lummi island wine tasting march 25 ’22
Open At Last!!
Based on today’s updated Covid data, case rates across all age groups in our county are now essentially Zero…!
Don’t know about you, but when we take even a moment to think about that, we find a mixture of elation, disbelief, relief, and sadness. It’s been a Very Long two years, and we are not the same as we were before. In most of the developed world, we can begin what is likely to be a long healing process as we turn our collective attention to vaccinating the vast population of the less developed world.
For those of you here on the Island, we are again OPEN for wine tasting and sales this Saturday (3/26) from 4-6 pm. Anyone with boosted vaccine status is welcome; please bring vax card.
There is NO BREAD PICKUP this week as our baker is away attending NCAA women’s college basketball playoffs. However, weekly bread pickup will return to the wine shop next Friday, April Fool’s Day.
To get on the bread order list, click on the “Contact Us” link above and fill out the form. The 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 needed for pickup the following Friday.
Mailing List Issues: The Continuing Saga
This week our little saga continues as we try a new approach to mailing out our weekly post. This week we are trying out some new software that might or might not take care of the problem. And due to that uncertainty, we are taking the precaution of emailing the link directly to our mailing list as well as trying to activate the RSS feeder.
Best case scenario is that you will receive the actual blog in one email, and a link to it in another at about the same time. Any other outcome means something didn’t work as it should.
After all, it should be clear to everyone at this point that it Really Is a Jungle out there, so we need to lower expectations and take a long view.
This Week’s $5 Tasting
Planeta Segreta Il Bianco Sicily $14
50% Grecanico, 30% Chardonnay, 10% Viognier, 10% Fiano. Clear yellow with greenish hints; engaging aromas of citrus and flowers and hints of peach, papaya and chamomile. Balanced and refined, with a lingering and refreshing finish.
Jordanov Vranec ’15 Macedonia $12
Aromas of ripe berries with notes of clove, nutmeg and cardamom. In the mouth it is full bodied with ripe dark fruit and hints of herbs with a noticeable dark chocolate edge on the well-structured finish. Enjoy with cheese, beef, lamb dishes or grilled sausage.
Rasa Occam’s Razor Red Columbia Valley ’18 Washington $22
Bouquet of blackberry and cassis, with nuances of spice, leather, vanilla, and espresso. Full-bodied palate shows suave tannins with rich notes of dark berries, black cherry, and vanilla with hints of cigar, chocolate, cedar, and spice.
The Economics of the Heart: Power and Cruelty
It can get confusing being human. As primates, social hierarchy is our natural milieu, leading us to gather in tribes, to engage in all manner of competition with each other for food, mates, status, and group approval. This is a game we are all involved with and all play with varying degrees of ambition, dedication, and inner need.
We have an ongoing fascination with our curious situation as primates, having instincts of both herd animals (safety in numbers) and predators (strength, deception, ambush, murder). Some of us just want to be left alone to graze and forage, and some crave to control who gets to graze where. It is interesting (and disturbing!) that our entire world in the past few years has been so hugely influenced by two such men, both textbook Authoritarians, narcissistic and psychopathic, with no allegiance to principle or truth. Like the “confidence men” of the 1950’s TV series Racket Squad, they are masters of “patting you on the back with one hand and picking your pocket with the other.”
Such people are not “leaders” in the familiar sense of inspiring others to follow or serve a common purpose. Because they are pathological, they can only feel safe when they hold such complete Authority that no one can ever hurt them…again.
Putin’s sadistic assault on Ukraine is a sad business all around, and it is impossible to accept that it offers any strategic or tactical value to the Russian nation. It is all about the emotional security of this one little man who happens to hold terrifying power for destruction and no apparent moral boundaries on its use. Below are some thought-provoking excerpts from a piece by Dominic Lawson of the Daily Mail which caught our eye:
- Putin is an absolute ruler — which is very much in the Russian tradition. Hence the old joke (sort of) that Russia is ‘an autocracy tempered by assassination’.
- ‘Government in Russia, like most of Russian business, is dominated by gangsterism.’
- ‘After Putin began his unspeakably cruel and bloody assault on independent Ukraine and its people, the Russian novelist Vladimir Sorokin wrote: ‘For Putin, life itself has always been a special operation…From the black order of the KGB, he learned not only contempt for ‘normal people’, but also [its] main principle: not a single word of truth…’
- ‘With this war, Putin has crossed a line. The mask is off.’
lummi island wine tasting march 19 ’22
Yes, We ARE Open…!
