Search Results
lummi island wine tasting aug 23 ’19
click on photos for larger images
Friday Breads
Honey, Wheat, Lemon & Poppy seeds – Made with a poolish that ferments some of the flour, yeast and water, but none of the salt, overnight. This results in a very active pre-ferment which is mixed the next day with the final ingredients which includes a nice mix of bread flour and fresh milled whole wheat. Some honey, poppy seeds and freshly grated lemon peel round out the flavors in this loaf. A great all around bread – $5/loaf.
Prairie Bread – Named for the ingredients that reflect all the goodness of the grains that grow on the prairie. Using regular bread flour and fresh milled whole wheat as well as oats, and cornmeal. And as if that wasn’t enough it is loaded up with poppy, flax, sesame, sunflower and pumpkin seeds with just a hint of brown sugar for a little sweetness. – $5/loaf
Bear Claws – Made with a danish pastry dough rich in cream, eggs, sugar and butter. The dough is rolled out and spread with a filing made with almond paste, powdered sugar, egg whites and just a bit of cinnamon to round out the flavor. Then, because bears love honey, topped with a honey glaze after baking. As always, quantities are limited, be sure to get your order in before you miss out– 2/$5
(note: breads must be pre-ordered by Wednesday for pickup here at the wine shop at our Friday wine tasting, 4-6pm. Planning a visit to the Island? Email us to get on the mailing list!)
Nit de les Garnatxas
In 2
012 we spent a week in the little Spanish town of Capçanes. It is located about two hours west of Barcelona and about an hour inland from Tarragona on the Mediterranean coast. It is also about 15 minutes south of the town of Falset, the gateway to the somewhat legendary Priorat wine region. The purpose of our visit was to attend the annual Priorat Wine Festival. Capçanes is actually located in the neighboring wine region of Montsant, which have their own gravitas.
A few weeks ago we poured you a wine called Mas Donis from Celler Capçanes, a regional wine cooperative located in Montsant. This week we are pouring another for you, a wine we are quite excited about because it evokes such pleasant memories of our time in Capçanes and the Priorat Wine Festival.
The wine festival opens on a Friday night each year with an event called, in the Catalan language, the Nit de les Garnatxes, (i.e., “Night of the Garnachas”) and it kicks off the the Festival in a Big Way. The event started at 11pm in the courtyard in front the winery, about a five minute walk from the house we were renting just up the hill. We had no idea what to expect, but were pleased it involved food like the thin slices of delicious Jamon that were being sliced in the courtyard along with lots of other savory goodies, which we enjoyed on our way to the winery entrance.
Inside the
winery was an even bigger crowd spilling across several large chambers lined with tables dispensing wine and more goodies– like the Chocolate Fountain under which, fondue-like, one could bathe pieces of fresh fruit and other goodies…yum, yum, yum! And (have patience, we ARE meandering toward a Point…). In the Main Hall, by day probably the haunt of barrel-hauling forklifts, was a shoulder-to-shoulder crowd ebbing and flowing around a number of wine-pouring stations. Each one offered its current garnatxa for our tasting pleasure. Hence…the Night of the Garnatxes! Who Knew?
But that wasn’t All, not by a long shot! Oh, no, at some point we found a narrow flight of stairs that went down a couple of flights to a second floor, and even a third floor, where the spaces were smaller, and where there was even more wine, food, live music, and art.
The Big Takeaway here is that this weekend we are pouring the most recent of one of the specially made wines for the Nit de les Garnatxes by the winery where we attended the event back in aught-Twelve. The grapes were grown in the famous licorella slate soil of the region, and are a good example of the mineral-rich character of the wines of the area.
Last Week of Constance’s Paintings Show
Reminder that Constance will be taking down her show this weekend. Lots of us know her as our longtime Yoga teacher. I first met her and husband Terry decades ago at Art Fairs when I was a potter and they were doing interesting traditional fabric dying techniques. This is a side of her most of us have not seen before, and we encourage you to visit!
Mar a Lago Update: Recurring Nightmare
It can’t be Pleasant being the Tweetster. He rarely looks or sounds Happy. And it must be a Strange Burden to be living your Dream of being Constantly in the Global Spotlight, but Never Feeling you get the Emotional Nourishment you somehow thought it would provide, kind of an Existential Hell. There is a name for this kind of Hell: “the Nourishment Barrier.”
