lummi island wine tasting aug 23 ’19
click on photos for larger images
Friday Breads
Honey, Wheat, Lemon & Poppy seeds – Made with a poolish that ferments some of the flour, yeast and water, but none of the salt, overnight. This results in a very active pre-ferment which is mixed the next day with the final ingredients which includes a nice mix of bread flour and fresh milled whole wheat. Some honey, poppy seeds and freshly grated lemon peel round out the flavors in this loaf. A great all around bread – $5/loaf.
Prairie Bread – Named for the ingredients that reflect all the goodness of the grains that grow on the prairie. Using regular bread flour and fresh milled whole wheat as well as oats, and cornmeal. And as if that wasn’t enough it is loaded up with poppy, flax, sesame, sunflower and pumpkin seeds with just a hint of brown sugar for a little sweetness. – $5/loaf
Bear Claws – Made with a danish pastry dough rich in cream, eggs, sugar and butter. The dough is rolled out and spread with a filing made with almond paste, powdered sugar, egg whites and just a bit of cinnamon to round out the flavor. Then, because bears love honey, topped with a honey glaze after baking. As always, quantities are limited, be sure to get your order in before you miss out– 2/$5
(note: 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!)
Nit de les Garnatxas
In 2
012 we spent a week in the little Spanish town of Capçanes. It is located about two hours west of Barcelona and about an hour inland from Tarragona on the Mediterranean coast. It is also about 15 minutes south of the town of Falset, the gateway to the somewhat legendary Priorat wine region. The purpose of our visit was to attend the annual Priorat Wine Festival. Capçanes is actually located in the neighboring wine region of Montsant, which have their own gravitas.
A few weeks ago we poured you a wine called Mas Donis from Celler Capçanes, a regional wine cooperative located in Montsant. This week we are pouring another for you, a wine we are quite excited about because it evokes such pleasant memories of our time in Capçanes and the Priorat Wine Festival.
The wine festival opens on a Friday night each year with an event called, in the Catalan language, the Nit de les Garnatxes, (i.e., “Night of the Garnachas”) and it kicks off the the Festival in a Big Way. The event started at 11pm in the courtyard in front the winery, about a five minute walk from the house we were renting just up the hill. We had no idea what to expect, but were pleased it involved food like the thin slices of delicious Jamon that were being sliced in the courtyard along with lots of other savory goodies, which we enjoyed on our way to the winery entrance.
Inside the
winery was an even bigger crowd spilling across several large chambers lined with tables dispensing wine and more goodies– like the Chocolate Fountain under which, fondue-like, one could bathe pieces of fresh fruit and other goodies…yum, yum, yum! And (have patience, we ARE meandering toward a Point…). In the Main Hall, by day probably the haunt of barrel-hauling forklifts, was a shoulder-to-shoulder crowd ebbing and flowing around a number of wine-pouring stations. Each one offered its current garnatxa for our tasting pleasure. Hence…the Night of the Garnatxes! Who Knew?
But that wasn’t All, not by a long shot! Oh, no, at some point we found a narrow flight of stairs that went down a couple of flights to a second floor, and even a third floor, where the spaces were smaller, and where there was even more wine, food, live music, and art.
The Big Takeaway here is that this weekend we are pouring the most recent of one of the specially made wines for the Nit de les Garnatxes by the winery where we attended the event back in aught-Twelve. The grapes were grown in the famous licorella slate soil of the region, and are a good example of the mineral-rich character of the wines of the area.
Last Week of Constance’s Paintings Show
Reminder that Constance will be taking down her show this weekend. Lots of us know her as our longtime Yoga teacher. I first met her and husband Terry decades ago at Art Fairs when I was a potter and they were doing interesting traditional fabric dying techniques. This is a side of her most of us have not seen before, and we encourage you to visit!
Mar a Lago Update: Recurring Nightmare
It can’t be Pleasant being the Tweetster. He rarely looks or sounds Happy. And it must be a Strange Burden to be living your Dream of being Constantly in the Global Spotlight, but Never Feeling you get the Emotional Nourishment you somehow thought it would provide, kind of an Existential Hell. There is a name for this kind of Hell: “the Nourishment Barrier.”
