lummi island wine tasting june 10-11 ’22
Hours this weekend: 4-6pm both Friday and Saturday
We continue to monitor Covid numbers around the County. There has been some rise in cases over recent weeks, so caution is still recommended. Showers are forecast for both days. Friday bread pickup is under the front awning on Friday, and for those who wish to stay outside for tasting on Saturday.
Last Saturday we did ask some folks to sit outside to limit crowding upstairs, and it seemed to work well for everyone.
Bread Pickup This Week
Breton – Made with pre-fermented dough in which a portion of the flour, water, salt & yeast are mixed and fermented overnight before preparing the final dough, which incorporates the flavors of the French Breton region by using buckwheat and rye flour and sel gris -the grey sea salt from the region that brings more mineral flavors to this bread. Goes great with meats and cheeses – $5/loaf
Spelt Levain — Spelt is an ancient grain with a nutty, slightly sweet flavor; it has gluten but it isn’t as strong as in modern wheat. This bread is made with a levain before the final dough is mixed with traditional bread flour, spelt flour, fresh milled whole spelt and rye. – $5/loaf
and mmm, pastry this week…
Kouign Aman: Made with the same traditional laminated french pastry used for croissants. Has both a little levain for the sourdough flavor as well as some pre-fermented dough to help build strength. When rolling out however, instead of using flour to prevent sticking, sugar is used. The dough is cut into squares and baked in cupcake tins where all that sugar and butter caramelizes and makes for delicious, crunchy, delightful pastry. Quantities are limited so get your order in early so you don’t miss out – 2/$5
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 recommended for pickup the following Friday.
Wine of the Week: Wine of the Week: Longship Lady Wolf Malbec ’18 Washington $25
Longship is a fairly new family-owned winery in Richland, in the heart of Washington wine country. Established in 2013, it has focused on producing big, hand-crafted, barrel-aged, red varietals like tempranillo, malbec, syrah, cabernet sauvignon, with at least 60% proportion aged for 18 months in new oak barrels.
The name “Longship,” and the adoption of the Viking Longship as the winery’s logo is a nod to the family’s Scandinavian heritage and the winery’s ongoing journey to produce some of the finest wines in the Pacific Northwest.
The Richland tasting room was added at the end of 2016, not just to feature their wines, but also, as is the case here at the Wine Gallery, to create a social space where friends can gather to relax in a convivial environment while sharing delicious handcrafted wine.
We took an immediate liking to the wine when we first tasted it last year. Chances are you will, too!
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.
FontanaFredda Briccotondo Piemonte Barbera ’18 Italy $15
Nose of blackberries and plums, with hints of black pepper and cinnamon. Crisp and fresh on the palate with sweet, soft tannins, silky texture, and great fruit character.
Longship Lady Wolf Malbec ’18 Washington $25
100 % malbec; unfolds with dark, enchanting notes of blackberry, grilled plum, and jammy raspberry with accents of orange peel, vanilla, and tobacco spice, finishing with balanced structure, plush texture, and a lengthy finish.
The Economics of the Heart: The Alphabet vs. the Goddess
Some years ago we read a fascinating book by surgeon Leonard Shlain. His basic and well-researched hypothesis was that the introduction of reading and writing into human society millennia ago actually changed the way that human beings thought. In particular, he suggested that before widespread literacy, most cultures were tribal, holistic, and intuitive– perhaps what we today might call “right-brained.” So “goddess” is a metaphor for a particular world view that honored the holism of the natural world.
In contrast, Shlain argued that the cultures of the Israelites, Greeks, Christians, and Muslims, transmitted as written texts and ideas rather than sensory experience, turned human culture toward linear, dualistic thinking. Those, he argued, narrowed the holistic perception of our own experience and concentrated power in the “educated” men who claimed authority to interpret these “laws.”
The everyday miracles of existence took a back seat in “civilized” culture to complex rules that put power in the hands of a small number of the self-anointed priests and shamans, mostly men. And these fundamental cultural changes– the Alphabet– changed Everything about human social organization, including gender roles. As a result, women’s roles have borne a burden of subservience which has resisted change for millennia.
This all came to mind a few days ago when a dear friend (a woman) sent us the following note written by an unidentified young man. It captures in simple terms the glaring gender inequities in our country and across most of the world that disproportionately concentrate power in Patriarchal Authority.
