lummi island wine tasting feb 24 ’23
Hours this weekend: Open 3:30- 5:30 pm Friday Only
NOTE: Next week we will go back to our usual Friday hours of 4-6pm! And since it is still wintry (below freezing this week), and since we have been enjoying having the day off on Saturdays for while, we are not planning to open on Saturday for at least mid-February.
Covid (and a bunch of other winter bugs) are still around, more contagious than ever, but far less threatening for the vaccinated, masks are welcome but optional. These days we each get to manage the space around us in our own way. Please stay mindful of the risks, thanks.
Friday Bread This Week
Whole Wheat Levain – Made with a sourdough starter built up over several days before a levain is made and fermented overnight to start fermentation and gluten development. The bread is made with levain and bread flour and about 25% fresh milled whole wheat for a ‘toothy’ crumb, great texture and flavor and a nice crisp crust. – $5/loaf
Semolina w/ Fennel & Raisins – A levain bread made with bread flour, semolina and some fresh milled whole wheat. A little butter for a tender crumb and fennel seeds and golden raisins round out the flavors. These flavors go really well with meats and cheese, but it also makes pretty darn good toast – $5/loaf
…and pastry this week…
Brioche Suisse- A rich brioche dough made with plenty of butter, eggs and sugar, rolled out and spread with pastry cream before sprinkling with dark chocolate. The dough is folded over all that delicious filling and cut into individual pieces. 2/$5
To get on the bread order list, click on the “Contact Us” link above and fill out the form. Each week’s bread menu is sent to the list each Sunday, for ordering by Tuesday, for pickup on Friday. Simple, right..? If you will be visiting the island and would like to order bread for your visit, at least a week’s notice is recommended for pickup the following Friday.
Wine of the Week: Eola Hills Barrel Select Reserve Pinot Noir ’19 Oregon $27
Eola Hills winery was something of a pioneer in the Oregon pinot noir explosion. Founded in the mid-80’s, the new owners did much of the grunt work themselves, becoming both grape farmers and winemakers. Now, forty years later the company farms over 300 acres and makes 80,000 cases of wine a year…you know, another American “success” story: what begins as a creative dream rooted in land, family, nature, nurture, art and culture can go in all kinds of directions.
It’s hard to say if or when a growing wine operation transitions from being an artisan, hands-on winery that fulfills someone’s artistic dream into a major commercial player, or what, if anything, is lost or gained in the process. But that kind of success does suggest they have been doing something right…right?!
This “barrel select” reserve pinot is a blend of the best barrels (yes, there is barrel variation in each vintage) from several different vineyards, taking a shot at “the best of the best.”
Last week we tasted pinot gris from Ponzi, another Oregon pioneer winery that has done very well over the years. So both have played significant roles in the evolution of Oregon viniculture that put Oregon pinot noir on the global map.
See notes below
Economics of the Heart: When The Lines Stop Crossing
Economists are fond of graphs. Everyone has encountered the standard blackboard sketch of a “Demand Curve.” It has price on the vertical axis, and quantity sold at each price on the horizontal axis. With a little manipulation, it is a versatile tool to describe a lot of human behavior. The primary takeaway, of course, is that when the price of something rises, less of it will be bought/sold, and that will have cascading effects throughout an economy.
On the supply side, it is broadly true that in the short term, producers have a very limited ability to increase production when demand increases. This was clearly seen as global demand for all kinds of stuff started climbing as Covid vaccines became available and commerce began ratcheting up after a long quarantine. Our little demand and supply curves were quite handy at explaining how that led to worldwide inflation as suppliers of key resources in short supply (like international shipping) made astronomical profits, not because their costs went up, but because the sudden increase in demand for shipping far exceeded short-term supply– the classic path to coveted “windfall” profits.
Covid was just one warning signal about how the interdependence of the global economy makes everyone vulnerable to social, environmental, geologic, and political instability. All of these things are getting worse at an increasing rate, driven by two powerful forces that we humans have caused and continue to make worse: global warming and overpopulation.
Over forty years ago I worked on a research project exploring the economic impacts of global warming on world fisheries. My main takeaway from that project was that all living systems are deeply interconnected to each other through the global environment: sun, wind, rain, plants, animals, seasons. It is deeply sobering that we ‘Boomers’ were born into a world of some 2 billion people. In just our own short lifetimes we have now seen the recent birth of the eight billionth living human being on our planet. Our population has increased four-fold; we are everywhere, and we have not been kind to our planet.
