Tuscany and the Volcano
The first thing you need to know about Italy (43N, 11E) is that it is a long way from Lummi Island (48 N, 122W). Central Italy isn’t much further south—a few hundred miles—but is 133 degrees east…about a third of the way around the world, about 8000 miles directly, more like six or seven if you follow a great circle, which is what most long-haul flights usually follow. A Great Circle is the shortest distance between two points on a sphere, represented by the arc traced out by a plane sliced through the sphere (Earth in this case in such a way that the beginning and end points on the surface and the center of the sphere are all in the same plane. Looking directly down on a Great Circle from above, it looks like a straight line. But on a map which is a plane projection of the surface of a sphere it looks like a long, sweeping curve. (http://www.gcmap.com/mapui?P=SEA-FLR&MS=wls&DU=mi)
All YOU need to know (if link works, it will be clear) is that the Great Circle route from Seattle to Florence (Actually Paris was our first stop) goes directly over Iceland. Which really tells the story of our first very long day of travel.
The Good News was that we made the 8 am ferry from the Island, headed to Tulalip Casino in Marysville. Why there? Because the Airporter bus that runs from the border to Seatac stops there, and there is (I’m not making this up) Free Parking. And because our “scheduled” return flight gets us back to Seatac too late for the 7pm shuttle, we decided to hedge but getting off at Tulalip and racing for the ferry from there, since the shuttle arrives at Bellingham airport at 11:40 pm, a tight connection for the last ferry. (These things are important to Islanders!) So we’ll see how it works out on our way home.
Bottom line: we got to Seatac two hours ahead of our scheduled departure (2pm) to find that our flight would be delayed five hours because of, you guessed it, the Icelandic volcano that no one can pronounce. Flights were being rerouted north of the great circle route to avoid the ash cloud, so we went over Copenhagen, and that added a hour or so to each flight, which messed up a lot of connections, which meant a lot of airplanes were not in the right place at the right time, like ours. So we arrived in Paris hours too late for our direct flight to Florence, and were routed to Geneva after a several-hour wait.
At Geneva we were met by Air France reps who hurried us via secret byways to a waiting plane from Baboo (I’m not making this up), a little Swiss commuter airline (same planes as Horizon brings to Bellingham, except new, clean, pleasant, and comfortable). On a one hour flight they managed to serve little tiny but lovely and tasty portions of about five different things, from a cold carrot soup to fresh melon chunks, a bit of chocolate…all very pleasant. After the long, incredibly uncomfortable Air France flight (we’re talking sardines here…very nice staff and food, but way too cramped) this little Baboo flight was truly a Breath of Fresh Air…Highly recommended! And so we arrived safely in Florence about 8 hours late. Unfortunately, our bags wound up in Frankfurt. But that’s another story. We were in Italy!
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| From Tuscan tour |
Wine Tasting May 22 ’10
Well. We are still in Italy, sorry for not keeping you all up to date on that, still working on it. For now I understand the tasting with Brian and Leigh and Lauren went well, hope you all could stop by.
This weekend Judy will be pouring another appealing batch of wines, and those of you who know her know to expect a certain Energy and Festivity…kinda sorry to miss it ourselves. Maybe Leigh will add something to this post..? If not, we understand no pictures were taken last week, so here’s one from Florence our first day here…
This week’s wines:
Gordon bros sauvignon blanc Washington $8
Aromas of citrus, melon and mango; flavors of lime, pink grapefruit and melon; a clean, crisp, versatile partner with fish or fowl.
Graffigna Malbec Argentina $9
Clean and direct, with a beam of raspberry and black cherry fruit laced with roasted vanilla
Townshend T3 red blend (Washington) $15
Full bodied, slightly jammy, non-vintage blend of cab, merlot, and cab franc
Alexandra Nicole QB 07 (Washington) $19
Bright nose of pomegranate and red licorice, with notes of dust and sweet pipe tobacco. Medium-bodied, with loads of bright, citrusy acid framing red and black licorice flavors and a long, buttery finish.
Wine Tasting May 15 ’10
Unusual day, not just because of the omg we’re going to Tuscany tomorrow and are So Not Ready. Also because for the first time in a long time we had no first-time visitors, and also because a number of regulars were away somewhere. That made for a late-starting, early finishing sort of day which was just fine, among familiar faces all wishing us well on the trip! Grazie, amici!
Among the well-wishers were Mark, Livvy, Roger (shown here) and Liz; Livvy home having finished her gig Chez Panisse in SF, and headed back soon to start a new job with a catering company. Congrats!
Remember, the shop WILL be open this weekend! Brian and Leigh will open the doors and Lauren will be pouring the following wines…
Dry Creek chenin blanc (Calif) $10
Luscious notes of melon, peach, and lemon peel, a great buy!
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.
Durigutti malbec 08 Argentina $14
A lush, toasty style, with lots of cocoa and roasted vanilla up front, followed by dark, well-layered fig, boysenberry and mulled currant fruit flavors. The long finish lets all the fruit hang nicely, with an underlying graphite hint supporting it all.
Marguery Familia Malbec ‘04 Argentina $21 –
A round, supple wine with insinuating flavor intensity, smooth tannins, and lovely life and length.
Wine Tasting May 8 ’10
Well. Not sure if my post this AM at 0630 was in time for the cutoff for when these messages are auto sent. In case not, I said this: THIS JUST IN! CONNECTION FAILURE KEEPS INTREPID BLOGGER FROM MAKING USUAL LATE NIGHT POST! Will this hit the presses in time?! (Now 0630!) WHAT TIME DOES WORDPRESS SEND THESE THINGS OUT??!! Last week seems like a million years ago… MJ decked out….Brian and Leigh, your hosts for the next two weekends while we are in Italy (stay tuned to this blog for updates!….Judy pours on 22nd, Lauren on the 15th)…Rocket Scientists convene, So I will just let this post stand, a marker to the whimsy of the Universe, to things you just can’t count on…
Brian, Judy, Leigh 
Rocket Scientists
This week’s wines:
Peirano vognier (Calif) $10 Peaches, pineapple, and tropical fruit are complemented by the scent of lemons and ginger. Lush flavors of fresh ripe peaches balanced by flavors of apples, pears and orange marmalade.
Peirano Six Clones Merlot (Calif) $10 Aromas of rich ripe cherries and blackberries with hints of leather and vanilla; robust flavors of cherry, plum, cranberry, raspberries and strawberries with lingering hints of cocoa and cinnamon. Terrific buy! (note: Wine Spectator got this one Really Wrong: “Lean and clumsy, with earthy herb and ripe cherry notes.—79 pts)!
Rose de Ora Primitivo (Calif) $15 Fascinating aromas and flavors of ripe cherry and roses that begin on the nose and carry through the midpalate and finish; primitivo thought to be an ancestor of zinfandel.
Finca Sandoval 05 (Spain) Parker 94pts
76% Syrah, 13% Mourvedre, and 11% Bobal fermented with native yeasts followed by malolactic fermentation in barrel with lees stirring, a year in French and American oak. Purple-colored, with alluring nose of toasty oak, mineral, floral notes, blueberry, and blackberry, leading to a full-bodied, ripe, layered wine with superb integration of oak, tannin, and acidity; this outstanding effort should be at its best between 2012 and 2025.
2072 Granger Way