Based on today’s updated Covid data, over the past two weeks new cases across all age groups have continued to drop in every subregion of our County. This improves our confidence about the relaxing of state-mandated mask mandates across most of our region. Our fingers remain crossed as we hope the trend continues.
All YOU need to know is that we are again OPEN for wine tasting and sales this Saturday (3/19) from 4-6 pm. Anyone with boosted vaccine status is welcome; please bring vax card.
The wine shop will remain closed on Fridays until weekly bread pickup returns to the shop, possibly within the next few weeks. In the meantime bread pickup will continue be in Janice’s driveway from 4-5:30 pm this Friday (3/18). We understand she will be away next weekend (3/25) and possibly return bread pickup to the wine shop on (of course!) April Fools’ Day. Stay tuned!
To get on the bread list, click on the “contact us” link above and fill out the form. 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 needed for pickup the following Friday.
Mailing List Issues: The Continuing Saga
Last week our emailed blog post link notification seemed to reach lots of you by Friday morning as desired. Still, we are still checking files to make sure we have everyone on the list who wants to be, as well as finding the easiest way to send the post itself rather than just the link.
This Week’s $5 Tasting
Chapoutier Belleruche Blanc ’20 France $14
Delicious blend of grenache blanc and roussanne; fragrant and perfumed with a light, grilled-lemon note over ripe melon with a lingering palate of rich white peach.
Saviah The Jack Syrah ’18 Washington $15
85% Syrah, 10% Grenache, 5% Mourvèdre; Appealing aromas and flavors of red and black fruit, violets, olives, anise, and meat, with a velvety, pleasing texture.
Mollydooker “The Boxer” Shiraz ’18 Australia $28
Inky black-red hue; intoxicating scents of black plum, licorice and blackberry, toasty oak, fennel, and pepper; voluptuous, large scaled, and lavishly rich palate saturated in spicy black plum, licorice and blackberry that finishes with lingering notes of toasty oak, fennel, black pepper, polished tannins and a long, liqueur-like finish.
Justino Fanal Madeira Rainwater $22 Portugal $22
This Madeira is a medium dry blend of Verdelho and Tinta Negra aged for five years, lighter in body and sweetness than full Madeira, making it an excellent pairing with lighter fare like salads and spicy foods.
The Economics of the Heart: Unity and Organicity
Much of our national coinage bears the motto “E Pluribus Unum, a Latin phrase meaning “Out of Many, One.” The obvious interpretation is that our country started as a group of individual entities with diverse characteristics that came together in unity for a common purpose. But it has an even deeper meaning in how we as individual beings relate to each other and to the world.
As social animals, sometimes we assert our individual interests as separate organisms with private motivations (Organicity), and sometimes we join with others in support of group values and goals we share and support in common (Unity). As primates we have the characteristics and instincts of both predators and herd animals. One minute we get along with the flow around us, and the next we feel attacked and mobilize for war. Like Russia and Ukraine. Like Mom and Dad in the kitchen after dinner. Like the guy you inadvertently cut off at the traffic circle. It’s as if our radar is constantly scanning for threats, and we can jump from one role to another in the blink of an eye. (That’s why some of us think Open Carry is a Really, Really Bad Idea. But that’s another conversation…)
Upon reflection, it becomes clear that this emotional chameleonism must be a pretty primitive fight or flight instinct in our DNA. It also begs the suggestion that some people are more comfortable being herd animals, and some are more comfortable being predators. We all know people who are only okay if they are In Charge, some only if no one is in charge, and some who really don’t care. But at some level a deep need to be in charge suggests weakness, not strength. It also suggests a limited ability to adapt to changing circumstances, to value others as equals, and to be generous of spirit. The wolf pack can carve one caribou from the herd, and the leader gets to eat first, but most of the herd gets away for the moment.
Before us at this moment we have the deeply disturbing spectacle of Vladimir vs. Volodymyr in Ukraine, one the obvious predator attacking solely to dominate, and the other an obvious herd animal mobilizing to defend. Herd animals do, after all, have their defensive tools, whether great horns, speed and agility, cleverness, or resolve. Most of our species is on the side of Unity at the moment. If we’re lucky, that might be enough to stop the horrors we now see every day.
We all hope so. We all fear not. The world is at a major crossroad, with a madman controlling our destiny.
Take a break this Saturday and come by the wine shop. Good wine and good friends are always a comfort!
lummi island wine tasting march 12 ’22
Yes, We Are Open…!
Based on today’s updated Covid data for Whatcom County, over the past two weeks new cases across all age groups have converged to very low levels, with some notable variation by subregion. Lynden continues to show the highest case rates of 233/1000 residents compared to Bellingham at 101 and our closest mainland neighbor Ferndale at 152. Case rates remain inversely correlated with vaccination rates by subarea.