Broadly speaking, there are two pathways to saving our planet and its life-giving web of interdependence over the long term: massive cooperation or massive conflict. Democracies lean toward the first, through cooperation and shared values. Autocracies lean toward the second, through exclusion and hierarchy. That really means that democracies have a cooperative chance for survival. But it’s hard to see how autocracy is compatible with an effective sense of interdependence…
to be continued…
This Week’s $10 Wine Tasting
Marques de Caceres Rioja Red Blend Organica ’21 Spain $18
75% Tempranillo, 25% Graciano; we all loved this wine when Judy poured samples of it three weeks ago, and found it a bit disappointing when we poured it at our tasting. So third time is the charm, right? How do we really feel about it?!
Eola Hills ‘Patriot Red’ Oregon $22
Zinfandel, Sangiovese, Merlot, & Pinot Noir from Oregon, Washington, & California. Intense aromas of fruitiness lead to a soft, smooth palate with flavors of red berry jam. All you need to know is it’s pretty tasty!
Eola Hills Barrel Select Reserve Pinot Noir ’19 Oregon $27
From best barrels from the 2019 harvest; classic, Burgundian-style pinot, with nose of fresh raspberries, earth, wet autumn leaves, and a silky palate of cherry and strawberry with a lingering cranberry tartness on the finish.
lummi island wine tasting feb 17 ’22
Hours this weekend: Open 3:30- 5:30 pm Friday Only
Our current plan is to be open Fridays only through February. We have been enjoying the familiar company of friends and neighbors at recent tastings, and have to admit we have also been enjoying having the day off on Saturdays for awhile..! 🙂
Covid (and a bunch of other winter bugs) is still around, more contagious than ever, but far less threatening for the vaccinated.
We all have our own comfort zones; these days we all have to manage the space around us in our own way. Just be mindful of the risks, thanks.
Friday Bread This Week
Dried Cherry and Pecan – A levain is made the night before final mixing of the dough using a sourdough starter. This allows the fermentation process to start and the gluten to start developing. The final dough is made with the levain, bread flour and fresh milled whole wheat and then loaded up with dried cherries and toasted pecans. A nice rustic loaf that goes well with meats and cheese – $5/loaf
Pan de Cioccolate – Also made with a levain, this bread is a delicious chocolate artisan bread not an enriched sweet pastry dough with lots of eggs, butter and sugar. Rather it is a rich chocolate bread made with a levain, bread flour and fresh milled rye flour, honey for sweetness, vanilla and plenty of dark chocolate. Makes fabulous toast, even better french toast – $5/loaf.
…and pastry this week…
Black Sesame & Candied Lemon Brioche – A delicious brioche dough full of eggs, butter and sugar. Filled with fresh lemon zest and candied lemon and as if that wasn’t enough, topped with a black sesame streusel before baking. Ooh la la, what’s not to like? – 2/$5.
To get on the bread order list, click on the “Contact Us” link above and fill out the form. Each week’s bread menu is sent to the list each Sunday, for ordering by Tuesday, for pickup on Friday. Simple, right..? If you will be visiting the island and would like to order bread for your visit, at least a week’s notice is recommended for pickup the following Friday.
Wine of the Week: Vall Llach Embruix Priorat ’17 Spain $26
click image to watch video
Just about ten years ago we spent a week at the annual Priorat Wine Festival in Falset, Spain, which lies at the southern end of the steep and austere landscape that defines the soil, the people, the vineyards, and the wines from this amazing wine region. It is rugged and dry, with rocky limestone soil called licorella between the vines and the water they need to grow. It may take years for vines to develop any fruit. This struggle for water gives Priorat wines a unique and nuanced intensity as you can see by watching the video or checking out their website. The extreme aridity and unique soil of the region produce wines of great depth, structure, and nuance.
This particular wine is made using grapes from young vines that are 30 years old or less. The grape varieties used are: Carignan, Grenache, Cabernet, Merlot and Syrah. The vineyards are located over broad geographical settings with varying altitudes and terrains where exposure to sunlight comes from every point of the compass. Some original carignan and grenache vines used for the best wines are over 100 years old. All of these varying factors combine to make Embruix well-structured, complex, intense, and age-worthy, and a great example of what this magical region can deliver.
