lummi island wine tasting may day ’20
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Bread Friday, Covid Rules
Although Social Distancing remains in place to limit the spread of Covid-19, those on the Friday Bread mailing list will continue to receive a Sunday email from Janice with details about the week’s bread menu. And to maintain Social Distancing protocols, for the time being she will continue doing the weekly bread deliveries from her car (you know, the black Tesla that is So Popular with bakers!) from 4-5 pm at the North exit of the ferry overflow parking lot.
It has become something of an impromptu party, with people setting up lawn chairs and wine glasses to hang out for awhile, some kind of new Covid Tailgate event. So…depending on your Social Distancing parameters, you might want to just drive in, pick up, and drive out, or make camp, set up, and Party. At a safe distance, or course. Just sayin’…
Wine Shop Remains Open for Wine Emergencies!
As most of you know, our fifteen-year run of Friday and Saturday Happy Hours have been suspended until social gathering is safe for the retirees that make up most of our membership.
On a more positive note, we have been called in to resolve numerous Wine Emergency orders over the last few weeks, including several who responded to our post last week of a list of recommended wines we currently on board.
The Takeaway here is that when you find yourself in this precarious position, Help is just a phone call away. Click on the ORDER WINE link at the top of this page for a list of many of our current offerings. Then forward your choices to us by using the CONTACT US link above, or by phoning us (number next to logo above right) to arrange a pickup appointment at your convenience. And maybe an elbow bump and a taste of something… 🙂
Wine Notes
The wine list mentioned above has a number of new wines we have never poured for you. So each week we will add notes on a couple of them and keep a bottle open should you drop by to pick up an order.
The Terre Brulee Swartland Chenin Blanc is a new arrival along with a few other wines from South Africa. For some reason we have rarely crossed paths with this French varietal that originated in France over a thousand years ago as Chenere. It was renamed Chenin Blanc in the 15th Century, and introduced to South Africa, where it is the dominant white wine grape, by the late 17th Century. There is some speculation that the grape is an offspring of savagnin, the dominant white grape of the French Jura region, where it is traditionally allowed to oxidize during fermentation. In the current manifestation offered here is evidence of this long history. The wine is pleasing on many levels, with aromas of soft, ripe aromatic stone fruits and crisp acidity of Spanish verdejo, to which it may also be related. All in all, it’s an intriguing and enjoyable wine for the season.
Notes: Enticing floral aromas of white flowers, honeysuckle, yellow apple, and citrus; palate shows textural richness and precision, juicy and vibrant acidity, and lingering notes of yellow apple and grapefruit.
We brought in the Summers Andrianna’s Cuvee ’17 several weeks ago on the recommendation of one of our reps. It is a California cab blend from Calistoga and shows overlapping influences of the Sonoma and Napa wine regions. See Tech Sheet As it was recommended to us for some reason the wine usually sells for around $20, but was available for a price that would allow us to sell it for $14. So we bought two cases a few weeks ago, and have poured it for some of our recent Emergency customers, who all bought some. We just got another two cases (!). The main thing here is that this wine really is worth the price it usually sells for, and we have No Idea why it is for the moment such a bargain, but this is a tasty wine at an exceptional price.
Notes: A blend of Cabernet Sauvignon grapes procured from several select vineyards in Napa and Sonoma Counties, including the Summers’ own vineyards. A medium-bodied wine with a deep ruby plum color, rich in texture, showing notes of black currant, cedar and spice. Laced with plums, espresso and dark cherries, with subtle floral notes rounding out the finish.
Mar a Lago Update: Let Them Eat Surplus Labor!
Never let it be said that the Tweetster hasn’t Outdone Dubya, who in his last year in office presided over what was then the worst economic Crash since the Great Depression. President Obama stepped into that mess and over the next eight years carefully and deliberately kept a Steady Hand on the Tiller. Using the same Keynesian economic rationale as FDR used during the Depression, Obama used government deficit spending, tax cuts, and government loans to stimulate economic activity. Progress was slow but steady, and by the end of his second term in office, the economy had been rebuilt and was working again.
Why did that work? Because in the Keynesian model, the economy is a circular flow where investment produces infrastructure, which produces demand for labor, which pays wages, which pay for household goods and services, which pay businesses, and so on. The message: if aggregate demand falls, stimulate the economy by lowering taxes and increasing spending.
The Republicans have never grokked Keynes, preferring to imagine that Investment is the main driver of the economy, and therefore Investors must be coaxed to invest by low interest rates and low taxes, which will allow them to create capital, start new businesses and pay higher wages, which will increase consumer spending. So, they imagine, it is the same thing as Keynes, only better, because basically they like the picture that has the money start at the top. Unfortunately it didn’t work with Reagan, or with Bush, or with the Tweetster. The tax cuts have never delivered the promised economic growth, because consumer spending is the largest force in the circular flow. If consumers don’t earn, they don’t spend, and the whole machine slows down.
At present Social Distancing has shut down extensive parts of the economy, and the government has agreed upon a pretty good (Keynesian) plan to keep the circular flow going with huge increases in unemployment subsidies and rent and loan payment deferments. These are good ideas that are very likely to keep a light on in the window while we fight the Covid virus.
