lummi island wine tasting feb 7 ’20
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Friday Breads This Week
Pear Buckwheat – Made with a a poolish pre-ferment of bread flour, water and a bit of yeast and fermented overnight. Mixed the next day with bread flour and fresh milled buckwheat. Since buckwheat has no gluten using the preferment allows the dough to begin to develop before the final mix. The addition of toasted walnuts and dried pears soaked in white wine makes for a really flavorful bread – $5/loaf
French Country Bread – A levain bread made with mostly bread flour, fresh milled whole wheat and and a bit of toasted wheat germ. After building the levain with a sourdough culture and mixing the final dough it gets a long cool overnight ferment in the refrigerator. This really allows the flavor to develop in this bread. Not a refined city baguette, but a rustic loaf that you would find in the countryside. A great all around bread – $5/loaf
and pastry this week…
Brioche Almond Buns – Made with a delicious brioche dough full of eggs, butter and sugar. Rolled out and spread with almond cream filling of butter, sugar and eggs as well as almond flour. Yum, yum! 2/$5
(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!)
Washington Vineyards
We have been pouring Maryhill wines since we opened fifteen years ago, and they just keep getting better. While Maryhill has its own beautiful vineyards visible below the winery along the northern shore of the Columbia River, it also purchases lots of fruit from other Washington and Oregon vineyards. Today’s Maryhill Merlot is a good case in point, made with grapes grown at McKinley Springs, Eagle Ranch, Elephant Mountain, and Les Collines vineyards. So let’s take a moment to explore what that means.
McKinley Springs: Located in the Horse Heaven Hills AVA in the Yakima valley, McKinley Springs grows over 20 grape varietals. While it continues to sell fruit to some of the best winemakers in the region, since 2003 the vineyard has also made its own wine. The Horse Heaven Hills AVA borders the Yakima Valley AVA on the north and the Columbia River on the south. Despite its 1000 foot elevation, the vineyard ripens relatively early and produces red wines with intense fruity aromas and great structure.
Eagle Ranch: Located near the Eastern Oregon town of Echo, the vineyard is a short distance south of the Columbia River near Umatilla, Washington, specializing in cabernet sauvignon and merlot.
Elephant Mountain: Located high on the southern slopes of Rattlesnake Ridge at the base of Elephant Mountain, sitting on a series of gentle, southern-facing slopes at about 1400 ft., surrounded by dry shrub. It has ideal conditions for growing both Bordeaux and Rhone varietals in sandy, silt loam over gravelly calcareous layers.
Les Collines: From the French for “foothills,” this vineyard in Walla Walla produces 13 different varietals which it sells to dozens of Washington winemakers. The best story about this winery comes from winemaker/founder of Gramercy cellars Greg Harrington: “I first tasted Syrah from Les Collines Vineyard during a visit to Walla Walla in 2004. I immediately returned to New York, quit my Sommelier job, sold everything we owned, moved to Washington, learned to make wine, started a winery and produced our first Les Collines Syrah in 2005. Yeah, it’s that good of a vineyard.”
Mar a Lago Update: Iowa Waltz (listen)
The last few days of political life here in America have been emotionally exhausting: final discussions on Trumpeachment in the Senate on the weekend, the quadrennial kickoff of another Presidential election season with the Iowa caucuses on Monday, the the incredibly Divisive State of the Union address on Tuesday, the final Senate vote against conviction in the impeachment trial (there is no “Acquittal” in an Impeachment trial…) on Wednesday, and the continuing saga of glitches in the vote-reporting apparatus in the Iowa caucuses have all captivated, frustrated, irritated, and depressed our spirits.
One very bright light this week was the decision of Republican Senator (and 2012 Republican Presidential candidate) Mitt Romney to break ranks with his Party and vote in favor impeaching the Tweetster. We all tip our hats, nod our heads, and press our palms together and bow in gratitude for his moral courage. He has certainly earned a noble footnote in history.