“How about we treat every young man who wants to buy a gun like every woman who wants to get an abortion – mandatory 48 HR waiting period, parental permission, a note from his doctor proving he understands what he’s about to do, a video he has to watch about the effects of gun violence, and an ultrasound wand up the ass (just because). Let’s close down all but one gun shop in every state and make him travel hundreds of miles, take time off work, and stay overnight in a strange town to get a gun. Make him walk through a gauntlet of people holding photos of loved ones who were shot to death, people who call him a murderer and beg him not to buy a gun.”
It is an alarming and attention-getting metaphor at this point in our history to juxtapose these two huge political debates in our country. According to Republicans, every MAN has Three inalienable rights:
- To own an unlimited arsenal of highly lethal military assault weapons and ammunition, AND
- To refuse public health mandates for vaccinations because only HE decides about HIS own body, AND
- To be subjected to minimal legal/moral liability for his essential role in causing a woman’s pregnancy, thereby condemning her to decades of child-rearing burdens.
These same Republicans have a far more parochial view of the rights of American women to manage their own lives and bodies. Should Roe v. Wade fall as is widely anticipated, nearly all Republican-controlled states have laws that will immediately go into effect to severely restrict every woman’s rights as a citizen simply because of their gender. REALLY?? Looks like time to dust off that Equal Rights Amendment and make it Law, huh…?
As we go to press tonight, the first public report from the Jan 6 Committee is being broadcast nationwide while Fox and other Right-Wing Press are pumping out propaganda for their vast Zombie army. Tragically, their brains, washed clean of actual facts about their world, have left only empty skulls, endlessly echoing slogans from Trump, Hannity, and Carlson. Alas, these are the sad remnants of the very footsoldiers of Trump’s Orc army who did so much damage on January 6.
Seriously, the quote above is evocative, timely, and worth sending to everyone you know, including your elected representatives at all levels. Our democracy continues to hang but a fragile thread away from becoming a dystopian, corporate Hell under the banner of self-anointed white men and the cruel gods they have created in their own image.
lummi island wine tasting june 3-4 ’22
Hours this weekend: 4-6pm both Friday and Saturday
We continue to monitor Covid numbers around the County. There has been some rise in cases over recent weeks, so caution is still recommended. There is seating on the front deck as well as under the awning for those who wish to stay outside for tasting. Last Saturday we did ask some folks to sit outside to limit crowding upstairs, and it seemed to work well for everyone.
Bread Pickup This Week
Pain Meunier -Aka Miller’s Bread to honor the miller who mills the wheat. Made with pre-fermented dough it contains all portions of the wheat berry: flour, fresh milled whole wheat, cracked wheat and wheat germ. Always a favorite and a great all around bread. It makes the best toast! – $5/loaf
Sonnenblumenbrot – Aka Sunflower Seed Bread, made with a pre-ferment that takes a portion of the flour, water, salt and yeast that ferments overnight before mixing the final dough with bread flour and freshly milled rye, then loaded up with toasted sunflower seeds and some barley malt syrup for sweetness. – $5/loaf
and mmm, pastry this week…
Chocolate Babka Rolls – A sweet pastry dough full of eggs, butter and sugar, rolled and spread with a chocolate filling, rolled up and cut into individual rolls that are placed in baking forms for baking and then brushed with sugar syrup after baking. – 2/$5
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 recommended for pickup the following Friday.
Wine of the Week: The Wolftrap Syrah Mourvèdre Viognier ’18 South Africa $11
Boekenhoutskloof farm was established in 1776 in the furthest corner of the beautiful Franschhoek Wine Valley of South Africa, about 50 km east of the Cape of Good Hope.
The farm’s name means “ravine of the Boekenhout” (pronounced Book-n-Howed), which is an indigenous Cape Beech tree greatly prized for furniture making. In 1993 the farm and homestead were bought and restored and new vineyards planted for Syrah, Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Grenache, Semillon and Viognier.
When the farm was founded, the Franschhoek valley was far wilder than it is today. Though the mountains are still alive with indigenous animals, including the majestic leopard, the only evidence that wolves once roamed here is an ancient wolf trap found long ago. This wine was named in homage to the mysteries and legends of days long gone by.
