Wine Tasting August 14 ’10
Last Saturday was a CRAZY day, a GREAT day shall we say, in that we had a LOT of visitors, including a lot of first-timers (okay we need a catchy name for first-timers…winning name gets a free tasting…we know Mary Beth will come up with a bunch, what about the rest of you??? R U gonna let her walk away with it AGAIN? Where’s yer competitive Spirit?
From a, you know, commercial wine shop point of view, it was a great crowd because several people bought a case of wine, including two who cleaned out our stock of Legoe Bay. Honestly, I think Karl and Suzie have given so much of it away the last few years (for our distant readers, Legoe Bay is Lummi Island’s only resident winery, which we wholeheartedly support!) that the locals tend to devalue it. I taste a LOT of wine, and every one of their wines has a terrific QPR (quality/price ratio)…you get a lot of wine for your money. So it tickles me to sell a bunch!
All the wines showed well last weekend, and all were great buys. The Castelnoble is a little simple but delivers a lot of flavor; the Mt Baker chardonnay still delivered nice flavor but the lovely floral aromatics seem to have faded a bit; the Rosa de Oro zin was Luscious, and the Atalaya, from two vintages, showed two appealing faces. The ’06 was deep, dark, and pruney, while the ’07 was much brighter, not quite so overtly seductive, but still definitely alluring.
Lots of pictures, lots of nice folks, including an inadvertent T-shirt Design Contest. Blake’s had BOTH sides with great art, but Brian and Sam are showing some awesome art as well!
All in all, a pretty Sweet Day! Pix speak for themselves…
This week’s tasting:
Nefarious Stones Throw Riesling ’09 Washington $15
Aromas reminiscent of tangerine and with lively notes of honeysuckle, lemon zest, and grapefruit wrapped up in a vibrantly bright, off-dry package.
De Tarczal Marzemino 06 (Italy) $14
A rare grape, marzemino is a relative of Barbera, with lots of bright, fully ripened fruit, with crisp acidity and ripe tannins.(and is the Secret Ingredient in our Fabulous Screaming Seagull Chili!)
Peirano Estates The Immortal Zin ’08 California $10
Hand selected from 113-year-old vines; deceptively subtle aromas of this wine combine red and black cherry, mineral, earthy rhubarb and slightly spicy red fruit; palate is wrapped in velvety layers of sweet red cherry, strawberry, cocoa and juicy red fruit leading to a lengthy, almost breathless finish.
Altos Las Hormigas Malbec Riserva ’09 Argentina $20 WS91
A dark, lush style, with a dense core of plum sauce and crushed blackberry fruit laid over velvety tannins. The long, toast- and black licorice–filled finish carries some heft, but stays nicely balanced.
Wine Tasting August 7 ’10
Well, once again Mary Beth proved that she actually reads these posts by bringing us a charming little demi-bouteille of limoncello, complete with recipe. Man, that stuff is good. So MB racked up another free tasting, as she did with the “Screaming Seagull” logo contest a couple of weeks ago. This woman needs some competition, folks! So the offer still stands: you bring in limoncello and your recipe, and get one free tasting. Sometime or another we will pick a winner, whatever that means, and it will win something good.
Our first guests were waiting for us on the deck at our new summer opening time of 2pm, bless their hearts. They (Tom and Joanie) are from Seattle, and annually spend their anniversary weekend at the Willows. Riley told them we opened at noon, when he should have said one, but now we have changed it to two, so they were very patient. Tom makes beautiful Craftsman furniture in Seattle, AND he is just about to bottle his first commercial wine. When it is available, we will be sure to pour some for you here!
And I don’t know how this works, but on the rare occasions that we are pouring a Portuguese wine, David K, Lummi Island artist extraordinaire somehow knows about it, not by reading it here, but, you know, Cosmically, and drops by, not entirely sure why he is here. This time it was a festive occasion, with Kim, Sally, and Steve, and they had all boated to Lummi from Sinclair…Arrrrrrrrrr, a stalwart crew they be!
The Portuguese wine, by the way, the Maias Jaen Dao, was very interesting and seductive, although the Pomum Red was probably the WOTD, closely followed by the Viento riesling. It is a curious thing that whenever we pour a riesling a fair number of people are reluctant to taste it at all, and then are surprised that they like it. What’s not to like, it’s a wonderful varietal!