It was also impossible for anyone to miss the Open Hostility between Speaker Pelosi and the Tweetster, as he broke protocol by not shaking her hand as he handed her the speech, and as she very deliberately tore up that speech with all cameras rolling. He then threw Flames on the Fire by awarding a Presidential Medal of Freedom to Far Right-Wing talk show host and hate-mongering Slander-Slinger Rush Limbaugh, a drug-addicted, mean-spirited bully who built a lifelong career mocking and insulting anyone who was concerned about Social, Environmental, Economic, or Political Justice. The Proceedings may be over, but it is clear that a State of War exists between Republicans and Democrats in Congress and their supporters across the country which is not likely to Heal on its own anytime soon.
Then, to make matters worse, various media sources are flooding the Web with fabricated stories aimed at increasing divisions at every level. It is barely two days after Iowa, and already the Web is buzzing with bots sowing accusations at every Democratic candidate under the name of another Dem candidate. It’s like 2016 on Steroids, and it just kicked off with the Iowa caucuses. Folks, we are not gonna get through this with either grace of desirable outcomes if we do not refuse every attempt to cast any Democratic candidate as a villain in the coming months. There will be ongoing bombardment of False Facts from now on about every Democratic candidate. We have to focus on our own values and convictions and be very skeptical about every attempt to sow Outrage. It is FAR More Important that we find ways to lobby for our favorite candidates without attacking other contenders, and make a commitment to offer full support for whoever the candidate turns out to be.
Let us be Skeptical, Committed, Kind, Wise, and United.
Washington Post Tweetster Lie Count to date : 16,241 as of 01/24/20
This week’s tasting
Chateau L’Ermitage ’17 France $11
Roussanne, grenache, and viognier. Light gold in color with aromas of peach, flowers, and honey; the Grenache provides the richness and the Roussanne the balancing acidity.
St. Cosme Little James Basket Press Grenache ’16 France $11
An old favorite from an ongoing solera* with an aromatic nose of cassis, cherry and lavender; rustic Old World style, with a firm mineral spine giving clarity and lift to the dark berry and bitter cherry flavors.
Maryhill Merlot ‘14 Washington
Blended from McKinley Springs, Eagle Ranch, Elephant Mountain, and Les Collines vineyards; the resulting wine has ripe red fruit tones with coffee, wood spice, a lifted mint note and subtle tannins.
Savage Grace Cab Franc ’17 Washington $22
Fermented 20% whole cluster and aged four months in neutral oak; the aromas are pure, bright and fruit filled, with notes of raspberry, ash, cherry and flower; light, elegant, smoky finish.
lummi island wine tasting groundhog weekend ’20
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No Friday Breads This Week
Baker’s week off. Bread returns next week!
(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!)
Fior D’Arancio
This week we bring back an unusual sparkling dessert wine from Colli Euganei, a series of ancient volcanic hills north of Venice, where 50-million year old mineral deposits add depth and character to local wines.
The wine is a clone of muscat from this region, which either through its own genetic identity or from some kind of symbiosis from nearby orange orchards, has strong scents and flavors of orange. This wine is unusual, surprising, and pleasing in many ways, with its lovely orange blossom bouquet, fine perlage, and fluffy mousse. It makes a great afternoon treat on the deck, or a fine accompaniment with fruit tarts, pies, puddings, or cakes.
We poured this wine a year or two ago, and it sold out quickly as people tasted it. As the season gets colder, it’s a great wine to have on hand for cozying up to a fire!
Wine Club Membership Renewal Time!
Thanks to all of you have already re-upped for Aught-Twenty; it is gratifying to have your continuing support! Our membership renewal campaign will continue for another couple of weeks.
Annual membership is $50 per person, for which you get $5 weekly tastings (save $5/week!) AND we pay the sales tax on all purchases, a hefty 8.7% discount!
Yes, yes, we must be Crazy to offer this incredible Bargain, but there it is, time to sign up for another year to enjoy this great community AND great savings!
Lemberger
Around here we know it as lemberger, a lesser-known red varietal with flavors that always remind us of ripe thimbleberries– yes, those weeds that line many of the roadsides here on Lummi Island and which usually ripen in mid-Spring. In Austria lemberger is more commonly known as Blau Frankisch, literally “blue grape from France.” In the past we have found that under either name it goes really well with spicy food, a revelation a few years ago when we were pouring it along with a tasting of jalapeno cheese– one of those Perfect Pairings one occasionally discovers.