Based on these continuing decline in area cases and the rapidly declining restrictions in our region, we WILL again be OPEN for wine tasting and sales on Saturday from 4-6 pm. Anyone with boosted vaccine status is welcome, please bring card.
We will remain closed on Fridays until weekly bread pickup returns to the shop, possibly within the next month or so. In the meantime bread pickup will continue to be in Janice’s driveway from 4-5:30 pm on Friday.
To get on the bread list, click on the “contact us” link above and fill out the form. 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 needed for pickup the following Friday.
Mailing List Issues: The Continuing Saga
We are still searching for a reliable replacement for the defunct app that has been sending our subscribers the blog for many years. Last week it worked pretty well to email the link to our subscribers when we post. Then some time later (hours or days) some people still receive the whole post by email.
Conversations with subscribers suggests that some people really value getting the entire post in their email so they don’t have to click on anything to read it. Suggestions welcome from any of you tech savvy folks out there. Btw, we did have an app tip from the old friend who helped us get this blog going almost fifteen years ago, but we have not been able to make that work either because the instructions are vague and they have no pathway to talk with a real human being about fixing the glitches we have experiences with it.
This Week’s $5 Tasting
Sea Sun Chardonnay ’20 California $19
Blended from diverse California vineyards, this is a pretty and easy to drink chardonnay, with much to like, blended from fruit sourced from many vineyards…a good example of the growing trend of corporate ownership and production.
Sea Sun Pinot Noir ’19 California $21
A deep, alluring red, strikingly soft and rich on both the nose and palate, with scents of baked cherries, pie crust, and silky notes of brown spice and vanilla.
Bodega Garzon Tannat Reserve ’18 Uruguay $15
Opaque deep, dark red; opens with an enticing, delicious aroma of very ripe, dark fruit and berries stewed in their own liqueur, with seamless notes of spice, herb, and licorice .
Hartley & Gibson Amontillado Sherry Spain $14
Richly amber; brisk, medium dry; nutty to the palate; light, pungent bouquet. Serve chilled, on-the-rocks or at room temperature.
The Economics of the Heart: The Meaning of Meanness
If we could get really small and crawl into someone else’s head, it would be entering an entirely different Universe. Like our own sense of existence and reality, it would be seamless, continuous, and without boundaries. And we could see how all the experiences of that particular Universe are completely unique, and in their own way congruent. The only way one could be in that Universe is to be that person, or animal, or ant, or drop of water.
So we can all sit here, everywhere around this world, and see and hear what is going on in Ukraine, and have our distant, vicarious relationship with it, and suffer with the people in our way, and feel anger and sadness and futility and want to snatch up Vladimir Putin like the child he is and look in his eyes like his mother did or should have done and shake him and yell in his face and try to wake him up and become Human. Or even better, to tell him you see how much he must hurt inside to be so cruel, so separate from every other living person or animal or thing. What he is doing is unimaginable to most of us: killing people by the thousands, destroying each of their worlds, creating this ongoing suffering out of some adolescent whimsy.
What does he feel? Which of his Demons needs another feeding? Or, more briefly, WTF is WRONG with this guy?
For some reason one answer that comes up is in Marlon Brando’s haunting portrayal of Colonel Walter Kurtz in Apocalypse Now, as described in detail in this character/plot synopsis from Sparknotes, and in the video clip above, and which rings true for what the whole World now sees in Putin: “He (Kurtz) speaks in lofty, grandiose statements about “the Horror” of war, yet he is fully, willingly complicit in these Horrors. He has given himself full reign, freeing himself from all moral judgments—after all, what place does morality have in war?”
May the loving hearts of all beings bring a peaceful resolution to this senseless suffering.
lummi island wine tasting march 5 ’22
Wine Tasting is Back!
Based on today’s updated Covid data for Whatcom County, over the past two months the surge of the Omicron variant of Covid 19 has rolled over the country, taken a huge toll, and is declining rapidly. As the chart shows, new cases across all age groups have converged to very low levels for all age groups and County subregions. The remaining exceptions are the unvaccinated, who still remain at risk of serious illness for themselves and their contacts. So it goes, as Kurt Vonnegut was fond of observing.
Based on these rapid declines in cases and the rapidly declining restrictions in our region, we will be open for wine tasting and sales starting THIS Saturday, March 5, from 4-6 pm. Anyone with boosted vaccine status is welcome.
It has been a Long Haul, and we look forward to seeing you!