The festivities really got into high gear with the arrival of Rachel and Andreea with three charming friends: Molly, Megan, and Sarah. All were in a Festive mood, and at some point decided they would sing Mr. Sandman, so I looked up and printed out the words, and a couple of verses actually came out pretty well before dissolving in laughter and chaos. Also, all five were Dressed in Black, so we got one Happy Picture in color and one Outlaw photo in a sort of sepia tone, you know, like Bank Robbers! All You need to Know: a Good Time was had by All!
Chordette sing-a-likes (there are 26 “dum’s” in every chorus…count’em…it’s two groups of 13!…Who Knew?)
Molly, Megan, and Sarah go Outlaw Punk
auntie and niecie reunion: “So THIS is OZ!”
This week’s tasting:
Mt. Baker Chardonnay ’07 Washington $12
Light, floral, and unoaked, a refreshing white wine not easily identifiable as chardonnay...
Castelnoble Tinto Roble “06 Spain $8 WA 88pts
100% Tempranillo with an enticing bouquet of raspberry, blackcurrant, and spice box. Elegant on the palate, it has tons of flavor and an easy-going finish with no hard edges.A great buy!
Rosa d’ Oro Primitivo (Calif) $15 Fascinating aromas and flavors of ripe cherry and roses that begin on the nose and carry through the finish; primitivo is an ancestor of zinfandel, and you can tell with these rich, nearly jammy flavors.
Atalaya ‘07 Spain WA91pts $14
First release, blend of Monastrell & Garnacha; expressive bouquet of violets, spice box, leather, game, blueberry, and black cherry; lots of easy-going flavor, superb depth, complexity, and a 45-second finish. Awesome!
Wine Tasting July 31 ’10
Here it is Thursday night at 9, and we are just back from the Grange, where we poured wine we had donated for the FOIL (Friends of the Island Library) fundraising event. It was Fun! We supplied wine–everyone got a glass of either the Venta Morales Tempr-r-r-rranillo for the red and the Peirano Estates Viognier for the white. AND MORE IMPORTANT TO SOME everyone got one of Pat’s Absolutely Fabulous Triple Chocolate Truffles she made especially for the occasion. There might be a few left over for sale on Saturday, but I kinda doubt it…
Both wines are available in the shop, and both are sensational buys at $8 (red) and $10 (white). Other delicious edibles were provided by a host of other volunteers, and the featured speaker was Jim Lynch, author of The Highest Tide and Border Songs. I have not read either of his books, but he was a delightfully entertaining speaker, so I guess I’m gonna have to! All in all: a very pleasant evening, you shoulda been there!
So let’s see, last weekend…what stands out is a long quiet chat with Julie and Bill from Salt Lake City, here for a couple of weeks with no car, so getting around by bicycle (No One Expects Drydock in July!) . Of course we grilled them about Utah and Mormons and Big Love which we have just started watching, and basically they are fun and interesting and we think they should move here because he is cutting back in the general direction of retirement (my guess would be another 20 years first, but I’m just saying and hoping I’m wrong) and they are enjoying a whole bunch of time off and they are even toying with the idea of getting a place here…!!??
They also mentioned they had friends coming who had broken the Code for making the Perfect Limoncello, a delicioso cordial Italians make and serve in chilled little cordial glasses. Somewhere in our Tuscany photos is a picture of Pat sipping her First Limoncello, and despite the fact that it is quite a Simple Thing, at the right moment, on a hot afternoon, after a lovely meal, it is Quite Perfect, if not actually Spectacular. Think: Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm!…Gooooooooooooooooooooood...(sigh). It turns out we did meet the friends very briefly but no limoncello and no recipe (aaarrrggghhh!), so the quest is on! MORE
Do YOU have the perfect recipe? We have heard that the Key is to have very fresh, Perfect lemons, maybe Meyer lemons, which apparently may not be Real Lemons at all, so you have to wonder about that, but still, it makes sense that the Best Fresh Lemons would be a key ingredient. So let’s just say that anyone who brings in limoncello gets two free tastings, and let the lemons fall where they may!
Btw, I recall now that we conducted an interesting experiment last weekend, pouring the Emilio Moro ’04 Tinto, a predictably good wine, next to the new Pomum Tinto, a Washington “super-Duero” (has a bit of cab and merlot in addition to tempranillo). I decanted the Moro at about 10 am, and opened (but did not decant) the Pomum. For most of the day the Pomum was the favorite, showing much bigger fruit and a voluptuous mouthfeel compared to the Moro. But somewhere around 4:30 the Moro Tinto had gotten enough air that it had opened up beautifully, and it became the new favorite, showing a suave elegance and depth.
