lummi island wine tasting nov 20 ’20
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Friday Bread Crumbs
The second outing of the new outdoors-at-the-wine-shop weekly bread pickup went even better last week. Janice and David are set up under a rain shelter (now with heaters!) just outside the wine shop garage door. Both pickup and payment can be conducted quite efficiently with masks and social distancing as well as a bit of winter weather protection.
Pick-up hours are from 4-5:30pm. At present sunset is about 4:30, which should provide decent light at least till 5. But as we slide toward winter solstice sunset gets earlier until December 7 when it sets at 4:14pm, and continues to set at 4:14 for another week before starting to creep later until summer solstice in June. Chances are bread pickup hours might move a bit earlier in December…stay tuned!
Until the national surge in Covid cases abates, we are backing off from allowing visitors inside for wine shopping. Instead we are going back to email/phone ordering only. Click on the Order Wine link in the header above for currently available wines with tasting notes and prices. We are making good progress on setting up enough of an actual online store to allow our members to order and pay online for pickup on Fridays or by arrangement. For the time being, when you have made your selections you can call us with your order or email us using the Contact Us link above to send us your order. We will contact you to make arrangements for pickup/delivery.
Wine of the Week: Chateau Auzias Cabardès ’18
The tiny wine region of Cabardès is a small group of villages directly north of the medieval walled city of Carcassonne, which sits on the western edge of the Languedoc wine region. It consists of only some 500 hectares of vineyards. To the west are the rolling farmlands of the Sud-Ouest, stretching toward the Bordeaux region on the Atlantic Coast.
Because of the mixed influence of both the Atlantic and the Mediterranean, vignerons of Cabardès are allowed to use both Bordeaux (cab, cab franc. merlot) and Rhone varietals (syrah, grenache) in their wine blends. It is the only wine region in France permitted to make such blends.
The region has been growing grapes and making wine since the Roman days, but only since the 70’s has the region been allowed to explore the possibilities its unique micro-climate provides. The resulting blends have their own unique charm, and again illustrate how soil and climate shape the wines of every particular place.
Chateau Auzias Cabardes ’18 France $11
60% Cabernet Franc, 30% Syrah, 10% Grenache. Enticing aromas of black raspberry and mulberry that showcase the Cabardes appellation where both Rhone and Bordeaux varietals may be grown. Fine-grained tannins and lacy, billowing acidity carry that raspberry/mulberry fruit all the way to a fresh, graceful finish.
Mar a Lago Update: Lies, Damn Lies, and Simon de Montfort
There is an old phrase of dubious origin that has plagued statisticians for over a century, that there are “Lies, Damn Lies, and Statistics.” An interesting exploration of the origin of the phrase ties it to a series of comments about false statements found in influential newspapers circa 1891, making a case that it went something like this:
-Thomas Henry Huxley, 1885: Talked politics, scandal, and the three classes of witnesses—liars, d—d liars, and experts.
-Sir Charles Dilke, October 21, 1891: false statements might be arranged according to their degree under three heads: fibs, lies, and statistics.
-Benjamin Disraeli (1895): I think Lord Beaconsfield said that there were three degrees of veracity—viz., lies, d—d lies, and statistics.
Everyone lies from time to time, whether by half-truth, omission, evasive statement, or protection from embarrassment. To that extent, Truth is a somewhat fluid concept, with little consequence one way or another. In that sense, everyday lies are just part of the ongoing lubrication of the Facts that helps us all oil the wheels or our progress.
That is a very different thing from compulsively lying, as with narcissistic personality disorder. A person with NPD may lie without reason, or to distort reality to fit the emotions that they are feeling. Some evidence suggests that they invent facts that will make them feel or look better, that they may be unaware when they are lying, and that they may not be able distinguish between truth and lies.
We are mentioning all this because while reading background on wine of the week (above) we were reminded of the Albigensian Crusade, a twenty-year long persecution of the Cathars in southwest France. Pope Innocent III considered them heretics, and offered lands stolen from the Cathars to those who imprisoned or killed them. Foremost among them was sometimes crusader Simon de Montfort. In 1210 he burned 140 Cathars in the village of Minerve who refused to recant. In another village, he had the eyes of a large number of prisoners gouged out, their ears, noses and lips cut off, and led back to their village by a prisoner who had been left with a single good eye. He is also sometimes credited (charged?) with having ordered the slaughter of over ten thousand men, women, and children at Beziers in 1209, and when asked how the soldiers could distinguish Cathars from Catholics, said “Kill them all; let God sort them out.”