Friday Bread This Week
Weekly bread pickup will continue to be at Island Bakery for the rest of this month, with some expectation that it will return to the covered area in front of the wine shop at some point after that. If you are on the bread email list, you will have received order and pickup info from Janice. Pickup is in her driveway out on West Shore Rd from 4-5:30, with a fire pit to keep the Usual Suspects (and their dogs) comfy for a bit.
Current expectations are that bread pickup will likely return to the wine shop in some fashion sometime in April.
To get on the bread list, click on the “contact us” link above and fill out the form. Bread menu is sent to the list on Sundays. 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.
Mailing List Issues: The Continuing Saga
Again last week the new blog subscriber mail-out system sort of worked, but again with a full day’s delay. The app has no email address, no help desk, and no contact phone, so still in the dark about how to manage when it sends.
For the time being, last week it worked pretty well to email the link to our subscribers when we post. Then some time later the auto-mail feature might be in the mood to send the “official” version, depending on, you know, what’s going on on their planet/
This Week’s $5 Tasting
Thurston Wolfe Old Vine Chenin Blanc ’20 Washington $18
From vines planted in 1981 in Horse Heaven Hills; delivers aromas of ripe kiwi with rich sensations of honey and pear…nice!
Can Blau Can Blau ’18 Spain $16
Long an Artisan favorite; consistently showing aromas and flavors of ripe dark fruits and berries, a seamless texture, and long, silky finish that improves with aeration.
Townshend Cellars T3 Red Washington $18
Bordeaux style blend of cab, merlot and cab franc; fruit forward with hints of black currant and vanilla, with layers of complexity and depth through extensive oak aging in French and American barrels.
The Economics of the Heart: Time Bandits
Time Bandits was a very funny movie from the early 80’s, the typical sort of nonsense that Monty Python created. This clip is one of the most memorable takes from the film. By this point in the film everyone knew very well that the boy’s parents were complete idiots, so Of Course when the mysterious smoking object appeared in their midst, every audience knew immediately when the kid said, “Mom! Dad! Don’t touch it, it’s EVIL!…” that they Would touch it and it would NOT be Pretty.
It is with that same inevitability that we all now see, moment to moment, day by day, the countless ways we have been enslaved by the Corporate State’s Dystopian disdain for and devaluing of Our Precious Time. This ongoing appropriation by business of what used to be individual rights is the direct and intended result of fifty-some years of Business School Dogma that the fastest way to riches is to Appropriate everything historically in the public sector and sell it back at a profit to the people who used to own it collectively. These include clean air and water, home antenna (pre-cable) TV, quiet surroundings, and most of all for today’s rant…OUR TIME!
#1. Don’t know about you, but these days about 80% of our daily phone calls are from numbers that are currently inactive and therefore untraceable, from robot programs that link any real human voice to a sales pitch for the latest scam product or service; and from questionable requests for donations for a charity you have never heard of.
#2. Back in the 1950’s my mother was a switchboard operator at an answering service. When a client office was closed, calls were forwarded to her switchboard, and she would take a message to be delivered when the office opened next. Nowadays, what we get when we call most businesses, even when they are open, is a lengthy menu of options, each of which leads to more options, and none of which gets you any information you actually need until you start screaming “Representative! Representative! Representative!…PLEASE I MUST talk to a Real Human Being…Aaaarrrrggghhh!”
Or, as more eloquently phrased by old-time sci-fi writer Harlan Ellison, “I have no mouth, and I Must Scream!” In the past week I have spent many hours a day trying to solve a problem with the wine shop’s credit card processing system, being passed, with lengthy delays, among representatives across the world who could handle one piece of the puzzle and hand me off to another long wait, etc., and never getting the basic problem solved.
#3. Several months ago I went through the same thing with Century Link regarding our phone service, which kept getting more and more expensive. One would think that, of course, the fracking Telephone Company would have figured out a long time ago the best way to do customer service over the phone, and they did…real people sitting at switchboards. But the most Profitable way is minimize wage expenses by replacing people with electronic mechanisms that discourage most, connect some few with useful assistance, while reducing the most vulnerable few to whimpering puddles of despair.
4. Btw, a few months ago we cancelled Century Link, and moved our phone online to a local server we’ve been with for 30 years. The good news is we can always get a real person on the phone who will hang out with us till the problem is solved. The bad news is that online phone service creates conflicts with our now-online credit card machine, and that’s a whole ‘nother story.
Hopefully this little rant has been a distraction from the Real problems facing our world at the moment. We close by placing our palms together to bow and add our hearts to a global prayer for the well-being of the people of Ukraine.
2072 Granger Way