and lift to its dark fruit and floral pastille flavors. more about Masroig
Lummi Island Wine Tasting July 21 ’12
Annual Chili Cook-off
Okay, folks, it’s that time again. A dozen or more chili competitors will be vying for your vote as best Lummi Island Chili for 2012 at Otto Preserve this Saturday beginning around noon. There will also be music, beer, cookies, and more. Two things you need to know about that are:
1) We will once again be among the competitors with the new, improved version of our famous vegetarian “Screaming Seagull” chili, for which we won the award for best name and best logo two years ago! and
2) We might be a little late opening the shop on Saturday, maybe around 3-ish (not usually a problem cuz everyone will be at the Chili Cook-off!)
Thimbleberries
I only became aware of thimbleberries after moving to Lummi Island nearly twenty years ago. They are a curiosity, growing in banks alongside the road, often alongside salmonberries, another Northwest native. According to Wilipedia they are, like other raspberries, not a true berry, but instead an aggregate fruit of numerous drupelets around a central core. The drupelets may be carefully removed separately from the core when picked, leaving a hollow fruit which bears a resemblance to a thimble, perhaps giving the plant its name.
All I know is that I often find wines with flavors that remind me thimbleberries, definitely raspberry-like, but somehow brighter and more acidic, and often with a sort of dusty quality (probably from dirt blown onto them by passing cars!). All you need to know is that this year, right now, today and for the next week or two, these little gems are out in all their glory. In most years, thimbleberries are marginally edible at best, ripening unevenly or not at all. But this year, oh yes, this year is probably the best we have seen. Look for them along roads or driveways or around the edges of fields. And yes, they are a perfect match for the many dry rosés we have in stock right now!
Summer Friends
For some months we have been looking forward to the seasonal return of dear friends we have met here at the wine shop. When people ask me, “how’s the shop doing?’ I usually have to stop and think about what in the world that could mean. And where I usually land is, “Are we still having a good time?” And the answer is generally yes, we ARE having a good time, because of all the wonderful people we meet each week. We have been to a number of events with lots of people we know and very much like, and the thought sometimes occurs to us that these are people we have met in our funny little wine shop. And we also notice in such groups that many of the people know each other from the wine shop!
So I would like to take this moment to thank all of you who have bellied up to our tasting bar upon occasion, and a special thanks to you who have made our tastings a regular event. I am prompted to mention this because, like migratory birds you only see in a certain season, some of our dearest (see pix…sorry no names!) are hereabout this month. So hoist yer glasses, lads, and Toast to Friendship! Arrrrrrrr, ‘n’ it’s a good life when ya can share a spot o’ grog wit yer mates, eh?…!
This week’s wines:
Aravo albarino ’09 Spain $15
A one-of-a-kind, lush, mineral-laden, and medium-bodied Albariño that fills the mouth with peach, pear, mint, acacia flower, and wet granite notes.
Lost River Rosé ’09 Washington $14
Blended from merlot and cabernet franc, harvested early to preserve bright notes of strawberry and cherry; excellent by itself or paired with summer fare from salads to barbecue.
Sikelia Nero d’Avola ’10 Italy $11
90% Nero d’Avola,10% Syrah. Densely purple, floral and earthy, combining the power of mountain fruit and the bold lushness of fruit grown by the sea. (a big hit two weeks ago, back by popular demand!)
Baguala Malbec ’08 Argentina $8
Rich, elegant, and full-bodied, with notes of raisins and a dash of bitters. Delicious!
D’Artagnan Gascogne ’10 France $11
Alluring nose of black raspberry, flowers, and garrigue leads into a crisp palate of plum with a touch of bitters.