All of this old history is timely because it illustrates so cruelly and vividly how extremely human norms can be tossed aside in the passion of religion or politics under the leadership of a narcissistic psychopath. Normal rules of civilized society are thrown away in the passions of hatred in the name of politics and religion. As the old saying goes, attributed to Sinclair Lewis, “When Fascism comes to America, it will be draped in the Flag and carrying a Cross.”
The election is long over but the battle continues, amid irrational anger, unabated national tension, and the flagrant complicity of Republican office holders.
It’s gonna be a Long Winter.
lummi island wine tasting nov 13 ’20
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Friday Bread Crumbs
Last week’s debut of the new outdoors-at-the-wine-shop bread pickup went smoothly. Janice is set up at a table in the garage doorway with another rain-sheltered table nearby so both payment and pickup can be conducted with masks and social distancing and a bit of winter weather protection.
Pick-up hours are from 4-5:30pm. At present sunset is about 4:30, which should provide decent light at least till 5. But as we slide toward winter solstice sunset gets earlier until December 7 when it sets at 4:14pm, and continues to set at 4:14 for another week before starting to creep later until summer solstice in June.
Due to the national surge in Covid cases, we are for the time being backing off from allowing visitors inside for wine shopping. Instead we are going back to email ordering only. Click on the Order Wine link in the header above for currently available wines with tasting notes and prices. Soon we hope to have an actual online store available to make the process more user-friendly. For the time being, when you have made your selections use the Contact Us link above to send us your order. We will contact you to make arrangements for pickup/delivery.
Wine of the Week: Maryhill Viognier
Viognier is known for full-bodied white wines with rich stone-fruit flavors. On the nose they can be quite floral, with lavender and pollen aromas, along with aromas and flavors of apricot, peach, pear, and lychee, and a palate-pleasing textural richness. Or, as wine writer Karen McNeil has put it, viognier is “the most drippingly sensuous white wine varietal.”
Maryhill Viognier has been a staple here at the Wine Gallery for several years, delivering a lot of pleasure for its modest price. The 2018 vintage is a blend from four award-winning Columbia Valley vineyards: 35% Tudor Hills Vineyard, 26% Gunkel Vineyards (Estate), 23% Coyote Canyon Vineyard and 16% McKinley Springs Vineyard.
After a new-normal increasingly hot summer, grapes were harvested during cool morning hours to preserve bright fruit
tanks with French oak staves.
Maryhill Viognier ’18 Washington $14
Vibrant aromas and flavors of melon, pear, and apricot with traces of pineapple and grapefruit that flow into a crisp fruit finish.
Mar a Lago Update: The Looming Socialist Menace
There’s an old Maine story* about two fahmahs (“farmers” if you ain’t from Maine) having a discussion about politics. Enoch was going on about the many benefits of Socialism. Puzzled, but crafty, his neighbor Eben listened. After a while he scratched his chin thoughtfully and said, “All right, Enoch, so if you had two fahms, would you give me one o’ them?”
“Ayuh,” said Enoch, “if I had two fahms, I’d give you one o’ them.”
“Hmm,” said Eben. “And if you had two cows, Enoch, would you give me one o’ them?”
“Ayuh,” said Enoch, “if I had two cows, I’d give you one o’ them.”
“Well, then,” said Eben slyly, “and if you had two hay rakes, Enoch, would you give me one o’ them…?
There was a long pause before Enoch growled, “Damn you, Eben… you Know I got two hay rakes!”
(listen to The Classic Maine Story)
The point here is that a basic human trait is to protect Our Stuff, as in “Don’t you go messin’ with My Stuff!” We all have that wiring, and we all know the sense of violation when Somebody shows that lean and hungry look like they are Fer Sure gonna Mess with our Stuff as soon as we let down our guard. And let’s face it, Republicans only know one way to fish, and that’s constantly throwing blood in the water to convince their base that Democrats’ only goal is to steal their hard-earned money and their guns and leaving them broke and impotent.