This week’s version is from Kiona winery on Red Mountain here in Washington. Rumor has it that Washington winemakers love the varietal but universally hate the name because too many people imagine some relationship with the famously smelly cheese (limburger) of similar name. We were impressed with this one at a tasting a few months ago. The warmer weather in Eastern Washington provides this version with an enjoyable richness. (photo by Richard Duval)
Mar a Lago Update:
4pm: As we write, the Senate Impeachment hearings are nearing a close for the day, leaving on the table a modest proposal from minority leader Schumer to bring in additional witnesses, while limiting additional testimony to one additional week. While there is little doubt that the Tweetster will not be impeached, there is still at this moment a slim possibility that the four Republican Senators (Romney, Collins, Murkowski, Alexander) necessary to join Democrats in favor of additional testimony might step forward. If they do, there will be witnesses, possibly including Bolton, Mulvaney, and a few others. But if even a single one does not, the trial will be over.
Republican pressure for party conformity being what it is, each of these Senators is facing enormous pressure from McConnell and the rest of the the Hive Brain they all share not to allow witnesses under any circumstances. So chances are that not even a single one of them will dare defy the Pack. But whether there are additional witnesses or not, it is certain that this Fake President will be acquitted, setting the stage for the coming year which is in many ways shaping up to be the World’s Last Chance to save Life As We Know It.
8pm: Home from a lovely dinner break at neighbor Anne’s; six people present, and for statistical purposes, I was the youngest person there at 74. So we are all people with, shall we say, an “experienced historical perspective.” Over dessert I asked everyone to comment on their feelings about the day’s political developments. The common thread was an increasing sense of unease and shock at the relentless Republikan spouting of Orwellian Newspeak. Paraphrasing Orwell: The political purpose of Newspeak is to reduce the expression of ambiguity and nuance to simplistic concepts of pleasure and pain, happiness and sadness, goodthink and crimethink, linguistically reinforcing the State’s totalitarian dominance. Or, as we quoted Hitler recently, “Their character, thought, and conduct are ruled by sentiment rather than reasoning, and neither their intellect nor their sentiment is differentiated enough to understand more than a childlike binary view of love and hate, right and wrong, truth and lie.
We share a growing disbelief that every day since the disaster of the 2016 election has brought yet another outrage, another 50 Outright Lies (see Latest Count below), another full day of Tweets belittling his latest target, destroying yet another American institution and its values, alienating another historic ally, appointing yet another unqualified but subservient cabinet member or another twenty-five Ultra-Conservative federal judges, or conspired to rig the next election.
The basic feeling we share is this: there has been a War. Our side has done our best, and we have Lost, and it Hurts All Over. So let’s take a little break, exhale for a few days, then regroup and come back with Determination. A majority of Americans still believe in the Constitution as our guiding moral principles, but Republicans have shown in the past two weeks that they would repeal the Bill of Rights in a heartbeat. They continually turn upside down Maury’s famous words over a century ago: “Where principle is involved, be deaf to expediency…” Every day of these hearings it has become increasingly clear to all that Republicans have neither honor or principle, and we are depressed because we need our country to be better than that.
Washington Post Tweetster Lie Count to date : 16,241 as of 01/24/20
This week’s tasting
Lovo Fior d’Arancio Sparkling Moscato ’18 Italy $15
A very rare clone of Moscato with an unmistakable citrus scent from nearby orange groves for a sparkling wine with refined bubbles and beautiful, pearlescent color, a perfect accompaniment to dessert, or maybe dessert all by itself!
Kiona Lemberger ’18 Washington
Perfumed aromas with traces of orange zest and flower, along with notes of blueberry.
Marchetti Rosso Conero ’17 Italy $11
Rich and inviting aromas of flowers, plums, brown spices, and hillside brush. On the palate, round notes of cherries, blackberries, cocoa and spice. Culminates in a satisfying, lengthy finish.