Most of the Syrah in The Wolftrap comes from the Swartland region (photo, left), where it develops its robust character and elegant aromas of violets, ripe plums, and spicy, peppery profile and juicy, fruity character. The Mourvèdre, also from the Swartland, lends a red fruit character and smoky body while a dash of Viognier adds perfume and verve for a rustic Rhône-style blend that seriously over-delivers for its $11 price point.
This Week’s $5 Tasting
Crios de Susana Balbo Torrontes ’20 Argentina $11
Highly perfumed aromas of lemon drop, grapefruit, white flowers, peppermint and white pepper. crisp yet supple and easygoing, with citrus, herbal, and floral flavors on the clean finish.
The Wolftrap Syrah Mourvèdre Viognier ’18 South Africa $11
Aromas of ripe plums, red currants, violets, Italian herbs and exotic spices lead to vibrant flavors of darker berries and spicy plum with hints of orange peel that linger on a juicy finish.
Bodega Garzon Tannat Reserve ’18 Uruguay $15
Opaque deep, dark red; opens with enticing, delicious aromas of very ripe, dark fruit and berries stewed in their own liqueur, with lingering notes of spice, herb, and licorice on the seamless finish.
The Economics of the Heart: Holding the Center
Again and again over the past six years we have found some inspiration in a quote from economist Joan Robinson that succinctly captures the relationships among value, society, and economics:
“Every economic system requires a set of values, a set of rules, and a will in the people to carry them out.”
The observation implies an ongoing dynamic between economics and politics where values are shared to a great enough extent that we all willingly bind ourselves to support the rules. In our country those rules are represented by the Constitution of the United States, as amended over the past 250 years as the nation has evolved.
There have always been divisions, among and within the separate states, financial interests, the personal egos of the political leaders of the time, and the demands of international cooperation or conflict. So far there has only been one Civil War, and it was caused primarily by the irreconcilable views on slavery between the North and the South in 1860.
For the past 30 years in general and the last six years in particular, Republicans have spent much of each day coming up with the latest pejorative term for Democrats. Someone at Fox comes up with the slogan for the day or week, and every announcer on every show repeats it over and over, like a mantra. They speak with practiced and slanderous disdain, carefully worded slogans, and ongoing calls to anger and outrage. Their entire purpose is to attack the underlying values of the nation itself. We have seen all of this before, the practiced and well-trod path to Tyranny.
Next week the long-awaited public broadcasts of the findings of the January 6 Committee will begin. We can expect a major ratcheting up of the Fox echo chamber and most sitting Republican office holders as they try to distract, ridicule, and attack every finding. In a way it will be the beginning of the New Civil War. Like the first Civil War, it will be based on a Great Divide in values.
Democrats stand for protecting the Constitution and preserving the legacy of this country to create and maintain the conditions for each citizen to live freely, happily, and productively. This current crop of Republicans, like their Civil War heroes, seems aimed at making the rich ever richer, the poor ever poorer, and the non-white ever the slave.
lummi island wine tasting may 27-28 ’22
Memorial Day Weekend Schedule
Short post tonight, folks…it’s 8:30 pm Thursday, May 26, and we just got home a few hours ago from our 3-week trailer trip. So this will be brief note to tell you about our special event Friday. (“today,” if you are on our mailing list).
#1. We are happy to be back, and are looking forward to seeing you all!
#2. The Wine Shop will be OPEN as usual for sales and tasting Friday and Saturday from 4-6 pm. Janice will be delivering weekly bread orders, and we will be pouring three particularly good wines (see notes, below), including two from Sineann Winery in Oregon which, while a little pricey, were big hits when we last poured them a couple of years ago.
#3. Friday Special Event: From 4-6 pm we will be hosting a Meet and Greet with State Senate candidate Sharon Shewmach. Sharon has been our District representative to the State Legislature for two terms and is now running for the seat left vacant last winter with the passing of the late Doug Ericksen, who held the seat for many years. Tragically and ironically, Covid denier Ericksen succumbed to the very disease he claimed was a hoax. (…In full disclosure, I endorse Ms. Shewmach partially because by coincidence she currently holds the faculty position at WWU that I held for some years a few decades ago. And although, as Harry Truman noted, “if you laid all the economists in the world end to end, they would still point in different directions,” the world of environmental economics shares some basic common values…)
This Week’s $5 Tasting
Attems Sauvignon Blanc ’19 Italy $17
Green highlights; on the nose, intense aromas of boxwood, Scotch broom, and mint with exotic sensations of guava and pineapple; on the palate graceful and personable with a persistent citrus finish with a cleansing salinity. read more
Sineann Pisa Terrace Pinot Noir ’14 Washington/NewZealand $30
Made in NZ’s Otago region by Sineann winemaker Peter Rosback; full and ripe, with great structure, good natural acidity and subtle, lingering intensity; plum and black cherry flavors are framed by soft tannins and notes of baking spices, dried herbs and fresh earth.
