lummi island wine tasting jan 13 ’23
Hours this weekend: Open 3:30- 5:30 pm Friday Only
Our current plan is to be open Fridays only for the rest of January.
Covid 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.
Friday Bread is Back!
Four Seed Buttermilk – This bread includes all the elements of whole wheat, but does so separately by adding cracked wheat and bran in to the bread flour instead of milling whole wheat berries. It also has buttermilk and oil which will make for a tender bread as well as adding a little tang. Finally it is finished with with a bit of honey and sunflower pumpkin and sesame seeds and some toasted millet – $5/loaf
Fig Anise – One of the more popular breads in the rotation. Made with a sponge that is fermented overnight, then the final dough is mixed with bread flour and fresh milled whole wheat. Honey, dried figs and anise bring in all the flavors of the mediterranean. – $5/loaf
and pastry this week…
Fruit & Spice Rolls – Lightly sweet and half whole wheat but of course lots of butter, sugar and egg for flavor and a tender crumb. Dried cranberries, golden raisins, fresh orange peel and juice with hints of anise, cinnamon, mace and cardamon, and topped with demerara sugar before baking for that extra bit of sweetness and crunch. – 2/$5
Wine of the Week: Cataclysm Chardonnay ’20 Washington $14
Over the years we have enjoyed and carried several wines from long-established Montinore winery in Oregon. It is one of only a few that is certified both biodynamic and organic, using practices and techniques that produce wines that are not only tasty, but also that sustain the vines and surrounding ecosystem with sound practices that maintain interdependent balance. The winery was established in 1982.
The Cataclysm Wine Company, on the other hand, is “brand” (snicker) new, with no history, no record, no details whatsoever about where exactly the wine was made, by whom, or where the fruit came from. There is, apparently, some financial relationship between the owners of Cataclysm and the long-time owners of Montinore. We suspect that Montinore made the wine, probably at its main facility in Forest Grove, Oregon, as part of some larger financial arrangement that has allowed Montinore to expand its operations to the point where you cannot reach an actual human being on any of their telephones. Ah, the oily wheels of corporate progress.
You can decide for yourself whether you like the wine or not, or care at all about its peculiar lack of a backstory. But for those of us that cherish handmade artisan wine from the hands and vineyards of a real person, it always feels like some kind of ethical betrayal. In any case, it is tasty and reasonably priced, and that’s the customary Bottom Line!
Economics of the Heart: Deafness to Expediency
courtesy gearbubble.com/
Recent events have recalled a favorite quotation we have mentioned before in this blog, feeling again the continuing relevance of a memorable ethical assertion some 150 years ago from Matthew Fontaine Maury (our first National Oceanographer):
“Where principle is involved, be deaf to expediency.”
While it is often claimed that “We are a Nation of Laws,” over recent decades we have been losing the assurance that our laws are both principled in purpose and enforced honorably, equitably, and fairly. Without Principle, laws become the means of tyrannical oppression by an autocratic minority or the whims of profit-driven corporations and continually campaigning politicians. When we look around our country and the World today we see lots of reasons to believe that these basic Principles have become quaint and archaic fantasies, wholly and purposefully replaced by vapid pragmatism and unconscious compromise.
We all still know what responsibility, decency, honor, service, and kindness are, at least intellectually. But we find all kinds of reasons to minimize their importance and dismiss them as too idealistic, too much trouble, making too many waves, or threatening our own comfortable position by rocking the Boat of the Moment. We all have a lot of ambiguity about these matters, a little compromise here, a little pooh-pooh there, adding up to an ongoing willingness to back Authority, not buck it.
On my first day as a midshipman nearly sixty years ago, I remember being advised, “Don’t Rock the Boat,” and “Don’t Make Waves.” But alas, in all these years I have not been able to become that guy, because I actually believe to my core that Principle IS more important than Expediency, and that we all live in a world that has increasingly become ruled by “Getting along means Going along.”
As with Covid, we all have to find our own ways to deal with this ongoing dilemma. We serve on our Boards and Committees in which we nominally share a common interest, and it can be deeply frustrating to keep crashing into the impassive wall of safe and passive conformity, itself the thoughtless cause of considerable suffering
Our photo today is a line– more of a mantra, actually– that Timothy Leary used as a theme on a speaking tour of college campuses (including WWU around 1980. )
This Week’s $10 Wine Tasting
Cataclysm Chardonnay ’20 Washington $14
Aromas of quince, pear, and custard; pleasing mouthfeel, easy to drink. Made with Washington fruit at an undisclosed location by undisclosed people in some kind of financial relationship with Montinore Estate in Oregon.
Robert Ramsay Mason’s Red ’16 Washington $17
Easy-drinking cinsault-dominant Rhone blend; subtle nose of black cherry paste with a hint of cinnamon spice that expands on the palate to a soft anise finish.