Yet in the last few days we now have a Movement among Red State Republican pols to relax social distancing protocols sooner rather than later. At root what is driving these guys crazy is the idea that working people should get anything for “free” while at the same time their entire Class gets Fat from a deep Matrix of interconnected laws that lets them pass Go and collect a Prize every time anyone uses a credit card just because they wear a fooking necktie.
At the end of the day we stick with our belief that the Default political economy of human beings is Feudalism. It’s not about Honor, or Valor, or Honesty, or any other known Virtue. It’s about raw selfishness, power, and Entitlement. Maybe we should work on a vaccine against Tyranny…
lummi island wine tasting april 24 ’20
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Bread Friday, Covid Rules
Although Social Distancing remains in place to limit the spread of Covid-19, those on the Friday Bread mailing list will continue to receive a Sunday email from Janice with details about the week’s bread menu. And to maintain Social Distancing protocols, for the time being she will continue doing the weekly bread deliveries from her car from 4-5 pm at the North exit of the ferry overflow parking lot.
When we stopped by last week, there were people with lawn chairs and wine glasses, looked like some kind of new Covid Tailgate. So…depending on your Social Distancing parameters, you might want to just drive in, pick up, and drive out, or make camp, set up, and Party. Just sayin’…
Wine Shop Declares Constitutional Right to Remain Open for Wine Emergencies!
As we all continue to adapt to Covid-19 Battle Protocols, our regular Friday and Saturday Evening Wine Tastings have been suspended until further notice. This is a big change from the past fifteen years of our collective building of the Friday and Saturday tastings into an ongoing Community where everyone is welcome and everyone is happy.
Btw, speaking of Good Cheer, since Social Distancing was initiated by Governor Inslee a month ago, we have found ourselves enjoying most evenings an episode or two of the early-80’s TV series Cheers, a sitcom set in an old pub in Boston. The neighborhood atmosphere in the show reminds us a lot of the positive energy that you all bring and share chez nous, and which we have very much been missing!….sigh!
On a more positive note, it has become clear over the last few weeks that many of you are avoiding going to the mainland for the time being, and when you run out of wine have taken the opportunity to Declare (gulp!) a Wine Emergency (OMD..are those Sirens??!!) to which we are pledged to respond as best we can as needs arise!
Should you find yourself in this precarious position, we are Here for you Right Here on the Island! You can order by phone (see below or use your Island Directory) or explore the BUY WINES link at the top of the page on our website. (sorry,not sure if all the links appear in the email version of this post) and we will assemble your orders for pickup at your convenience.
The wine shop remains a pretty safe environment, with very few visitors for very short periods of time, and with all contact surfaces disinfected before and after each visitor leaves.
We currently have several orders ready for pickup. Let us know if we can help You with Your Wine Emergency!
Mar a Lago Update: Things Keep Getting Worse Faster than We are Getting Older
In the late evening of Election Day 2016 we got a phone call from a neighbor. She had heard that the Tweetster had won the election. She was crying. She was Very Upset. Don’t worry, we said with confidence, that is Impossible and it will all clear up in the morning….but it didn’t. And life has been Surreal ever since.
Many times Every Day since then we have been forced to witness ever more bizarre and illogical behavior, with scores of documented Lies every single day. He lies and is caught lying, and nothing changes. Every time he opens his mouth he broadcasts breathtaking ignorance of science, history, economics, government, politics, and his Believers Defend him. He is the consummate Snake Oil salesman; and with the Obeisance of Republicans across the Nation, he is continually putting our country, our Planet, and the future of Life Itself in deeper and deeper Grave Peril.
The current Covid Pandemic is stark and undeniable. The usual ploys of blaming Democrats, or blaming reporters for Fake News, or blaming scientists for the idiotic and ignorant things he says and does every day are finally getting a little less Traction with his Base. But with few exceptions (like Maryland’s Republican Governor) Republican Senators and Representatives are still drinking the Kool-aid that keeps them rich and powerful but politically emasculated (Lindsay Graham the best example…) So many of his Cabinet appointees have quit or been fired that to a large extent all that are left are political Weathermen with an instinct for Knowing which way the wind blows.
The only conclusion is that our nation has been in a Trance since 2016, and unable to wake up from it. It feels like the scenes in Alien where many crew members have been captured and cocooned by the Aliens, aware they are dying but completely helpless to fight back. Another metaphor is from the science fiction writer Harlan Ellison named one of his stranger stories, “I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream,” very disturbing.
How to Declare a Wine Emergency!
1. If you are on our website, scroll up to the very top of this page, click on “ORDER WINE” at top of screen, and follow the instructions.
2. If you have received this post as an email subscriber and you do not have that link on your email, click here.
3. If none of those work, phone us a 360 758-2959.
lummi island wine tasting april 10 ’20
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Short post tonight
After over a decade of writing this blog, lately WordPress has just drastically changed the formatting and editing protocols we have been using all these years. We have just discovered this late in the evening, and given current events, are inclined to make this a very short post this week. 🙁
Bread Friday
Those on the bread mailing list will have received details about this week’s offerings. To maintain Social Distancing, bread deliveries/pickups will take place at the ferry overflow parking across from the ferry landing from 4-5 pm.