Every child experiences moments of disappointment and disillusionment. The essence of these experiences is realizing, at some point early in our lives, something we Really want is not going to be there for us, and it is Painful and we cry. We struggle to make meaning of the event; and often blame ourselves for some unknown inadequacy: it is Our Fault because somehow we weren’t Good Enough. After enough of these experiences, the Child starts believing s/he will never get what s/he needs (safety, attention, affection, or approval), and in response the Child develops a Behavioral Strategy to minimize the pain of this belief.
In broad strokes we know the Tweetster’s childhood history, and we can see that he craves constant attention and approval. But here he is the most powerful and well-known human being on the Planet, yet cannot get enough Approval to feel Okay inside. Sure, that’s how politics works, but there is also a “Dumb Cycle” here, driven by an inability to take in approval and affection when offered because it would be even more painful to have it yanked away just as you were starting to enjoy it.
Tonight the wires are humming with commentary about what many are calling a major T-Meltdown over the past week, as indicated by increases in daily Tweets per minute, a growing inability to retreat from photo op press banter, and an increasingly incoherent message. Candidates and financial interests are starting to materialize who might oppose him within his own party, something unthinkable until a few days ago. He’s gotta be Feel’in’ da Heat, huh…?
Washington Post Tweetster Lie Count to date: 12,000 as of 6/10/19
This week’s wine tasting
Quinta de Aveleda Vinho Verde ’17 Portugal $10
Loureiro, Trajadura and Alvarinho blend; apples, lemons and a touch of ripe pear fill the palate. It is an off-dry very young white wine, refreshing and crisp with a mineral aftertaste.
Chat. Ste. Eulalie Rose ’18 France $ 13
A delightful dry rose with flavors of fresh raspberries, strawberries, and crisp redcurrant fruit with a hint of spice: an excellent match for grilled Mediterranean vegetables and lamb.
MAN Vintners Pinotage ’17 South Africa $11
Dark berries, plum and a smoke on the nose. Rustic yet silky and juicy, with wild cherry flavors, smooth tannins and well-controlled acidity. good intensity to the plum and mocha flavors.
Avignonesi Rosso de Montepulciano ’15 Italy $14
Perfumed aromas of red berries, violets, cinnamon, and almond flower. Juicy and bright, with precise strawberry and redcurrant flavors and lively acidity.
Nit de les Garnatxes Slate ’16 Spain $21
100% grenache from legendary licorella soil, with plenty of desert flower and wild herb aromas and elegantly dry tannins make for a really complex wine with a high minerality and balsamic aromas.
lummi island wine tasting feb 8 ’19
note: some photos may link to larger formats when clicked…
Friday Breads This Week
Fig Anise – Always popular, made with an overnight sponge fermentation, then mixed with bread flour and fresh milled whole wheat. Honey, dried figs and anise bring in all the flavors of the Mediterranean. A great flavorful bread – $5/loaf
Breton – Incorporates the flavors of the French Breton region. Bread flour, fresh milled buckwheat, and rye make for interesting flavor and sel gris – grey salt from the region brings more mineral flavors to this bread. Goes great with meats and cheeses – $5/loaf
Rum Raisin Brioche: A delicious brioche dough full of eggs, butter and sugar. Filled with golden raisins and chunks of almond paste and topped with a chocolate glaze before baking...mmm! – 2/$5.
Real Rioja
Construction on the Lopez de Heredia winery in Rioja began in 1877 when Don Rafael López de Heredia y Landeta fell in love with the region around Haro. Sensing a magical combination of soil and climate that would offer the perfect environment for producing wine, he built one of the first three bodegas in the Rioja region, one which continues to adhere to many traditional methods that other wineries have abandoned.
Cubillo, which we are pouring this weekend, is the youngest and least complex of the Lopez de Heredia Rioja wines. In the Cubillo vineyard tempranillo vines are harvested along with garnacha, mazuelo and graciano. It is aged in neutral oak barrels for two years and another two in bottle, nearly long enough to be classified as a Gran Reserva. Nevertheless it displays a brighter and more youthful personality than Lopez Heredia’s longer-aged red Reservas and Gran Reservas, and consistently shows brighter fruit and more pronounced acidity than many other Crianzas.
While most long-established wineries in Rioja work to maintain traditional standards for the qualities define the wines of the region, Lopez Heredia arguably clings to the Old Ways more than others, as if to wag a finger in the air and saying, This is Rioja!
More Lirac
Last week we offered a well-regarded wine from Lirac that proved quite popular despite its somewhat tannic structure. We mentioned then that Lirac lies just across the Rhone River from, and is ever-eclipsed by Chateuneuf-du-Pape. Lirac borders on the adjoining wine region of Tavel, which the same “Papes” (Popes) declared could only be used to make rosé.