Radman Cellars Cabernet Sauvignon ’15 Washington $40
Fruit sourced from Shaw Vineyards in Red Mountain AVA, wine made at Sineann winery. Deep and dark in color, classic nose of black currant, smooth and lingering palate of pruney black currant, gentle but persistent tannins, and long, smooth finish.
lummi island wine tasting May 6 ’22
May Schedule
We will be CLOSED for wine tasting and sales until Friday, May 26, when we will be hosting a meet and greet (and wine tasting!) from 5-6 with legislative candidates Sharon Shewmake and Alicia Rule.
HOWEVER, weekly bread pickup from Island Bakery will continue under the awning in front of the wine shop each Friday through the month from 4-5:30 pm.
Bread Pickup This Week
Levain w/ Dried Cherries and Pecans – a levain is made the night before final mixing of the dough using a sourdough starter. This allows the fermentation process to start and the gluten to start developing. The final dough is made with the levain, bread flour and fresh milled whole wheat and then loaded up with dried cherries and toasted pecans. A nice rustic loaf that goes well with meats and cheese – – $5/loaf
Pan de Cioccolate – A delicious chocolate artisan bread that isn’t an enriched sweet pastry dough with lots of eggs, butter and sugar. Rather this bread is a rich chocolate bread made with a levain, bread flour and fresh milled rye flour, honey for sweetness, vanilla and plenty of dark chocolate. Makes fabulous toast, even better french toast – $5/loaf
and pastry this week…
Pain aux Raisin Made with the same laminated dough as croissants. The dough is rolled out, spread with pastry cream and sprinkled with a mix of golden raisins and dried cranberries that have been soaked in sugar syrup. Rolled up and sliced before baking. These are my favorites! As always, quantities are limited, be sure to get your order in early – 2/$5
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 recommended for pickup the following Friday.
Sorry…Closed for Tasting till May 27 😕
The Economics of the Heart: Hubris and Oral High Ground
The Big News of the moment is the leak from the Supreme Court that a decision may have already been made to overturn Roe v. Wade, the 50 yr-old Court decision that assured every woman’s right to decide for herself whether to carry an unplanned pregnancy to term.
The nonstop news and resultant punditry has been filling the airwaves since yesterday (5/4) and speculation abounds about the implications. So far we find ourselves resonating strongly with the perspective offered yesterday by WaPo opinion writer Jennifer Rubin, and highly recommend it:
Let’s throw out the term ‘Culture Wars.’ This is Religious Tyranny.
Rubin reminds us that to have any credibility, any “Originalist” interpretation of the Constitution must be faithful to the Founder’s clearly stated intention that government be free from the dogma of any and all religious superstitions.
We are also persuaded by Vice President Harris’ presentation to Emily’s List 30th anniversary:
“Anyone in our country may face a future where the government can interfere with their personal decisions…Not just women…Anyone…If the Court overturns Roe v. Wade it will be a direct assault on the fundamental right of self-determination to which all Americans are entitled…anyone in our country might face a future where the government can interfere with their personal decisions.”
There are a couple of powerful takeaways from these emerging perspectives.
First is the head-scratching Hubris of the so-called “Originalist” interpretation of the Constitution, by which a tiny clique of carefully screened Catholic Justices assert Divine Insight into the Founders’ real intentions, i.e., a nation enslaved to the whims of one particular subgroup of religious zealots. Sure, what could possibly go wrong with that?
Second…and more important…for 50 years Roe has been the law of the land that individuals, communities, businesses, and governments at all levels have reasonably accepted as settled law. As we can see, most of the Red States have draconian punishments that will spring into place within days if Roe is overturned. Many individual lives will be thrown into chaos as the most basic assumptions about our freedoms are suddenly challenged, and the kind of country we thought we were living in is Crushed like an Egg by totalitarians with neither humility nor honor.
2072 Granger Way