Lagone Aia Vecchio ’16 Italy $15
“Super-Tuscan”blend of Merlot, Cab Sauv, and Cab Franc. Rich and expressive, with aromas of cherry, vanilla, raw beef, and herbs; structured palate of plum, wild berries, and hints of spice, with a long finish that begs for food.
Alexander Valley Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon ’17 California $20
Nose of black plum, blackcurrant and black cherry fruit open to leather, graphite and cast-iron pan with red cherries and chocolate; medium to full-bodied, with chewy tannins and a long, refreshing finish.
lummi island wine tasting jan 24 ’20
click on photos for larger images
Friday Breads This Week
Multi Grain- Uses a preferment where a portion of the flour, water, salt & yeast is mixed and fermented overnight before mixing the final dough to begin the enzymatic activity and gluten development overnight in a cool environment. The next day it is mixed with bread flour and fresh milled whole wheat and rye, then flax, sunflower and sesame seeds are added for a nice bit of crunch and some extra flavor. – $5/loaf
Rosemary Olive Oil – also made with prefermented dough like the multi grain and then mixed with bread flour and a bit of freshly milled white whole wheat for a little more flavor and texture. Fresh rosemary from the garden and olive oil to make for a nice tender crumb and a nice crisp crust. A great all around bread – $5/loaf
and pastry this week…
Pain aux Raisin – Made with the same laminated dough as croissants, rolled out, spread with pastry cream and sprinkled with a mix of golden raisins and dried cranberries soaked in sugar syrup. Rolled up and sliced before baking. – 2/$5
(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!)
Wine Club Membership Renewal Time!
Thanks to all of you have already re-upped for Aught-Twenty; it is gratifying to have your continuing support! Our membership renewal campaign will continue for another couple of weeks.
Annual membership is $50 per person, for which you get $5 weekly tastings (save $5/week!) AND we pay the sales tax on all purchases, a hefty 8.7% discount!
Yes, yes, we must be Crazy to offer this incredible Bargain, but there it is, time to sign up for another year to enjoy this great community AND great savings!
Alexander Valley Vineyards
Judy (LI’s roving wine minstrel) dropped by yesterday with her wine bag and poured a number of wines from Alexander Valley Vineyards, a pastorally beautiful piece of wine country north of Napa Valley. It is well known for soft, understated, and often elegant wines that its soil and exposure produce. AVV was one of the first wineries in the valley, beginning in the early 60’s. Over all these years it has remained a family winery, no small feat these days.
Their wines tend to be quite moderately priced compared to some of their neighbors and usually offer good value. We expect some of the wines we have ordered to be here in time for this weekend’s tasting, with a few more next week.
Something Magical…
Stumbled onto this stunning video yesterday on Youtube, was mesmerized, and feel compelled to share it. Yes, she goes some six minutes without breathing, yet maintains a profound and captivating grace.
Mar a Lago Update:
It’s been a strange and difficult week in America. On the one hand, we are impressed and grateful to the House Democrats for assembling and presenting an intelligent, carefully crafted, and completely convincing indictment of the Tweetster’s actions regarding the extortion of Ukraine, the famous quid pro quo (this for that) that brought us all to this moment.
On the other hand, it is clear that Senate Republicans are in lock-step, sticking to their mandated talking points despite the undeniable Facts before them. We confess a complete inability to get our heads around this behavior. To borrow a question from an old John Prine song, How the Hell can a person listen to this testimony– and we are talking about Republican Senators– and argue with a straight face that the documented behaviors are not Solid Grounds for impeachment?
Over the past three years we have seen the Republikans abandon every one of the Principles their Party has nominally claimed as their own: balanced budgets, a respected international presence, free trade, a strong defense. So we can logically expect that their “case” against Impeachment will involve wholly undocumented accusations and assertions, few if any facts, mock displays of moral outrage and other sleight-of-hand theatrics.