Every child experiences moments of disappointment and disillusionment. The essence of these experiences is realizing, at some point early in our lives, something we Really want is not going to be there for us, and it is Painful and we cry. We struggle to make meaning of the event; and often blame ourselves for some unknown inadequacy: it is Our Fault because somehow we weren’t Good Enough. After enough of these experiences, the Child starts believing s/he will never get what s/he needs (safety, attention, affection, or approval), and in response the Child develops a Behavioral Strategy to minimize the pain of this belief.
In broad strokes we know the Tweetster’s childhood history, and we can see that he craves constant attention and approval. But here he is the most powerful and well-known human being on the Planet, yet cannot get enough Approval to feel Okay inside. Sure, that’s how politics works, but there is also a “Dumb Cycle” here, driven by an inability to take in approval and affection when offered because it would be even more painful to have it yanked away just as you were starting to enjoy it.
Tonight the wires are humming with commentary about what many are calling a major T-Meltdown over the past week, as indicated by increases in daily Tweets per minute, a growing inability to retreat from photo op press banter, and an increasingly incoherent message. Candidates and financial interests are starting to materialize who might oppose him within his own party, something unthinkable until a few days ago. He’s gotta be Feel’in’ da Heat, huh…?
Washington Post Tweetster Lie Count to date: 12,000 as of 6/10/19
This week’s wine tasting
Quinta de Aveleda Vinho Verde ’17 Portugal $10
Loureiro, Trajadura and Alvarinho blend; apples, lemons and a touch of ripe pear fill the palate. It is an off-dry very young white wine, refreshing and crisp with a mineral aftertaste.
Chat. Ste. Eulalie Rose ’18 France $ 13
A delightful dry rose with flavors of fresh raspberries, strawberries, and crisp redcurrant fruit with a hint of spice: an excellent match for grilled Mediterranean vegetables and lamb.
MAN Vintners Pinotage ’17 South Africa $11
Dark berries, plum and a smoke on the nose. Rustic yet silky and juicy, with wild cherry flavors, smooth tannins and well-controlled acidity. good intensity to the plum and mocha flavors.
Avignonesi Rosso de Montepulciano ’15 Italy $14
Perfumed aromas of red berries, violets, cinnamon, and almond flower. Juicy and bright, with precise strawberry and redcurrant flavors and lively acidity.
Nit de les Garnatxes Slate ’16 Spain $21
100% grenache from legendary licorella soil, with plenty of desert flower and wild herb aromas and elegantly dry tannins make for a really complex wine with a high minerality and balsamic aromas.
lummi island wine tasting aug 16 ’19
click on photos for larger images
No Bread this week
Our Baker is away this week, so no bread this weekend.
Look for her email on Sunday for next week’s selections.
(note: 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!)
CSA
Since early Spring we have been sharing a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) subscription with Janice, our Baker. The weekly produce basket is usually delivered to her house on Thursdays, and then she brings our half to the wine shop on Fridays along with her breads for the week.
This week, as noted above, she is away, and so late this afternoon this basket was delivered by Simon, the Steward of this Island Abundance grown at his farm over on Centerview Rd. It’s over a mile by road, but half that as the crow flies. He came by about 5:30, when the summer Sun was still pretty high and bright in the west.
The colors of the beautiful produce demanded that we take the photo at left! Beautiful! We are Lucky Ducks!
Tres Picos
Borsao, the winery that makes Tres Picos, is a cooperativa, like many in Spain. The most common wine coop business model is a corporate “front office” that oversees all aspects of vineyard management, harvest, winemaking, and marketing. Member-growers are required to follow specific rules and guidelines set forth by coop management, and in exchange they are guaranteed purchase of their fruit. Borsao has about two hundred member vineyards.
The garnacha vines that provide the fruit for Tres Picos date back to about 1920…that’s right, they are a Hundred Years Old! As shown, the vines are head-trained, with no wires, no trellises, and lots of space between them. They have deep roots after nearly 100 years of effort, and diminished yields of about two tons per acre. Such old vines dig deep into many layers of soil and provide their fruit with corresponding layers of complexity.