Wine Shop Remains Open for Wine Emergencies!
As we all continue to adapt to Covid Virus Battle Protocols, the wine shop remains Closed for regular business hours.
However, we will continue to be available for Wine Emergencies as they arise. Just give us a call, and we will assemble your orders for pickup at your convenience.
It has been reassuring and emotionally nourishing to meet with individual members (or couples) for order pickups, and taking enough time (and appropriate Distancing) to make for an enjoyable visit. We have been missing all of you, and it is helpful for our sanity and well-being when we can visit for a bit while helping you stock Essential Medicine for Outlook Maintenance.
Be assured there are No Operators standing by but us. The wine shop is a pretty safe environment, with very few visitors for very short periods of time, with all contact surfaces disinfected after each visitor leaves.
We currently have several orders ready for pickup. Let us know if we can help You with Your Wine Emergency!
Mar a Lago Update: (Back next week)
Sorry, weekly wine tastings temporarily cancelled
lummi island wine tasting april 3 ’20
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Wine Shop Remains Open for Wine Emergencies!
In Solidarity with our neighbors across the country and around the World, the wine shop will continue to remain closed while Social Distancing is mandated, especially rational for us Old-Timers. That means no weekend wine tasting and no Friday Bread. 🙁
It is a well-known fact of Economics that alcohol sales usually rise during recessions, and This Shutdown is no different. We are pleased and grateful to have helped several of you cope with imminent Wine Emergencies, and continue to offer this service as necessary to Maintain Civil Order.
Fortunately for Public Health the wine shop has seen only a few visitors in the last few weeks, and provides a neutral environment to visit and, while maintaining appropriate social distance, fill your wine bags and enjoy a sample or two while we visit.
Twentieth Anniversary
Today as we go to press (Thursday, April 2) we are celebrating our 20th Wedding Anniversary. Yep, it was 20 years ago today, a beautiful day here on Lummi Island. The ceremony was held at the cottage at Ann Morris’s studio grounds (where many of us have been doing yoga for years with Constance), and was led by our old friend Eileen, longtime Buddhist teacher and recent new Island neighbor just a block down the street. About twenty old friends and family attended.
In part of the ceremony I got to sing “Let Me Call You Sweetheart.” So probably that’s what was going on in this photo at left. We served tea to our guests in raku tea bowls I had made for our guests, and closed with an informal procession through the magical grounds of the surrounding Sculpture Garden. It was a beautiful, sunny, and warm Spring Day.
In the afternoon we filled the Beach Store Cafe with good friends, many toasts, a great dinner, and lots of good cheer, smiles, and warm memories. A very good day!
Mar a Lago Update: Blue Slates, Red Slates
An article in today’s New York Times discusses the differences in political leadership strategies regarding Covid19 among States. In particular, many states in the South and Southeast–Republican Territory- have only recently (and half-heartedly) advocated for social distancing strategies in their states and cities. The question on the Floor is how these different strategies will now play out across the nation.
Metaphorically, in order to start a nuclear chain reaction it is necessary to achieve sufficient density of atomic collisions per unit of time to establish a Critical Mass. The strategy of Social Distancing aims to slow the spread of the Covid 19 pandemic to give the world more time to develop effective strategies against it. Social distancing is aimed at Stopping the pandemic from reaching a Critical Mass.
Therefore we would expect states that instituted social distancing mandates early in the pandemic to achieve a stable goal of zero net new cases before states which are only now adopting the strategy, and with a smaller proportion of the population infected. This is because without social distancing the number of new cases keeps increasing exponentially, as with more and more molecules moving faster and faster and closer and closer together– i.e. a critical mass.
Curiously, Governors of Blue States, including our own Jay Inslee, California’s Gavin Newsom, and New York’s Andrew Cuomo, were the first to grasp the gravity of the coming pandemic and take immediate steps to reduce impacts, including closing schools, restaurants, and businesses where people gather in close proximity. At the moment there are some preliminary indications that the practice is beginning to pay off with slowing of the growth rate of new cases.
Many other nations were much better prepared to mobilize widespread testing to identify who is carrying the virus and who is not. Along with slowing the rate of spread of the virus, identification of active cases is the next piece of essential information to help us improve strategies for controlling and even eliminating the Tweetster’s Virus. (That’s right we are naming it after him since he has played such an important role in helping it spread so successfully by not believing it was Real. Let’s have a Big Hand for Corona’s Best Fiend…er….Friend!)
We are glad to be living on our little Island in our Blue-Green State out here in Northern Ecotopia through all of this. We don’t know what is going to happen, but a couple of things seem pretty likely: 1) the better we practice social distancing in our ccommunities, the slower the spread of the virus around us; and 2) the longer Red State subpopulations assert denial that the pandemic is real, the more difficult it is going to be for everyone.
Sorry, weekly wine tastings temporarily cancelled
2072 Granger Way