Every government in the world operates on some hybrid blend of capitalism and socialism, or as economists would say, between markets and transfer payments. The market function of an economy allocates resources based on demand and supply. When prices rise, investment and output increase. And when prices fall, investment and output decrease. Transfer payments tax one group and redistribute that money to provide benefits to another. Examples are everywhere. Everyone who works pays Social Security taxes which are transferred as benefits to the elderly, disabled, or dependent children. Taxes on property are used to fund municipal services like street repair and fire and police protection. Income taxes fund both federal and state government operations.
At every level of government, tax revenues are collected from one group and spent to benefit others, such as Medicare, Social Security, Veterans benefits, Unemployment compensation, police departments, fire departments, libraries, schools, trash collection, and on and on and on. These are all forms of Socialism, and every government in the world taxes its citizens and businesses to pay for the goods and services it provides. Everyone chips in according to ability, and everyone shares in the overall benefits, according to need.
There is an old party game that provides some interesting insights into our own individual dispositions toward income redistribution. Everyone sits around a table with equal little pile of coins. When the game begins, everyone passes as much or as little as they like to the right, and keeps doing it. That process continues for many minutes until the game is called “over.” At the end people learn how they differ from others with regard to their needs to keep or not to keep some specific amount at the end. Curiously, some people are most comfortable aiming to keep as much as they started with. Others aim to wind up with nothing, and some feel a need to accumulate as much as possible.
More to the point: which are Republicans, and which are Democrats?
lummi island wine tasting nov 5 ’20
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Friday Bread Crumbs
Now that we are back on Standard Time, Janice is moving Friday bread pickup back to the wine shop for the first time since last March. However, bread pickup will continue to look a lot more like the parking lot pickup routine, with studious attention to social separation.
This week Janice will be set up at a table in the garage doorway. We have a plan for a rain shield outside as necessary. As at the parking lot, pickup will be a streamlined affair to minimize contact risk. Chances are we will be tweaking the process over the next few weeks until we arrive at a comfortable routine.
Due to the national surge in Covid cases, we are for the time being backing off from allowing visitors inside for wine shopping. Instead we are going back to email ordering only. Click on the Order Wine link in the header above for currently available wines with tasting notes and prices. Soon we hope to have an actual online store available to make the process more user-friendly. For the time being, when you have made your selections use the Contact Us link above to send us your order. We will contact you to make arrangements for pickup.
Wine of the Week: Indaba Merlot
Indaba Foundation was created shortly after the end of apartheid by South African wine importer Cape Classics to address the needs of vulnerable children by providing accredited training of Association Montessori Internationale teachers with initial focus on early childhood education. Indaba wines are also committed to promoting environmental, social, and ethical practices by the producers they work with.
Bottom line: good wines, sustainably produced, socially enabling, and offered at bargain prices; an admirable business model.
Indaba Merlot ’17 South Africa $10
94% Merlot, 6% Cabernet Sauvignon. Carefully crafted in a bright, clean style, this velvety Merlot offers appealing aromas and bright, succulent flavors of cherry, dark berry and plum backed by subtle mocha and herbal nuances and delicate minerality.
Mar a Lago Update: In Limbo with Schrödinger’s Cat
In the world of quantum physics, “Schrödinger’s Cat” is a hypothetical thought experiment to illustrate the paradox that a quantum system can theoretically exist in several states at once until the process of observation necessarily forces it to be in one state or another. In the experiment, a cat hidden from view in a “box” must be thought of as both dead and alive. But as soon as the box is opened to an observer, the very process of observation forces it to be in one state or the other.
As we go to press tonight, we are all like Schrödinger’s Cat, trapped in an electoral Twilight Zone while the Universe sorts out not only who will become the next President but also, simultaneously, which Universe will become Reality. After all we have been through this year,– these long four years– in a deeply existential way Everything seems to be at Stake.
If we open the box in one state, all will be well, and if by some capricious fate we get the other, we fear everything we love, hope for, and hold dear will disappear into an Eternal Hell of Hopelessness and Damnation. And meanwhile, we endure the Hell of Waiting.
Metaphorically, it looks something like this.
On the other hand, a preferable quantum state might look like this.