This week we are bringing back two old favorites from another winery in the region which we have visited a couple of times and particularly enjoyed. Since our last visit some five years ago, sisters and co-owners Severine and Melanie have apparently been making another rosé besides their Tavel, under the simple label “Initial R.” We do have a vague memory, brought to mind by the photo to the left, that they were making a second rosé even then that was aged longer but still wasn’t quite as dark as the Tavel.
This weekend we will also be pouring their “Lirac Classique,” a traditional Lirac blend of syrah, mourvedre, and syrah that we often keep on our shelves and find a treat to enjoy at home.
Mar a Lago Update: The War We Are Losing
For as long as we can remember, Republicans have been trying to Out-Hawk Democratic opponents for offices at every level by inventing Straw-Man Enemies who want to take our jobs, seduce our wives and daughters, take our Hard-earned Stuff, and leave us in a Ditch in rural North Dakota. On reflection, these days when finding a Republican politician with an actual military record of any sort is a Curiosity, you have to wonder how these Bozos have managed to keep getting Traction with this nonsense, exciting all the other chimps and getting them to jump up and down and Want to Hurt Someone. Given this 70-year Republican mantra, one would expect Republicans to take a Strong Defensive Stance against any Real Threat to our National Well-Being.
Such a threat could come in many forms: overt or covert, flagrant or subtle, short-term or long-term. In whichever case, we want our Leadership to be on the Alert, ready to warn and mobilize us toward an effective defensive response.
Over the last several decades the United States has seen the rise of a Powerful Enemy which threatens pretty much Everyone and Everything. On many occasions since 2000 this Enemy has carried out numerous attacks against our country and its people, killing hundreds or even thousands, and causing tens of billions of dollars of damage. That Enemy is Global Warming, and let’s get it straight right now: Global Warming is the Enemy, and Climate Change is the Weapons System it is using to Destroy us. We can spend countless Billions invading Iraq, Afghanistan, Syria (and so many more) with military power, but do not even admit that This Enemy is even Real. WTF is Wrong with these people??
If we add up the costs since 2000 of increasingly damaging hurricanes, flooding, drought, habitat destruction, resource shortages and conflicts, mass migrations, and forest fires, all directly due to human-caused climate change, we are already in the trillions of dollars in damages. What other enemy could do us this kind of damage without some kind of retaliation? Climate Change is a Clear and Present Threat to our very existence as a species. We are waging a War against our own Planet’s ability to house Life in general, and Human Life in particular.
This is why the Broad Issue of Climate Change is THE Dominant Issue of the 2020 political campaign that has already started. The War is here, we are not fighting back, Time is Short, and we are in Grave Peril.
Washington Post Tweetster Lie Count to date: 7,546 as of 1/1/19
This week’s wine tasting
Ottella Lugana Bianco ’16 Italy $15
Trebbiano di Lugano (Turbiana). Intense straw yellow color with green tinges. Exotic notes of candied fruit and citrus, warm and very deep on the nose. Widespread expressive finesse, with rich and persistent texture.
La Rocaliere Initial R rose ’14 France $12
80% grenache, 20% syrah; pressed after 12 hours cold maceration, 10 days fermentation, and aged in both stainless steel and concrete tanks before bottling to display bright, red fruit flavors both fresh and versatile on the palate.
Avignonesi Rosso de Montepulciano ’15 Italy $18
Perfumed aromas of red berries, violets, cinnamon, and almond flower. Juicy and bright, with precise strawberry and redcurrant flavors and lively acidity. Finishes long and fresh, with lingering floral perfume.
La Rocaliere Lirac Classique Rouge ’15 France $16
Grenache, mourvedre, syrah from sandy and pebbled soils; floral and spicy bouquet reminiscent of garrigue scrubland. Powerful and full-bodied, it finishes crisp and rich, matching perfectly with the spirit of contemporary cuisine.