Lummi Island Wine Tasting July 14 ’12 Bastille Day
Bastille Day
Somehow this year Bastille Day feels worth noting, an inspirational symbol that the People will only take so much before they Rebel. This year on Bastille Day aught-twelve let’s take a moment to reflect on the little signs around the world of the cracks in the System, the little fissures, the small and large insults to dignity and common sense that have become commonplace, even expected. As one American Indian chief once said about the White Man, we can say about the Corporate Finance man: “First he took the loaf, and then he took the crumbs.” Something to ponder while humming the Marseillaise…
Lullaby Winery
We have recently been in touch with an old acquaintance, Virginie Bourgeil, who is the winemaker/owner of Lullaby winery in Walla Walla. We first met her a few years ago when she came from France as the winemaker for Bergevin Lane in Walla Walla. Now she has her own winery, and we will be pouring one of her wines this weekend, see below.
Lost River Winery
Leigh and Brian are visiting Lummi Island after the better part of a year on the road in their new Airstream, and came to dinner the other night, bringing with them a lovely bottle of Lost River rose they had picked up in Winthrop on their way over the mountains. The wine was delicious, so we contacted the folks at Lost River, who have promised to bring us a bunch of the wine by tasting time this Saturday! All the roses are showing really well this year, and this one is particularly appealing, so don’t miss it!
La Mancha
We are in Seattle as I write this, so it will be short. We attended a promotional wine tasting for the Spanish wine region of Castilla- La Mancha, a large area south of Madrid. It’s hot and dry, with large temperature variations from day to night, and a long growing season. The area is trying to promote its wines with this tour. The good news is that the wines are very good and very inexpensive. The bad news is that most of them are not available here because no distributors carry them, and no importers (nowadays you need an “importer” even to bring wine from one state to another to sell), so unfortunately it will take awhile before many of these wine delights will make it to our tables. Sigh…
Aboriginal art
We also went to the show of Australian aboriginal art at Seattle Art Museum this afternoon, and it is Highly Recommended. The works are imaginative, full of color and symbolism, and rich with some way of Knowing that feels very powerful and very cryptic. I think the show is at SAM through the summer— don’t miss it!
Masquerade
Last week we mentioned a free tasting for anyone who came in wearing a mask, in honor of our recent tasting of wines from Bellingham’s Masquerade Winery. Steve and Mary Beth took advantage, and MB’s mask is a really close approximation of the Masquerade label...!
This week’s tasting:
Lullaby ‘Blanc de Virginie’ ’11 Washington $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.
Lost River Rosé ’09 Washington $14
Blended from merlot and cabernet franc, harvested early to preserve bright notes of strawberry and cherry; excellent by itself or paired with summer fare from salads to barbecue.
Portteus Bistro Red 09 Washington $10
58% Merlot, 42% Cabernet Franc, aged in small French oak barrels; medium body with flavors of blueberry, chocolate, cola, cigar, plum and a nice creamy finish.
Poderi Elia Barbera d’Asti ‘09 Italy $14
Balanced, soft, and rich, with freshly pressed cranberries on the nose, and lush palate of bright pomegranate, bright acidity, and soft tannins that beg for pairing with a savory meal.
Lummi Island Wine Tasting July 7 ’12
Higgs Boson: elusive “God particle” or the Presidential candidate we’ve all been waiting for??
For anyone who ever had Nerdish tendencies (hey, don’t look at me!), the recent hype about the discovery of the Higgs boson at the world’s largest (and most expensive) particle collider at the CERN laboratory near Geneva is pretty exciting news: ” “It’s not a needle in a haystack — it’s much worse than a needle in a haystack,” said Joe Lykken, a theoretical physicist at Fermilab. Not surprisingly, the Higgs boson has attracted wide media attention and enthusiasm. This is, of course, in sharp contrast to the presumptive Republican nominee for President, who seems to be raking in bazillions of dollars in campaign donations from corporations and the 1/10 of 1%, despite the fact that no one really wants him ever to be the Actual President. Therefore, I hereby nominate the Higgs Boson as the Dark Horse (Dark Matter??) candidate that everyone can support. He is a rare find– expect only one to show up in a couple of trillion proton collisions!– so who knows when we will have a chance like this again?? After all, having proved that the God particle exists, it’s only natural that we should do everything we can to get it on Our Side, and what better way than to make it President??
