Wine Tasting December 11 ’10
Lots of ANNOUNCEMENTS this week, so read carefully!
First, a glance at the calendar tells us that both Christmas and New Year’s Day fall on Saturdays this year. Since we are only open on Saturdays, that means a really short month for your favorite wine shop, basically this weekend and next weekend. So….
Announcement #1: We’re open only two more weekends before Christmas and we have some great gifts that will make it easy for you to whittle down that shopping list without leaving the Island. In addition to the always appropriate special bottle of wine, we have some handsome DECANTERS and great little corkscrews. And for the foodies, we have bottles of prize-winning ITALIAN OLIVE OIL from a Tuscan winery…spicy and bright. freshly pressed and age-dated, perfect for finishing a savory holiday dish. And of course 2# rounds of Pleasant Valley Cheese are always welcome gifts. And Truffles! See Announcement #2!
Announcement #2: There WILL BE Holiday truffles for Christmas! You can order them until Monday, December 13 by calling Pat (758-2959), or Janice (758-2559 and they’ll be ready for pickup next Saturday, December 18, at the wine shop. Boxes of 4 different truffles, beribboned, make tasty, attractive house gifts or stocking stuffers at $5… and you can order them in bulk if you’re hosting a crowd at $1 each.
Announcement #3: For our loyal followers we announce the Fifth Annual East Coast New Year’s Eve Gala Extravaganza 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 Rabbit. You young folks can move on to your next party, and we old timers can get to bed at a decent hour! It’s our chance to thank you for your support this past year, and to look ahead to more fun in aught-eleven. Mark your calendars and start planning your finger food!
Announcement #4:New Year’s Eve will also be sort of Rich’s “retirement party” from WWU (the Day Job that has kept this place going the last five years) and therefore a bit of a milestone, eh?
So how does this happen? For years and years and years “retirement” is something you plot about and dream about (lemme see, if I make this much for another four hundred years, maybe someday…) and it is always way, way far away, and then, seriously, ALL OF A SUDDEN here it is you’re a bloomin’ geezer and they’re moving your boxcar over to that rusty, overgrown siding in the middle of bloomin’ nowhere! It’s times like this when your wine cellar, like your pantry, can become a great comfort…ahhhh.
Last week was a quiet blur, about a dozen guests…Sorry, forgot to take pictures!
Since the holidays are upon us, and since we will only be open two more weekends this year, we would like to put in a plug for some of the Good Stuff we keep in the Bunker. It’s been a tough couple of years for all of us economically, and here on Lummi Island, we have been squeezed about dry over the ferry, and every once in a while you just have to say well this is really depressing, so wtf, let’s open a Really Great bottle of wine and celebrate, because if not now, When? And if not we, Who?
In case you didn’t know it, Washington has two of the best wineries in the World, Quilceda Creek and Betz, and we have essentially every wine either of them has made in the last five years. These wines have been sold out for years every place else, but here they are for you right here on little Lummi Island!
QC’s signature cabernet is unique in all the world in having garnered perfect 100 point ratings from Robert Parker four of the past six years, and almost perfect 99’s the other two. It also makes two other cabs, an occasional merlot, and a red blend, all exquisite and all here for you. Why not treat yourself or that special wine lover?
Betz is a small winery in Woodinville little known outside Washington, which has also consistently scored high ratings in the wine press for both their Biordeaux blends (cab) and their Rhone blends (syrah/grenache).
This week’s wines:
Rex Hill pinot gris ’09 Oregon $14 WS89pts
Light, polished and appealing for its spearmint-accented pear and apple flavors; lingers enticingly on the delicate finish.
Villa des Anges Cab Sauv 09 France $10
A wine of great freshness, intensity and concentration. Well-structured, offering aromas of black cherries, with hints of red pepper and light, spicy cumin/coriander notes.
Domaine Faury Syrah Vin de Pays des Collines Rhodaniennes ’08 France $18
Herbs, spice, white pepper, and dark cherries predominate initially;opens up from red raspberry to pomegranate.
Pomum Shya 06 Washington $33
Bright and racy cherry, raspberry and cola aromas wrapped in an intensively perfumed nose of exotic spices and aromatic herbs. The full body mouth feel shows great acidity, tremendous structure and endless fruit
Wine Tasting December 4 ’10
Last weekend? Pretty festive! We had some surprising wines, lots of visitors out after the snowbound Thanksgiving Holiday. Just picked up the Black Oak chardonnay, an incredible bargain at $7, and it was a big hit with the crowd. An even bigger crowd pleaser was the Hahn pinot noir, which we sold out. As pinots go, for this price ($11) it is really spectacular! Got another case this week, so come in and load up!
Daniel (he in the gray) and Magdelena (she in the red) are getting close to embarking to Ecuador for six months (around New Year’s). It is hard to imagine a place at the Equator at 8000 feet; comfortable temperature, but I bet it’s easy to get burned. Supposedly there will be a blog, and we will link to it so all can follow their adventures and decide if, you know, we should go visit before they leave!
This week’s wines:
Chateau L’Ermitage 09 France $9
Light gold in color with aromas of peach, flowers, and honey; the Grenache provides the richness and the Roussanne the balancing acidity.”