As you will see in the video, the terrain is challenging, the vines are stunted, and every grape requires a lot of hand labor and physical effort.
Notes: A blend of grenache, merlot, syrah, carignan, and cab sauv from 7 to 30-yr-old vines on steep slopes, Embruix (pronounced Embroosh– “bewitching” in Catalan) is made and bottled using biodynamic methods. It is cherry red in color with soft aromas of black plums, cherry liqueur, freshly milled spices and earthy mineral note. It is intense and concentrated, with well-integrated acidity, round tannins, great age-worthy structure, and alluring aromas of ripe plums, fresh black pepper and clove.
Economics of the Heart: Every Game Needs a Referee
Nearly sixty years ago, when I was a midshipman at the Naval Academy, one winter sports season I was a referee in a strange game called fieldball. The myth of the game’s origin is that it was once played by prisoners at Alcatraz, and somehow long ago wound up as an intramural sport at the Academy. It is played on a lacrosse field with a soccer ball held with both hands. The opposing goals are lacrosse creases and there is a midfield line that separates each team’s 4-man offense and defense. The object of the game is to get the ball into the opponent’s goal. A winter sport, it typically draws lots of football (fall sport) and lacrosse (spring sport) players.
We referees went through some training and were then assigned randomly to games that didn’t involve our familiars. So there I was, definitely not a jock, refereeing a game with a lot of action. So I had lots of misgivings going in.
Like any game it has a unique set of rules, like keeping two hands on the ball and not raising it above your shoulders except when shooting or passing. The interesting thing and the point of this story is that fairly soon I often found myself blowing the whistle before I could consciously name the infraction, which would come split seconds later. There was no need for thinking, almost as if the whistle blew by itself. And you learn to trust– and enjoy–your instincts; all in all a very valuable experience.
In all the years since then I have had great respect for referees and umpires, and generally believe that the practice of doing their work is so immediate and in the moment that there is no time to make bogus calls. So while it is always possible that someone might see a play differently from another angle and get a call wrong, the spontaneity of the calls guarantees a strong element of guileless truth.
Metaphorically, it occurs to me lately that whistle-blowing of all kinds has many of these same elements. People disagree about all kinds of things, but since the beginning of language and civilization people have generally signed on to some broadly accepted set of rules to sort out differences of opinion. That’s why we have rules, regulations, laws, codes, contracts, and courts: to create and maintain order from the chaos of human needs, desires, emotions, experiences, and values… not to mention deception, lying, ignorance, or convenience.
Off the field of play, in real life, the rules are more ambiguous, and “whistle-blowers” can take life-destroying heat for raising “inconvenient truths” to the powerful when they see that important rules are not being followed. Well, we all have whistles around our necks, some amount of desire to play by the rules, and opposing instincts to blow them for the sake of justice, and to refrain from blowing them to avoid attention and push-back. But deep down we all know where our greater duty lies.
More video: https://youtu.be/8PnEzMacrC8?t=495
This Week’s $10 Wine Tasting
Ponzi Pinot Gris ’21 Oregon $16
Aromas of honeydew melon, candied citrus peel, white peach and honeysuckle; balanced palate
of sweet tangerine peel, meringue, lime, apricot and light white pepper.
MAN Vintners Pinotage ’20 South Africa $12
Aromas of dark coffee beans, red berries, nutmeg, and vanilla spice turning to dark berries and smoky plum; rustic yet silky and juicy, with smooth tannins, balanced acidity, and comforting intensity.
Vall Llach Embruix Priorat ’17 Spain $26
Blend of grenache, merlot, syrah, carignan, and cab from 7 to 30-yr-old vines vines on medium and steep slopes; alluring aromas of ripe plums, fresh black pepper and clove. Intense and naturally concentrated, lush, and round on the mid-palate with notes of chocolate-covered cherries and soft black licorice on the finish.
lummi island wine tasting feb 10 ’23
Hours this weekend: Open 3:30- 5:30 pm Friday Only
Our current plan is to be open Fridays only through February.
Covid (and a bunch of other winter bugs) is still around, more contagious than ever, but far less threatening for the vaccinated.