Lopez Heredia Vina Cubillo Crianza ’09 Spain/Rioja $22
Juicy and soft; fermented with natural yeasts in large oak vats and matured in neutral barriques for three year; shows good balance between fruit and more developed aromas, with hints of leather, cherries, spices and smoke. On the palate it is deep, full-bodied, focused and beautifully balanced, with fine complexity and grip and a long, classy, vibrant finish.
lummi island wine tasting dec 8 ’18
email subscribers: click here to comment on this post
note: some photos may link to larger formats when clicked
Bread This Week
Prairie Bread – Named for the ingredients that reflect all the goodness of the grains that grow on the prairie. Using regular bread flour and fresh milled whole wheat as well as oats, and cornmeal. And as if that wasn’t enough it is loaded up with poppy, flax, sesame, sunflower and pumpkin seeds with just a hint of brown sugar for a little sweetness. A great all around bread. – $5/loaf
Honey, Wheat, Lemon & Poppy – Made with a poolish that ferments some of the flour, yeast and water, but none of the salt, overnight. This results in a very active pre-ferment which is mixed the next day with the final ingredients which includes a nice mix of bread flour and fresh milled whole wheat. Some honey, poppy seeds and freshly grated lemon peel round out the flavors in this loaf. – $5/loaf.
Another delicious pastry this week…
Morning Buns – Made popular by Tartine Bakery in San Francisco, my interpretation uses the same laminated dough as croissants. The dough is rolled out, spread with a filling of brown sugar, orange zest, butter and cinnamon. Rolled up and sliced before baking. – 2/$5
December Schedule Update
Dec 7-8: open for BOTH Bread Friday 4-7 and Saturday 2-6
–Dec 14-15: OPEN Bread Friday, CLOSED SATURDAY!
–Dec 21-22 and 28-29: OPEN USUAL HOURS
and…mark your calendars…Dec 31: 13th Annual “East Coast New Year’s Celebration” 7-9pm..!
Italian Invasion
Over the last month, some of you may have noticed a significant tilting of our tasting menu toward Italy. This is due in part to the arrival of our semi-annual shipment of wines from Seattle importer Small Vineyards. In addition we recently learned of a train-car load of wines that had been in wreck or tied up in legal limbo— in truth we really have no idea where they have been.
What we do know is that a LOT of wine has been delayed SOMEWHERE for a year ot two and somehow got picked up by one of our distributors, and came on the wholesale market a couple of months ago. It included large quantities of Small Vineyards Italian wines as well as others we have carried in the past, and, together with our regular fall shipment from SV, that means we have brought in about 30 cases in the last two weeks heavily leaning Italian.
And, a week or two before that, we may have mentioned a couple of deals with Judy for some Big California Whites from Conundrum and Mer Soleil and a a big Cab from Juggernaut which allow us to offer them for $17 each instead of $21. AND…in the process we were able to score a couple of 1.5 and 3-liter bottles we can open for you at our 13th Annual “East Coast New Year’s Celebration…!”
Nero d’Avola
Speaking of Italian wines, this weekend we are pouring a great example of Sicily’s dominant red grape, Nero d’Avola. The obvious translation of the grape’s name is something like “black grape from Avola,” which it is. It has adapted well to Sicily, thriving in hot, dry climates. Its flavor profile usually includes bold dark fruit flavors from fresh black cherry to prune. Body can vary from lighter to heavier as vineyard climate goes cooler to hotter, or as winemakers age it is less or more new oak. Curiously, the wine does not seem to suffer from the climate difference, but merely shows a lighter or denser face, giving it a wide range of enjoyable expression.
We have grown fond of the grape here at the wine shop, having been protected by Natural Selection from ever having tasted the Bigger Oakier versions. The one we offer this weekend is one of our favorites, offering an enticing balance of weight and ripeness. But if it doesn’t appeal to you, don’t give up on the grape– it has many faces and almost certainly you will eventually find one that grabs you.
And by the way…the photo shown here came up on a Search for Nero d’avola. Although we obviously took the photo of Celia and Barbara at the wine shop some years ago (October 2010), we admit we have No Idea what it has to do with this thread! But it is reassuring that we actually have an Online History together! Who Knew? And btw, make sure to come by this weekend and try out this lovely Italian wine from Sicily!
Mar a Lago Update: Needs, Beliefs, and Behaviors
Various horocopes and psychological models over our many years have provided criteria and maps to help guide us toward learning about Our Selves, our Strengths, our Weaknesses. Who are we? What makes us Tick? How do we Improve? How can we be Better? Where have we Failed or Succeeded?
There are many, many ways we humans have organized ourselves around these questions about ourselves and our worlds, and there are many views about Character Types, Strategies, Beliefs, and Behaviors. Everyone I know has wrestled with these questions as we have tried to resolve our own many successes, failures, and contradictions.