It all smacks of a smug and virulent Hypocrisy, one that has been epidemic in the Republikan Party for decades: a sense of Entitlement to Power; a facile willingness to abandon any once-dear ethic in the quest to gain and hold that Power; and a shameless disregard for the Constitutional Principles that have held this country together for two and a half centuries. And all of this is being conducted as our Planet, our Civilization, and our very Existence are threatened by a Climate Crisis these Buffoons deny even exists.
Hopefully the Impeachment will be the Catharsis that starts turning the tables toward Sanity.
Washington Post Tweetster Lie Count to date : 16,241 as of 01/24/20
This week’s tasting
Pascual Toso Chardonnay ’18 Argentina $14
Aromas of ripe green apple, pineapple and mango. The palate is fresh, with great acidity, ending with a slight toasty hint on a lingering finish.
Oregon Solidarity Pinot Noir ’18 Oregon $25
Rich and intense fruit flavors that reflect the warm and dry growing season. Aromas and flavors of cherry, blackberry and spice. Excellent balance, with solid structure, concentration and firm tannins.
Alexander Valley Vineyards Sin Zin Zinfandel ’15 California $16
Earthy aromas of plum, strawberry jam, fruit leather, black cherry and apricot lead to ripe flavors of red cherry, black pepper, blackberry, wild strawberry and a slight dusting of cocoa powder; a crowd pleaser with a structured, juicy fruit finish.
Seven Hills Walla Walla Red ’14 Washington $20
85% Cab, 10% Malbec and 5% Petit Verdot; green herb, black fruit, coffee and anise aromas give way to beautifully balanced red- and black-fruit flavors. The acidity brings a sense of vibrancy, while the tannins provide plenty of structure.
Carpano Antica Formula Sweet Vermouth Italy $20
Offers a complex nose of garrigue. spices, plums, figs, licorice, root beer, and citrus peel. Initially sweet,finishing with a bracing bitter edge. Syrupy and compelling by itself or in a cocktail!
lummi island wine tasting jan 17 ’20
click on photos for larger images
Friday Breads This Week
Dried Cherry Walnut – Made with a nice mix of bread flour and freshly milled buckwheat and whole wheat flours. Orange juice and olive oil are a unique combination in this bread that add flavor and keep a soft crumb, then loaded up with dried cranberries and toasted walnuts. Makes great toast- $5/loaf
Whole Wheat Ciabatta – Using an Italian biga pre-ferment as well as a poolish, and fermented overnight in the refrigerator. A long, slow ferment adds a lot of flavor to the final bread. Made with regular bread flour and fresh milled whole wheat. A little olive oil for more flavor and a lot of water. A great rustic bread – $5/piece
and pastry this week…
Traditional Croissants – Made with two preferments, a levain and an “old dough” where a portion of the flour, water, salt and yeast is fermented overnight. The final dough adds more flour, butter, milk and sugar, and laminated with more butter before being cut and shaped into traditional French croissants…iohp, as good as croissants can get! – 2/$5
(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!)
Wine Club Membership Renewal Time!
Okay, mis amigas and amigos, we are now entering the SIXTEENTH YEAR of our community wine adventure with all of you! While our little business has never been much of a “business,” we find our success is best measured not in financial terms but in the friends we have made with you over all these years and the friends that have been made among you through our little wine shop. Over the years many dear friends have come and gone, but the community has remained intact. Every weekend brings old friends and new friends, good conversation, and an enduring warmth. We are deeply grateful for your participation in whatever it is that we have created here, and thank you all for being part of it.
Which reminds us, it is again the start of another Calendar Year. Which means that your membership in our Wine Club must be renewed for 2020 to continue your club benefits of $5 tastings instead of $10 for nonmembers, and no sales tax (save 8.7%!) on purchases. Yes, yes, we must be Crazy to offer this Benefit Package for a measly $50 for the entire year, but there it is, time to sign up for another year to enjoy our great community AND great savings!
Mar a Lago Update: Heaven and Hell
The Samurai approaches the Master in the town square, and asks if he can be his student. The Master asks what he would like to learn. The Samurai says he would like to learn about Heaven and Hell. Oh, the Master says, I could never teach something so Profound to an Idiot like you! As the Samurai starts to draw his sword, the Master says “Welcome to Hell!” As the Samurai releases his sword the Master says. “Welcome to Heaven!”