Black Oak Pinot Noir ’09 Italy $7
Pleasant, red-fruited red with a soft and smooth palate. Same negociant as last week’s chardonnay, but a pinot from Italy? I have no idea…come check it out!
Mt. Baker Sangiovese 05 Washington $15
Rich aromas and flavors of ripe plum, truffle, and moist earth.
Donedei Merlot ’04 Washington $26
As is typical of many Merlots hailing from Red Mountain, this Merlot may fool you with its assertive Cabernet character. Not for the faint of heart, this wine is voluptuous and powerful while retaining smooth tannins and a finish that seems to go on and on. (I LOVE this winery!)
Wine Tasting Saturday November 27 ’10
As all the locals know, we had a bunch of snow on Thanksgiving Day. So our little attempt to get them out to the wine shop to have a glass of bubbly and hopefully buy some wine for the holiday dinner went about as well as last Saturday, which is to say most people stayed home by the fire.
It was so nasty out there we figured, okay, no one will be out today, and we didn’t even turn the lights on. However, around one Mark and Lis drove up in their big Totota GoAnywhere, so we clomped upstairs, popped a bottle of cava, and were pretty much through it when John and Judy came by with the whole family–Judy’s mom, sister, brother, and brother in law, so we popped another cork, and it was all quite festive. You just never know what to expect around here. Great fun!
Mostly this post is to let you all know that we WILL be open Saturday!
Likely wines:
Black Oak chardonnay ’09 California $7
Comes highly recommended, and it’s dirt cheap. Might even be drinkable, come find out!
Hahn pinot noir 08 California $11
Softly fruity California pinot, with classic notes of strawberry and peach, good acid balance, and an unbelievable price.
Quinta de Bons Ventos Tinto ’08 Portugal $9
Lively and generous bouquet of red berries, plums, ripe figs, smoke, liquorice and vanilla. Soft and rounded on the palate, with rich fruits over easy tannins and smokey oak. Another great buy!.
Stevens cabernet franc ’07 Washington $26
We are suckers for Washington cab franc, and we have not tried this one yet. Winery notes say “wonderful stone, pencil and mountain berry characters.” We always look for varietal characteristics of coffee and dark chocolate in a nice cab franc, but we won’t know til we try it!
Thanksgiving Wine Suggestions
This snowy cold snap definitely bit into our business last weekend. A few stalwarts came by to keep us company with Di and Cheryl, who thought some of their friends from town might stop by to see their show, but hey, nobody was going much of anywhere in the snow, ice, and wind.
That’s too bad, because we departed a bit from the wine list we posted last week to include some new arrivals aimed at making good wine pairings with the traditional Thanksgiving feast. It is also too bad because a lot of you did not get by to pick up your truffles, which are here and ready for pickup. DON’T FORGET!
That’s why we will be open from 11-2 on Thanksgiving Day with a complimentary taste of something bubbly– so you can pick up your Truffles and maybe a few of our recommended holiday dinner wines to wow your guests (or hosts!) and make all those wonderful dishes taste even better!
Choosing wines for a smorgasbordy feast like Thanksgiving or Christmas is tricky because of all the traditional rich fare that gets piled up on the same plate with the turkey. While almost any wines will do , some will work better than others; the key is a nice fruitiness with bright acidity.
Bubbly is always a good choice because of its light flavors, festive bubbles, and crisp acidity. So start the meal with appetizers and a glass of Italian Prosecco, Spanish Cava, or your favorite champagne .
For a dinner wine, a dry or slightly off-dry riesling is tough to top. They are usually fragrant and fruity, with good acidity that pairs well with almost everything. For the same reasons, alternatives would include an Austrian gruner veltliner or an Italian vermentino.
Reds are trickier, but can work with all the fat and butter in so many typical dishes if you stay with fruity and crisp. Choices might include a fruity California pinot noir, an Italian barbera, or perhaps a sangiovese, which is the predominant grape in a number of Italian blends. Big tannic reds like cabs or deep dark syrahs go better with red meats and seem a bit overpowering with turkey to my taste. Not, of course, that there’s anything wrong with that…!
Below are specific recommendations we have on the shelf. Bon appétit! And yes we will be open Saturday as usual!
Segura Viudes Cava Spain $9
Classic Spanish bubbly: festive, tasty, crisp, and cheap! How can you go wrong?
SA Prum Essence Riesling 06 Germany $10
Pale gold color, aromatic with scents of apricot and peach and flavors of fresh fruit perfectly balanced by a racy acidity and mineral character that is perfect for turkey and trimmings.
Hahn pinot noir 08 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.
La Serena Rosso di Montalcino 06 Italy $15
Deep, intense ruby red colour. Ethereal, deep, balanced nose with a rich scent of fruit; Full bodied, mouth-filling, and round on the palate. I only got one case of this, and am seriously thinking about hording a few for myself!
Barbolini Lancillotto Dry Lambrusco (Italy) $16
Handmade since 1889–briny, not sweet, with a lush body, ripe fruit/berry aromas, and delicate bubbles; especially good match with cranberry sauce!
Fair Winds “Port O’Call” dessert wine Washington $20
Definitely port-like in character, this lightly fortified dessert wine from Port Townsend has a seductive warmth and aromatic richness; perfect with dessert or sip by the fire!
2072 Granger Way