Most of us at various times in our lives have looked at our behavior and felt some sense of inadequacy, shame, judgment, or disappointment, explored it in some way, and made some decisions about improving. That is, we all have some kind of internal process (super-ego…?) that continually monitors how our behavior affects others, and that affects the decisions we make about whether and how far to assert our wills in various relationships.
Given the Normal Distribution of Almost Everything, it is Reasonable to Assume that Everyone must have these same tendencies to self-evaluate and modify behavior as appropriate to achieve more desirable social outcomes. However, here we are Two Years Into the Tweetster’s So-Called Administration, and it is hard to find evidence of any Growth in Perspective, Clarity, or Achievement.
There IS (or Should Be) a Resume of sorts to be President. Events of this week have provided many useful Takeaways:
- It’s Not about YOU, it’s about The Office;
- The Buck Stops With You; and
- You have to become a Grown-up if we are all going to Get Through This.
Washington Post Tweetster Lie Count to date: 6,420 as of 11/2/18
This week’s wine tasting
Cantina del Morellino Vermentino ’17 Italy $16
Later harvest ripeness yields great varietal expression and character, with enhanced viscosity, concentration, and aromatic structure. Great match with almost everything.
Stephen Vincent pinot noir ’14 California $14
Fragrant Sonoma aromatics of wild strawberry and cherry, and forest floor, sun-dried apricots and strawberry preserves. On the palate, medium-bodied, with raspberry, blood orange, and toffee hints with a smooth finish.
Matorana Nero d’Avola ’17 Italy $14
From Sicilian volcanic soils; full-bodied and fresh with big notes of ripe plums, berry cobbler, dark chocolate, and almonds, melting into earthy flavors with good minerality.
Les Pious Cotes de Rhone Grenache ’14 France $14
Smooth and rich, with notes of plum and caraway; grown biodynamically and aged in cement tanks…nice!
La Quercia Montepulciano d’Abruzzo Riserva Colline Teramine ’10 Italy $26
From 50-yr-old vines, aged two years in oak; fulsome notes of cocoa rhubarb, blackberry, and herbs; long, lingering finish; rich, full-bodied and rustic in expression. Fermented and aged in concrete. Tons of juicy black cherries, pure fruit, and a silky/velvety mouthfeel.
lummi island wine tasting sept 21 ’18
Bread Friday this week
Whole Wheat Ciabatta – Uses an italian biga pre-ferment as well as a levain. Once mixed the dough is fermented overnight for a lot of flavor to the final bread. Made with regular bread flour, fresh milled whole wheat, and a little olive oil for more flavor. A great rustic bread – $5/piece
Pain Normand – Exemplifies the flavor of french Normandy region which is known for its apples. Made with fresh- milled whole wheat and rye flours as well as bread flour, apple cider, and dried apples. A delicious artisan bread – $5/loaf.
and pastry this week…
Bagels! – also made with a bit of preferment, in this case a sponge, mixed, shaped and refrigerated overnight before being boiled and baked in the traditional manner for a delicious, chewy bagel. Your bagels come with assorted toppings: sesame seeds, poppy seeds, mixed sesame and poppy and plain. Each order is mixed – sorry no choices – 4/$5
Queen Anne’s Lace
(note: some photos will enlarge when clicked)
For the last month or so our daily walks have taken us past lots of Queen Anne’s lace down near Legoe Bay. It is named for Queen Anne of England (1665-1714), who according to legend, pricked her finger and dripped blood on the white lace she was sewing. This summer revealed that it goes through a remarkable set of transformations as it flowers, arousing our curiosity about it.
It is also commonly known as wild carrot — the roots smell like carrots–an edible plant cultivated as a vegetable by early Europeans, the Romans, and early American colonists. It is high in sugar and has often been used as a sweetener by many cultures. Its early flowering features a single, tiny, dark purple flower in the center of a dense circle of white flowers which open for pollination. The entire cluster then closes into a basket that evolves further as it goes to seed.
The roots can be eaten, but caution is required because a number of poisonous plants (like poison hemlock) can be mistaken for this one. The roots can be used in soups and stews or for making tea. Leaves work as salad ingredients, and flower clusters can be cooked or used to garnish a salad.
All in all, it goes through a long series of beautiful and fascinating transformations!
Montepulciano Riserva
A year or two ago we posted a note about the sometimes confusing differences between the grape varietal montepulciano, sometimes called Vino Nobile de Montepulciano, made in the charming Tuscan hilltop town of Montepulciano from the the local version of Italy’s most iconic grape, sangiovese, and Montepulciano D’Abruzzo, a red wine grape grown in the Abruzzo region of east-central Italy, stretching between the Apennine mountains of Italy’s spine and the Adriatic coast.