Roussanne
About this time last year we took a trip out to Mt. Baker Vineyards and tasted some wines. We were so impressed we bought a bunch to bring back to the shop to share with you. One of our favorites was the 2008 Roussanne, a white French varietal with lovely characteristics. A little like viognier, another French white, roussanne has a palate-pleasing texture and aromas of peaches, pears, apples, and flowers. Last year, because so few people had actually heard of the grape, Mt. Baker was offering some terrific bargains on it…I think we were selling it for $8 a bottle. In the space of a month or two we sold about eight cases, which for a shop as small as ours is really phenomenal. Well, the Good News is that the wine is back for a new vintage. The Bad News is that now people have heard of it, and like it, so it’s more expensive ($12). Come check it out, we will be pouring it this weekend!
Rosé
For what it’s worth, Summer seems to be upon us the last few days, and it’s feeling great! The temperature is still hovering in the high sixties to seventy, there’s sunshine and a light breeze. We are not in the heat wave enveloping much of the rest of the country, we don’t seem to have any forest fires burning yet, there has been plenty of rain but not much flooding, and so far the Big One is still out there around the corner somewhere. So Life is Good here in the Northwest’s Northwest, and summer seems to have arrived in a comfortable, don’t-get-too-far-from-another-layer sort of way, which is exactly the way many of us like it. All you need to know is that we have a GREAT selection of delicious, refreshing, dry rosés from far and wide: Washington, Oregon, France, Spain, Italy,and more. Whether in its home country it is called rosé, rosado, rosato, or something else, these are wines whose time has come! They are light, dry, refreshing, and crisp, offering a perfect accompaniment to meals in the sun.
4th of July: not so good for dogs
When I was a boy growing up in Maine in the 50’s, each time the 4th rolled around I would long for firecrackers, cherry bombs, anything I might be able to light and blow up. But all of that was illegal in Maine, and each 4th would bring a vaguely disappointing family picnic someplace where the extent of explosive expression stopped at sparklers and cap guns. Sixty years later, having endured observations of the 4th here on Lummi Island for 20 years, I find myself longing for the sane quiet of those childhood 4ths. As 4ths go, last night (as I write this) was fairly subdued on the Island, but the explosions across the strait at the Rez went on till about 3am. Tonight has its constant background of explosions both here on the Island and on the Rez, and I fear that Friday and the weekend will bring more of the same.
A few years ago I had a chat with people at the Animal Shelter, and was told that late July was the best time to go to the pound to look for a dog, because so many of them ran away– FAR away– from home on the 4th. Here at our house, one of our dogs gets extremely anxious every time there is an explosion, even distant firecrackers. So the barrage of booms, screeches, and whistles that marks the 4th of July here always makes me a little grumpy because of the senseless suffering it visits upon so many animals. The best we can do is give the dog antihistamines to make her drowsy –it does help–but I can’t help wondering what in the world these guys (are there any women who set these things off…??) are thinking who subject their communities to this unwanted invasion of noise at all hours of the day and night every July. So on behalf of all the animals who must suffer through this mindless torture every year I would like to say: “I’m am really sorry you have to go through this.”
This weekend’s tasting
Mt. Baker Roussanne ’09 Washington $12
Notes of apricot, honeyed white peach, blanched almond, and apple, with a plump mouthfeel and a cleansing minerality.
Hestia Chenin Blanc ’10 Washington WA89pts $14
Offers up an enticing perfume of peach, jasmine, nectarine, and baking spices. This sets the stage for a crisp, vibrant, dry (0.62% residual sugar), savory Chenin that makes an ideal aperitif.
Sikelia Nero d’Avola ’10 Italy $11
90% Nero d’Avola with 10% Syrah. Densely purple, floral and
earthy, with terrifically ripe fruit, from two sites in Sicily, one coastal, the other at higher
altitude, near Aetna, combining the power of mountain fruit and the bold lushness of fruit grown
by the sea.
L’Oustal Blanc K10 ’10 France WA90pts $16
Licely, juicy, and rich, with notes of toasted pecan and walnut, dark chocolate, ripe blackberry, cassis, and maritime minerality..
2072 Granger Way