We will know soon enough which it will be. Fingers crossed…and craving a return to stability, predictability, kindness, and caring.
lummi island wine tasting oct 31 ’20
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Bread Crumbs
Friday Bread pickup will continue at the Ferry Parking Lot on Fridays from 4 – 5:30 pm through October. We are exploring how to bring Bread Fridays back to the wine shop. perhaps in the partial shelter of the wine shop garage door opening beginning in November.
We are open on Saturday afternoons from 3-5 pm for purchases and perhaps a wee splash of the “Wine of the Week. (see below). We don’t think reservations will be necessary, at least for the time being, but since only one group will be allowed inside at a time, you might encounter a short wait if another party is already inside. Appointments possible if timing is important to you.
The usual social distancing guidelines (see below) will apply. Windows will be open and fans and air filters will be in place as necessary to maintain a rapid air exchange cycle while the shop is open.
Social Distancing Guidelines:
1. Only one group (up to four people) will be allowed in the shop at once for up to 20 minutes.
2. Everyone must wear a mask while inside;
3. Each group must be a “pod” that willingly takes responsibility for managing social distance within their group.
4. Reservations optional (most likely not necessary).
Wine of the Week: La Spinetta IL Nero di Casanova Sangiovese ’15 Italy
Okay, okay, yes, this is the same Wine of the Week as last week. But since no one came by last Saturday, it will still be new to anyone who happens by this weekend! That could be you!
Ruby red in color with intense cherry and spicy mint characteristics on the nose. Densely rich on the palate, this magnificently structured Sangiovese is rounded with a good grip and fine finish.This is a pure expression of Sangiovese from 20-year-old vines surrounding the Casanova winery. i offers a complex aromatic profile of pressed rose, wet earth, liquorice and wild Mediterranean brush, fully expressing its Tuscan fingerprint. This wine has a distinct structure and power not unlike the more well-known Brunello or Montepulciano and aging in ten-year-old oak casks adds further integration, definition and stability to this exciting win
La Spinetta IL Nero di Casanova Sangiovese ’15 Italy $20
Intense ruby red color. Aromas of wild cherry, black currant and sweet plum. On the palate, this wine offers silky tannins and a fruity chewy finish as well as lots of cherry with elegant richness. A funky and intense wine. A better under $20 Tuscan Sangiovese might be impossible to find! This vintage of Il Nero is delicious! Intense ruby red in color with intense cherry and spicy mint characteristics on the nose. Densely rich on the palate, this magnificently structured Sangiovese is rounded with a good grip and fine finish.
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Mar a Lago Update: Looking Back with Exhaustion
Over the past four years we have seen and felt our country grow polarized as never before, not so much by ideology as by deliberately targeted political manipulation from the Right. The uneasy partnership between the Tweetster and Darth McConnell has never been one of the heart* (see below) so much as some kind of ongoing, mutually distasteful political arm wrestling. Their uneasy alliance is that the T gets to stay in the Spotlight, and the D gets to eat all the puppies he can lure into his lair.
This week’s “column” marks something like the 180th weekly edition of this little commentary feature here on our wine blog, our ongoing fearful lament against the increasingly virulent Tyranny of Ignorance perpetuated on our country and our planet by the petty vainglory of self-righteous Republicans. The pilot edition of this feature was in late April, 2017.
Now here we are (Finally!) on the eve of another Presidential election. We find ourselves deeply fearful that Republican attempts to stifle Democratic votes by slowing postal deliveries of mailed ballots, deliberately leaving valid ballots uncounted, and legally challenging Democratic ballots in courts across the land will occur and may succeed in at least some states. As amply evident during the Mueller report hearings, the Impeachment hearings, and the Supreme Court nomination hearings, we know that Republicans place Party and personal political advancement far above loyalty to, say, Truth, Justice, Honor, Integrity, or the Constitution.
It’s a tense time, with the whole world in the middle of a deadly pandemic, and voting rules varying wildly among states. In any case, now finally comes our chance to bring our country back on track with the values enshrined in our Constitution, and to bring all Americans together in the pursuit of our common goals. Raise yer glasses, lads and lassies, and unite in the hope for a better future!
* “Mommy, is it true Republicans have hearts of Stone?”
“No Dear, not at all; Republicans don’t have hearts.”
2072 Granger Way