Descriptions of the aromas and flavors of the two grapes don’t add much to distinguishing one from the other, with a typical Nobile described as flavors of dark ripe berries, with notes of plum and hints of earthiness, while d’Abruzzo Riserva can be described as highly aromatic with earthy black berry notes and an inky-purple color with a thick, almost syrupy mouthfeel. Since at this very moment I am, um, sampling this weekend’s Marchetti Rosso Conero Riserva, I can tell you with some confidence that after 30 minutes or so of aeration, I endorse this description whole-heartedly. On the one hand this wine seems deeper and darker on entry than a Nobile from Montepulciano; on the other after opening it is less tannic, richer, and longer on the palate. I.e., you will definitely want some, and we only have the one case. Best get here early…!
Mar a Lago Update: Turning Points
In the interests of Full Disclosure, we admit being categorically opposed to any judicial nominee endorsed by the Federalist Society. By its very nature, such an endorsement is a research finding that said nominee had been vetted and found Highly Likely to support a pro-Corporate, pro-Gun, anti-Choice Political Agenda.
This is in High Contrast to the model adopted and long-practiced by our Canadian neighbors, who set a Much Higher Standard for their judicial nominees. Though that standard is unwritten, in practice it results in Review Courts made up of Justices who are so thoughtful and responsible that it is impossible to predict which way any individual judge will vote on any particular case.
The more we think about it, the more we are in awe and a good deal of Envy because it seems like such a Perfect Criterion for an effective and balanced Judiciary: the ability to take each case on its own merits relative to the Law as written. What better Guardian of Democracy could anyone imagine?
This is in sharp contrast to our own Appellate Judiciary, which has become increasingly politicized over the last few decades, beginning perhaps with Robert Bork in 1987, the Anita Hill-contested nomination of Clarence What’s-His-Name in 1991, the Republican Refusal even to consider the President Obama’s nomination of Merrick Garland in 2016, up to the current Fast-Tracking of Judge Kavanaugh in 2018.
So it is in this context that we consider the Oh-So-Chimplike Spect-Deb-Acle of the Republicans’ rush to approve Kavanaugh to the Supremes before the November Election vs. the Dems’ Last Stand for Balanced Justice over the next thirty years. In particular, at the moment there is an accusation on the table that Kavanaugh committed a felony assault as a 17 yr-old minor under the influence of a copious amount of alcohol.
One thing we can say for sure is that there are a lot of lines converging on this matter, most of them Partisan. Our view of the moment is that once again, as So Often in the last few years, we find Our Nation in an Ethical Dilemma which requires our representative government to put on their wigs and robes, step up, and Deliberate with Open Hearts and Minds and Good Intention. The Me-Too Movement has created new and higher expectations for Men in Power, and Consequences for those who do not measure up. At some Very Deep Level, this Nomination is becoming a Metaphor for our most basic philosophical differences, and the results of the meta-combat over the next few weeks may shape the Global Future for a Very Long Time.
Washington Post Tweetster Lie Count to date: 4713 as of 9/1/18
This week’s wine tasting
Montinore Borealis White Oregon $12
Blend of Müller-Thurgau, Gewürztraminer, Riesling and Pinot Gris; scents of orange blossom, ripe honeydew, guava and kiwi; sumptuous and round, bursting with stone fruit, Meyer lemon and juicy pear drizzled with caramel.
Teutonic Pinot Noir Rosé ’15 Oregon $19
An elegant rosé that’s low in alcohol, showing notes of dark plum, pink apples, and cassis. Voluptuous and succulent with fresh strawberry notes, good minerality, and zesty acidity.
Chateau Mayne-Vieil Buisson Redon ’14 France $10
From 25 year old vines; 60% Merlot and 40% Cabernet Franc from clay-loam soil. Well made, easy to drink, and very affordable.
Ramirana Cab Reserva ’15 Chile $12
Expressive notes of red and black berries, with notes of black pepper, chocolate, and tobacco. Nicely balanced body, acidity, and tannins, with a pleasing finish.
Marchetti Montepulciano Rosso Conero Riserva ’14 Italy $22
Great expressions of the Montepulciano varietal; a sleek, muscular wine aged 18 months in French oak, and made of only free run juice. Enticing notes of exotic spice, vanilla, dried cranberry, and dark chocolate.
2072 Granger Way