The story draws on the once common belief that there is a universal morality, that the differences between Right and Wrong are understood and respected by everyone, and that we all share the same Moral Compass. But these days our society is so divided in values that we no longer agree on what is Good and what is Evil, what is Virtuous and what is Corrupt, and where is the line between Principle and Expediency.
These lofty questions have been smoldering in our body politic for several decades, until they are now, like the Climate Crisis, bursting into flames across our country and the World. The Tweetster and the current Republican Party are America’s local manifestations of this global Moral Malignancy.
We oldsters remember the last Impeachment a mere twenty years ago, and yes, it was a completely Partisan Affair. The Right spent some Six Years investigating President Clinton on a series of phony charges including the Vince Foster’s suicide, Hillary Clinton’s health care plan, the Whitewater Investigation, the Paula Jones lawsuit, and of course the Monica Lewinsky case. After years of investigations which began almost as soon as Clinton took office, he was ultimately impeached for lying in the Jones suit about his relationship with Lewinsky. He was acquitted in the Senate. We remember it as a “Vast Right-Wing Conspiracy” to remove Clinton from office. When asked why they hated him so much, Clinton observed with a shrug, “Because we beat them…it’s just politics.”
So it is not without some perspective that we see supporters of the Tweetster having the same feelings of Unfair Persecution of Their (not “Our”) President. The difference, of course, is that the Muller Investigation found numerous instances of impeachable offenses, all shouted down by Republicans and thwarted completely by corrupt Republican Attorney General Barr. The shouting continued through the House impeachment hearings on the Ukraine bribery conspiracy, in which not a single Republican could speak with civility. As if feigned Outrage were a valid defense against the Truth. Is it…??
Well, this week began the Impeachment “Trial” of the Tweetster in the heavily Republican Senate, which has been boasting for weeks that it has no intention whatsoever of taking the matter seriously. At the same time, the Administration has stonewalled all House subpoenas for witnesses and documents, and Very Partisan Attorney General Barr (who makes Tweetster Loyalist Jeff Sessions look Fair-minded) plays his “Golly, gee, I don’t think so, nothing to see here” card while preventing DOJ from doing its job to protect the National interest.
All this is happening against a backdrop of Imminent Climate Disaster which these same Republicans are making worse by the minute, and disintegrating relationships with our international Allies and adversaries alike. However it turns out, this Impeachment is a Vital Beachhead in the Quest to Save Life on Earth. For whatever reason, Republicans have all signed up to thwart every attempt to save our Planet, but as we see clearly in Australian forest fires, African droughts, Midwest floods, and millions of endangered species, very soon even They will awaken to the new reality of man-made smoke, fire, flood, and species extinction.
As the old saying goes, “Awake, awake, be mindful in practice; Time flies like an Arrow– it will not wait for you!”
Washington Post Tweetster Lie Count to date : 15,433 as of 12/10/19
This week’s tasting
Ryan Patrick Rock Island Chardonnay ’17 Washington $15
Subdued aromas of yellow apple, vanilla and spice lead to medium-bodied custard flavors.
Terrapura Reserve Carmenere ’18 Chile $11
Intense and expressive aromas of strawberries, blueberries, and a bit of black pepper. The palate is smooth with sweet tannins and a long, pleasing finish accompanied by an elegant touch of oak.
Toso Reserve Malbec ’17 Argentina $20
Round and inviting, this wine is slightly firm around the edges with plenty of fruit and consistent tannins..
Terreta Roble Red ’17 Spain $11
Structured and fruity, with mature tannins that provide a velvety mouthfeel and a long finish that fills the palate with spice, mineral, and balsamic hints.
Seghesio Home Ranch Zinfandel ’15 California $50
Blackberry, black plum and other brambly fruit characteristic of Alexander Valley. “Graham crust” undertones typical of the Home Ranch terroir. Subtle hints of oak, briary acidity and a finish of ripe peach.
2072 Granger Way