Can Blau Can Blau ’18 Spain $16
Long an Artisan favorite; consistently shows aromas and flavors of ripe dark fruits and berries, a seamless texture, and long, silky finish that improves with aeration.
lummi island wine tasting jan 6 ’23
SORRY, CLOSED THIS WEEKEND!
Every year at this time we close the shop for a bit to do a modest amount of actual “accounting,” beginning of course with end of year inventory. It’s a tedious affair, but grounding in its quiet drudgery. It has been made easier for having whittled away much of our inventory (hence the increasingly bare shelves) during our collectively strange social behavior these last three years, and to some degree the task does demand a bit of quiet attention, which is always soothing.
Beginning next weekend (1/13), Friday Bread Delivery returns after the Holiday hiatus. Those on the Bread List should receive details on Sunday by email.
Also beginning next weekend the wine shop will be open Fridays only from 3:30 – 5:30 through January.
SIGNS OF THE SEASON
Not much else to say this week except to wish us all a kind, friendly, year of creature comforts, soothing exhalations, warm friendships, and a global standing down from the countless brinks of disaster our species keeps taking us toward. Goodness gracious, Enough Already!
snowtracks
january day
rosehips
snowbug
lummi island wine tasting dec 30 ’22
OPEN FRIDAY FOR SPECIAL END OF YEAR 2022 TASTING 3:30-5:30
We want to do something special to mark the end of another wine shop year with all of you. At the same time we are leery of crowds and feeling cautious since Covid. Soooo..what to do, what to do…?? Something simple and maybe a little bit special…hmm…
What we have come up with is a regular Friday tasting, but with several above-average wines you may not have tasted before; see notes below.
We have only a few bottles of each wine, but enough that everyone at least gets a pour of each!
Hope you can stop by…and may 2023 bring a commitment to peace, prosperity, and climate stability from every human being on this precious planet.
EOY ’22 Special $10 Wine Tasting
St. Peray
Jean-Luc Colombo St. Peray La Belle de Mai ’18 France $35
Beautiful golden color. An intense floral and fruity nose with notes of iris, candied fruit and fresh hazelnuts. Full-bodied palate with rich, concentrated flavors of quince, vanilla, and a slight lemon zest.
Zind Humbrecht Gewurztraminer Roche Roulee ’18 Alsace $45
Aromas of damask rose, orange peel and pith, and juicy peach make for an attractive nose; palate has gentle sweetness countered by pleasant, phenolic bitterness that lends shape to this off-dry, spicy, mellow wine. making it generous and intriguing, with a textured, off-dry finish.
Quilceda Creek ‘CVR’ Red Wine ’06 Washington $50
This medium-bodied wine displays black cherry fruit, cedar, spice, vanilla and minerals…best enjoyed over the next 15 years. (i.e., NOW!)
Betz La Cote Rousse Syrah ’13 Washington $55
Aromas of iron, fresh-roasted coffee beans, high-toned dried herbs, mineral, blue fruit and savory spices explode from the glass; this wine coats the palate from end to end with supple tannins, dense fruit, and savory flavors that feel sleek without sacrificing depth.
lummi island wine tasting dec 23-24 ’22
SORRY, CLOSED THIS WEEKEND!
With about a foot of snow on the ground and temperature hovering around 10 degrees all week, our mammal instincts are to hunker down in our burrows and try to stay cozy.
At last check, MORE snow was forecast for tonight (Thursday), from midnight to daylight…then warming up to several hours of “freezing rain” Friday morning (which really makes us want to hunker down!), and then in the afternoon varying among the many shades of Wetness found here in the Pacific NW, (“rain, light rain, showers, rain/wind.”), before warming to seasonal temps well above freezing for Christmas Eve.
For all these reasons, the wine shop will NOT be open either Friday or Saturday this weekend, so we take this opportunity to wish you and yours Good Cheer, Warm Hearts, and a Happy and Cozy Holiday Week!
Friday Bread Pickup This Week Moved to Ferry Overflow Parking Area Saturday 1:30 – 3 PM
Due to the nasty weather predicted for Friday, Bread Pickup will be on Saturday afternoon from 1:30 – 3 PM at the overflow parking lot across from the ferry landing, as was the case during early Covid months. Drive clockwise to the back of the lot and Janice will hand you your orders from the trunk of the black Tesla for this week’s loaves AND the special Xmas Stollen for those who ordered it two weeks ago…
Stollen – Island Bakery’s traditional Holiday bread, made with bread flour, a hint of fresh milled rye, milk, eggs, and lots of butter to enrich the bread for a soft crumb; then it is loaded with a mixture of dried fruit, fresh lemon and orange peel, candied lemon and orange peel, and almonds. Shaped around an almond paste filling then brushed with a glaze of melted butter, sugar and ginger then dusted with powdered sugar. Mmm-mm, Fabulous! -$10/loaf
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.
2072 Granger Way