I just bought the last few bottles of this year’s Pomum Shya, their Big Wine, and we will be pouring that in the next few weeks for an additional look at this new Washington winery.
T-t-t-t-t-t-t-that’s all for now, folks! Y’all stop by and see us now, heah…?
This week’s wines:
Viento Riesling ‘07 Washington WS89pts $14
Bright and refreshing, with a lively mouthful of pear, grapefruit and delicately floral aromas and flavors that shoot right through the balanced, barely off-dry finish.
Quinto das Maias Jaen Dao ’04 Portugal $14
The relatively unusual Jaen varietal has a deep, burly color and a lovely, velvety almost overripe nose with hints of prunes and flattering black fruits. . . tannins are very smooth & the acidity is just enough to balance the richness.” more
Pomum Red ’07 Washington $18
Bordeaux blend from same winemaker as last week’s popular Tinto 65% Cab, 21 % Merlot, 14% Cab Franc; brick-red in color with noticeable graphite and exotic spice aromas. with flavors of cranberries and cherries. The finish, characteristic of all Pomum wines, is long and smooth.
Canon de Sol Syrah ‘02 Washington $20
Big jammy dark-fruit flavors, complemented by toasty spicy accents.
Wine Tasting July 24 ’10
If my mother were still alive, this would have been her 95th birthday; her last birthday was her 85th back in 2000, and we had a nice family gathering for the occasion. Leo on the cusp of Cancer, complicated stuff. At her wake (100% Irish roots) we opted to replace the ponderous organ sounds with subdued background 40’s Big Band music, and at her funeral I got everyone to sing “When Irish Eyes Are Smiling.” So Happy Birthday, Mum, we’re thinking of you!
REMINDER! NEW SUMMER HOURS SATURDAYS 2-6PM!!
Pat’s chili did very well at the cook-off last weekend; the recipe came from Silver Palate, with a few substitutions, and made for a very savory and nuanced chili. We did win an award for “best name” (“Screaming Seagull”) , which Pat also coined. I concocted our Seagull logo (see last week’s post) as well as the idea of drizzling a bit of red wine (in this case it was an Italian varietal called Marzemino), and it really did make the chili taste even better (I’m not making this up!). I think the wine adds a bit of acidity right up front, which makes your mouth water, which is why wine makes food taste better in general. So congrats to me for my annual Good Idea. Which lets me off the hook for the rest of 2010, kind of a relief!
Mary Beth was the first to identify our chili namesake as Ultimate California cult wine “Screaming Eagle,” and won a $20 gift certificate…it just goes to show you that reading this blog can be worth your while!
Very interesting afternoon at the wine shop. We didn’t open till three cuz of the chili cookoff, and then we had two parties from the Willows who were having such a good time (we were too!) they stayed most of the afternoon, getting to know our “gang.”
All in all a Great Afternoon in our little Island Paradise!
our neighbor Arria discovered ancient ties to 
chris and his wife, he in the middle
and she in the middle
and charming visitors sake sommelier Malia and mom Marylou
Lee just home after a month of travel and Kim with Big Smile
This week’s wines:
Legoe Bay Pinot Gris ’09 Washingon $8
Beautiful aromas and flavors of pear, apple, melon, and honey with a round, mouth-filling texture…delicious!
O’Shea Scarborough “The Rebel” Cab ’07 Washington $14
Lots of juicy black cherry, black currant, and blackberry, with a deep note of bitter chocolate on the finish, new wines from a favorite young winemaking team, Travis and Darryn.
Pomum Tinto ’07 Washington $22
Another favorite new winemaker, Javier, a young Spaniard from Ribero del Duero! Dark fruit and licorice aromas, characteristic of Spanish Tintos. Its medium body follows with plum and blackberry flavors and lush tannins. Tempranillo with 16% Cab and 12% Merlot. His second vintage…I LOVE this wine!–compare with the next wine, a classic tinto.
Emilio Moro Ribera del Duero ’04 Spain Parker 92pts $25
Dense ruby/purple color is followed by a projected nose of blackberries, currants, cherries, smoky oak, and crushed rocks. Terrific texture, super purity, an opulent, full-bodied palate, and a long, heady finish.
2072 Granger Way
