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.
lummi island wine tasting dec 16-17 ’22
Hours this weekend: Open 3:30- 5:30 pm both Friday and Saturday
The weather looks dry and 40-ish for Friday.
Saturday will still be well above freezing but could see a little snow but no measurable accumulation is likely.
ALSO… please note above the slight change to new Winter hours!
Friday Bread Pickup This Week!
Flax Seed Currant Ciabatta – Made with a poolish that ferments some of the flour and water overnight before being mixed with a nice mix of bread flour, fresh milled whole wheat and rye flours, then loaded up with flax seeds and dried currants for a delicious bread. The dough takes a lot of water, making a very slack dough that is cut into pieces. A really flavorful artisan loaf – $5/piece
Egg Bread w/ apples & honey – Sometimes called challah or shiksa challah, either way it’s a delicious enriched bread full of eggs, honey, milk and butter, and dried apples for a lots of flavor, and braided into a round loaf ready to slice for breakfast toast. – $5/loaf.
and pastry this week…
Panettone – This is an italian brioche often made during the Christmas holidays with candied orange peel and raisins in a large loaf. These panettone are made with lots of sugar, butter, eggs and honey and are flavored with saffron, golden raisins, candied lemon and orange and topped with pearl sugar – 2/$5
AND our Holiday Special for those who ordered two weeks ago…
Stollen (see photo) – Our 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 after baking made 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.
Wine of the Week: Sineann Cabernet Sauvignon ’17 Oregon $27
The Sineann Winery is located just across the road from Oregon’s Champoeg State Park. We generally pop in to taste wine several times a year when we are visiting the park with our trailer. Our last visit was several months ago, and we have already poured many of the wines we brought back then. This is the first time we will be offering this one for tasting.
The best description comes from the winemaker:
Our 2017 Columbia Valley Cabernet is made up of Cabernet Sauvignon, and only Cabernet Sauvignon, from Phinny Hill Vineyards.
We easily could have vineyard-designated any of the components of this Cabernet. We chose instead to blend it into this gorgeous wine. You will rarely experience a wine this good that costs this little.
The wine is classic Columbia Valley Cabernet – dark and well-balanced. It is good friendly and will age very well.
You’ll rarely find a better value in well-crafted Cabernet!
Economics of the Heart: Folks For Far Fairer Ferry Fares
Our old-timers out there will likely remember the old Kingston Trio song, “MTA,” back in the early sixties, about a guy named Charlie who got stuck on a Boston subway because of a five-cent fare increase– he needed “one more nickel” to get off the train. We may have a similar problem right here on Lummi Island.
There are a lot of ferry routes here in the Pacific NW, carrying just about everyone and everything to and from a lot of islands. Most of these routes are served by the Washington State Ferry System, which operates from southern Puget Sound to the San Juan Islands and even to Vancouver Island aross the strait in Canada. A handful of smaller ferry systems are operated by several counties, including ours which is operated by Whatcom County.
Funding for county ferries varies according to the nature of the island and its demographics. All the systems get some subsidies from the State, some revenue from fares, and some funding from their County budgets. In our case we depend on a 60 yr old vessel that was originally designated a 16-car vessel, but which has been carrying up to 20 cars each way since we moved here about thirty years ago. It is due to be replaced in about 2026.
In recent years, our aging vessel has encountered significant increases in “maintenance” costs as major components wear out or fail. About 15 years ago the County passed a law requiring that fares should be set to cover 55% of “operating costs.” Over the following five years, fares for daily commuters were increased annually from several hundred $$ per year to over Two Thousand per year! Many residents, especially renters and young families, were forced to move to the mainland. The island elementary school enrollment dropped dramatically. The rate increases were a thoughtless and cruel experiment in demographic engineering.
Fast forward to today, and again the County is complaining that fares are too low to cover the required 55% of operating costs, and has just released its latest proposed rate increase. The proposed fares would add another $1500 to the annual cost of daily commuters, taking it up toward $4000/yr. To make it even worse, the entire fare structure makes a particular effort to exploit walk-on passengers. As one friend put it, “You can ride the ferry as a passenger for $10, and for another $6 you can even bring your car.” So a lot of people are upset about the proposed rate increases.
Last night about twenty residents gathered for a special meeting of the Lummi Island Ferry Advisory Committee (of which this writer is a member). Needless to say such big fare changes will prompt all of us to find ways to economize on ferry use. Some people may have to move to the mainland, as happened ten years ago. Others will make fewer shopping trips. Everyone will tighten their belts and buy less of everything else to cover our new ferry expense, because the ferry is not a luxury, it’s a necessity.
Islanders already pay higher property taxes than many other County communities; those miles of shoreline get assessed pretty steeply. All in all, many of us feel that “enough is enough, stop punishing us!” After all, the ferry is just our highway. No one else in the County has to pay thousands of dollars just to drive to work every day on roads and bridges paid for by general taxation.
The county statute that regulates fares requires that fare box receipts cover 55% of “operating costs,” which are further defined as expenses for “actual regular and routine maintenance and administrative expenses.” And ‘Ay, there’s the rub,” as Hamlet put it; some feel that fares are really being raised to shift the rapidly increasing repair costs of our 60 yr old ferry onto fares rather than onto the general road fund where they belong. Many of us are concerned that at least some of these growing “maintenance costs” do not meet the criteria for routine maintenance. Oil, lube, points, plugs, paint— “regular” connotes “predictable.” Repairs to failing capital equipment should not qualify as regular maintenance.
The County has tipped its hand often in recent years that a lot of effort goes into justifying quite a number of capital upgrade expenses as “regular maintenance” so they can be charged to farebox receipts. It will take some digging to confirm if that’s true.
Stay tuned!
This Week’s $10 Wine Tasting
Maryhill Viognier ’18 Washington $14
Carefully picked and slowly pressed to extract vibrant aromas of melon, pear, and apricot with traces of pineapple and grapefruit, continuing into a sensational and crisp fruit finish.
Cala Civetta Sangiovese di Toscana ’21 Italy $13
Earthy nose of red plum accompanies a vibrant yet mildly tannic palate of tart cherry with a hint of smoke and ocean brine – a true expression of Scansano, nestled halfway between the Tyrrhenian Sea and Mt. Amiata.
Sineann Cabernet Sauvignon ’17 Oregon $27
Classic Columbia Valley cab– dark, well-balanced, food friendly, and age-worthy. “We easily could have vineyard-designated any of the components of this Cabernet; we chose instead to blend it into this gorgeous wine. You will rarely experience a wine this good that costs this little!”
2072 Granger Way