We all have our own comfort zones; these days we all have to manage the space around us in our own way. Just be mindful of the risks, thanks.
Friday Bread This Week
Breton Bread– Made with pre-fermented dough in which a portion of the flour, water, salt & yeast are mixed and fermented overnight before preparing the final dough, which incorporates the flavors of the French Breton region by using buckwheat and rye flour and sel gris -the grey sea salt from the region that brings more mineral flavors to this bread. Goes great with meats and cheeses – $5/loaf
Spelt Levain — Chocolate Croissants – a traditional laminated french pastry made with a bit of sourdough flavor and another pre-ferment to help strengthen the dough to create the traditional honeycomb interior. Rolled out and shaped with delicious dark chocolate in the center. Quantities are limited so get your order in early so you don’t miss out – 2/$5 – $5/loaf
…and pastry this week…
Chocolate Croissants – a traditional laminated french pastry made with a bit of sourdough flavor and another pre-ferment to help strengthen the dough and create the traditional honeycomb interior. Rolled out and shaped with delicious dark chocolate in the center. – 2/$5
To get on the bread order list, click on the “Contact Us” link above and fill out the form. Each week’s bread menu is sent to the list each Sunday, for ordering by Tuesday, for pickup on Friday. Simple, right..? If you will be visiting the island and would like to order bread for your visit, at least a week’s notice is recommended for pickup the following Friday.
Wine of the Week: Marques de Caceres Rioja Red Blend Organica ’20 Spain $18
Marques de Caceres is a long-established winery in Rioja, and their wines have been marketed all over the US for a long time. Their basic reds are decent and inexpensive, and it is likely you have tasted them many times over the years.
This one is a little different, farmed and produced organically. Many of us got to taste it two weeks ago when Judy was here with her sample bag. We all found it delicious, intriguing, and affordable, with a array of subtle aromas and flavors (and everyone wanted some! The good news is it’s here; the bad news is we only got six bottles (which many producers consider a “case.” Oops!
So come by and try it again (or for the first time) this weekend. Sorry, limit one per household while they last, but definitely taking orders for more that should be here next weekend!
Economics of the Heart: The County Strikes Back
courtesy cnbc
Well, our little moment of ferry fare euphoria two weeks ago got a couple of rude slaps in the face at this week’s LIFAC meeting. At the moment there is a mixed bag of goings-on that is something of a challenge to sort out.
The contract between the County and we the people who depend on the ferry to cross that short mile between the Island and the mainland is succinctly laid out in Whatcom County Code 10.34.005. Public Works accounting staff are now doubling down on their unique blurring of any distinctions between operating costs and capital costs to the extent they propose to amend the statute to make it clear that, hey, really, when you think about it there’s no real distinction between them, right?
Well, sorry, but we have different rules on our planet. The central issue here is not whether a cost is capital or not, it is whether it is “regular and routine” or not in respect to the ordinary meanings of the words. “Regular and routine maintenance” is repetitive, cyclical, and predictable in time and in magnitude. The clear intent of the statute is to exclude expenses of unusual magnitude or frequency from inclusion as a fare box liability. Those expenses, whatever you call them, belong in the Road Fund and should be paid from general taxation.
A second item of note regards a brief statement near the bottom of the statute: If in any given year the actual fare box recovery rate exceeds 55 percent, the excess revenue shall be retained in the ferry system fund and applied to future operating costs.
This “ferry fund” is a sort of informal account that keeps track of the relationship between calculated operating costs in a given year and the revenue provided from the “fare box,” which is 55% of the amount paid in fares. In any year that fare revenue exceeds 55% of operating costs, a surplus is recorded and carried over to the next year. For several years until 2020, there was a surplus, and only since 2020 have there have been deficits due to traffic reduction. Even so, at present the balance of this “ferry fund” is around $2.5 million in surplus.
As the statute is written, in any year that ends with a deficit, any carried-over surplus from previous years is transferred to cover or reduce any deficit for the current year. In the current case, the fund is more than adequate to cpver any deficit this year (even the illegal costs mentioned above). Curiously, County calculations appear not to have applied this very large ferry fund surplus in their calculations as required in the statute. Why in the world should we need to increase fares when there is such a substantial reserve balance in the ferry fund and which statute requires be tapped first? No explanation has been provided.
Finally, it is true that fare revenue has fallen during Covid, and some of the revenue anxiety at the Ferry Dept. stems from the assumption that ridership will not increase as the economy opens up. One has to step back for a moment, take a deep breath, and think about that. People have been cooped up at home for three years. Our Canadian residents have only recently been able to cross the border and come “home” to Lummi very recently after a very long border closing. People are ready to pop out of their long winter cocoons.
As winter moves into spring, and as long as Covid remains as controllable as at present, then life, travel, and vacations will resume, and our traffic will build back up. This is a far more realistic expectation than to suppose that ridership will not bounce back. LIFAC is recommending a summer fare surcharge be instituted between Memorial Day and Labor Day (more or less) for cash travelers ( it would not apply to punch card holders!). This is a good idea that would add a new revenue source to ease the burden on our commuting neighbors.
The takeaway to think about here is this: If we have a) a big chunk of change in our ferry fund to pay our expenses, (b) remove the massive (and illegal) capital improvement expenses from the fare box, and (c) add a new revenue stream with a summer surcharge...why in the world would we need to raise fares at all right now?
If you are concerned about these issues, you best bet is to tell the County Council (and perhaps the County Executive) via email and post your thoughts on Nextdoor and elsewhere. LIFAC has little political will or traction, and Public Works seems to be marooned in some alternate reality. The first priority is to confront the illegality of charging the fare box for major expenses that belong in the Road Fund.
Stay tuned…
This Week’s $10 Wine Tasting
MAN Chenin Blanc ’21 South Africa $11
Using only free-run juice preservea a clean and natural character, refreshing acidity, and delicious ripe fruit flavors and aromas of quince, pear and pineapple. On the palate, fresh stonefruit and apple flavors are backed by refreshing acidity, minerality and a pleasing, rounded mouthfeel.
Marques de Caceres Rioja Red Blend Organica ’21 Spain $18
75% Tempranillo, 25% Graciano; many of you got to taste a sample two weeks ago and we all found it delicious, intriguing, and affordable and wanted some. The good news is it’s here; the bad news is we only have six bottles (more on order), so one per household this weekend while they last, more next week!
Sineann Merlot ’19 Washington $28
Deep and dark, with nose of red berries, a siren song of tobacco and chocolate, typical tannic structure, and elegant balsamic notes; well-balanced and soft, pairing well with well-seasoned meats, sauces, and companions.
lummi island wine tasting feb 3 ’23
Hours this weekend: Open 3:30- 5:30 pm Friday Only
Our current plan is to be open Fridays only through February.
Covid (and a bunch of other winter bugs) is still around, more contagious than ever, but far less threatening for the vaccinated.
We all have our own comfort zones; these days we all have to manage the space around us in our own way. Just be mindful of the risks, thanks.
Friday Bread This Week
Black Pepper Walnut- Made with a nice mix of bread flour, fresh milled whole wheat and rye. A fair amount of black pepper and toasted walnuts give this bread great flavor with a distinct peppery bite. Excellent paired with all sorts of meats and cheese…and wine, of course! – $5/loaf
Sesame Semolina –Begins with a sponge that pre-ferments some of the flour, water & yeast before mixing the final dough. Made with semolina and bread flour and a soaker of cornmeal, millet, sesame seeds, a little olive oil to round out the flavor and tenderize the crumb then rolled in more sesame seeds before baking. Lots of great flavors! – $5/loaf
and pastry this week…
Individual Cinnamon Rolls! –Made with a rich sweet roll dough full of eggs, butter and sugar. The dough is rolled out, spread with pastry cream and sprinkled with cinnamon sugar. Then rolled up and sliced into individual rolls for baking. And boy are they delicious! – 2/$5.
To get on the bread order list, click on the “Contact Us” link above and fill out the form. Each week’s bread menu is sent to the list each Sunday, for ordering by Tuesday, for pickup on Friday. Simple, right..? If you will be visiting the island and would like to order bread for your visit, at least a week’s notice is recommended for pickup the following Friday.
Wine of the Week: Tre Donne Roero Arneis ’20 Italy $27
photo courtesy asiaimportnews.com
The revered Italian wine region of Piedmont (i.e., ‘foot of the mountain’) lies in the NW corner of Italy, in the foothills of the French and Swiss Alps to the west and north. The geography makes for the serendipitous combination of warm days and cool nights that make perfect conditions for wine grapes. The Roero region is just north of the iconic Barolo and Barbaresco regions, which produce some of Italy’s most prestigious wines.
White wines from Roero must contain at least 95% Arneis, and reds must contain at least 95% Nebbiolo. With roots diving deep into layers of tufo clay, the 35-year-old vines at Tre Donne yield a wide array of complex aromas and flavors for a nuanced, medium-bodied Arneis with lovely notes of pear, apricot, and white blossoms.
Economics of the Heart: Groundhogs and Cross-Quarter Days
We take a time-out from serious stuff this week to pay homage to what our culture calls Groundhog Day, what some cultures call the First Day of Spring, and what calendar geeks call “cross-quarter” days. We are all familiar with the the two equinoxes and the two solstices that mark the official transitions from one season to another as the Earth’s annual orbit and tilted axis continually move the noonday sun from being overhead at the Tropic of Cancer to being overhead at the Equator to being overhead at the Tropic of Capricorn, on and on, the richness of changing seasons.
There is also an ancient tradition of celebrating the “cross-quarter days” that fall halfway between these major events. February 2, falling midway between the winter solstice and the spring equinox, has historically been called Candlemas, Imbolc, Oimelc, Brigit, Brigid’s Day, Bride’s Day, Brigantia, or Gŵyl y Canhwyllau. In the picture at left it is labeled “1st” in small red letters.
Every society across the planet depended on the growing season to prepare for the winter to follow. There were deities to be invoked for good fortune, and continual preparation for planting, tending, harvesting, and storing enough for winter– lots of toiling tortoises, fewer hapless hares. Our culture usually refers to this one as “Groundhog Day,” but cross-quarter days have had both cosmic and cultural significance from prehistoric times, across continents and across cultures. In many ancient cultures the cross-quarter days marked the actual transitions between seasons (e.g., making Groundhog Day the official “First Day of Spring,” six weeks before the vernal Equinox.
Seasonal changes were key economic factors in agrarian and gathering societies, and many had “celebrations of light” on Candlemas to mark the lengthening of days and the coming of Spring. In Gaelic tradition, the goddess Cailleach teased the mortals with a sunny day when her intention was to make the next six weeks colder and wetter, and a dreary day if Spring was to come early. (Like, what is the story with these mean-spirited deities…?) Another tradition suggests that in Biblical times since mothers were not allowed in public until six weeks after delivery, Candlemas would have been Mary’s first public outing and temple visit with her baby boy.
And then there is an old song sung on Candlemas that lays out the Groundhog’s mission:
“If Candlemas be fair and bright,
Winter has another flight.
If Candlemas brings clouds and rain,
Winter will not come again.”
Of course, as we all know, whether the Groundhog sees its shadow or not, there are STILL six weeks until Spring Equinox. Until the last couple of years, here in the PNW Groundhog Day has indeed marked the appearance of buds and flowers, longer days, and milder temperatures, sudden hailstorms followed by warming sunlight and gusty winds. We already see some buds on the Indian plum, pussy willows, and other shrubs. But like all the seasons now, underlying conditions have changed, and we have seen more frequent mid-February snowstorms, unheard of until recently.
And either way, officially there are six more weeks of “Winter” regardless of Groundhog shadows!
This Week’s $10 Wine Tasting
Tre Donne Roero Arneis ’20 Italy $20
Pale golden yellow; soft aromas of orange blossom, honeysuckle, nectarine, and lemon verbena; flavors of pear, peach, quince, and green apple; enduring minerality and balanced acidity.
Bieler Cote du Rhone ‘la Jassine’ ’20 $15
Brooding aromas of raspberry, black cherry, garrigue, chocolate and tobacco which build and concentrate on the palate; hilltop fruit delivers a rich mouthfeel with soft, round tannins on the finish.
Marchetti Villa Bonomi Conero Riserva ’19 Italy $27
100% Sangiovese from Montepulciano, aged 16 mos. in barriques and 12 mos. in bottle; shows intense floral bouquet, intense, nuanced flavors; ripe, pleasing tannins, and satisfying finish.
2072 Granger Way