We visited the Tres Picos vineyard several years ago and were struck by the Gnarly Independence of each vine. Vines this old are Rare, and their fruit has depths of nuanced flavors not seen in younger vines. Tres Picos consistently earns high scores (92 points is typical) from wine critics. Bottom line: though some years are better than others, this vineyard produces remarkable wine year after year. I.e., “It’s the terroir, Stupid…!” This wine is very consistent and never disappoints. We think you will agree!
Mar a Lago Update: Gandalf, We Need You!
A recurring theme in JRR Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings Trilogy is the Dark Smoke rising from Mordor. We don’t know what was burning or why it was burning, but it was Ominous. And Poisonous. see video clip
It is increasingly hard to look around at Our Country and Our World and not feel the same Burdens, the same Darkness, the same Fears that Drain our deep stores of Psychological, Spiritual, and Natural resources. Nation-states are failing across the world and being seriously Threatened or have already been Taken Over by Feudal Dictators. National economies are being systemically ransacked by Populist so-called Leaders, leaving millions of people homeless, destitute, and desperate to migrate to Safer Ground and escape the Populist Psychopaths they once thought would Save them. They drown in the Mediterranean, they starve in Central America, they are separated from their babies and Detained Indefinitely on the US Border. Do You have room for them in Your Lifeboat?
Meanwhile, a MILLION SPECIES of living beings on our planet are threatened with Extinction by OUR ill-conceived and Suicidal actions, such as: Doh!, Okay, maybe those Lead water pipes were not such a Good Idea after all, but hey, we can fix it by delivering water to everyone in Megazillions of little plastic bottles that can be thrown into oceans and streams and landfills where they can make Millions of Other Species extinct as well!
Then, of course, there is Global Warming, the Big Kahuna, the Mordor of all Mordors…The Path to Destruction from which there is No Escape. Is it really Our Destiny to join countless generations of Lemmings who only realized Their Terrible Mistake at the Very Last Minute? As we all go over the cliff, will we, realizing our Huge Mistake, and like at least one Presidential Hopeful famously uttered as the political waters swirled to his neck, “…Oops!”
Time is getting Very Short. There is a Very Old Saying that seems to fit the moment:
Awake, Awake, Be Mindful in Practice!
Time Flies Like an Arrow;
It Will Not Wait For You!
Washington Post Tweetster Lie Count to date: 12,000 as of 6/10/19
This week’s wine tasting
Linen Sauvignon Blanc ’18 Washington $11
Aromas of citrus, grapefruit, lime and melon. Crisp and clean, with full flavors of lime, grapefruit, star fruit, and a gentle twist of lemon.
Whidbey Island Winery Rosato ’18 Washington $15
A dry, vivacious, Provençal style rosé from Sangiovese and other Italian varietals; intriguing flavors of strawberries and cream, white cherries and kumquat…Summer in a bottle!
Simple Life Cab Sauv ’16 California
Lifted aromas of boysenberry, blackberry, violets and baking spice; juicy on the palate with lush fruit and a subtle mint chocolate note, soft, polished tannins, and a lingering, mouth-coating finish.
Tres Picos Garnacha ’14 Spain 92pts $17
Heady, exotically perfumed bouquet of ripe berries and incense, with a smoky minerality and spice. Vibrant flavors of raspberry liqueur and cherry-cola show power, depth and finesse with velvety tannins.
Lady Hill Ad Lucem Elaina Red ’15 Washington $21
Grenache, syrah, mourvedre blend; aromas of toast, dark fruits and berries and grilled meat that expand into mouth-watering rich flavors and crisp acidity on the palate.
lummi island wine tasting august 9-10 ’19
click on photos for larger images
Friday Breads
Spelt Levain – Spelt is an ancient grain that is a wheat. It has a nutty, slightly sweet flavor and has gluten but it isn’t as strong as the gluten in modern wheat. This bread is made with a levain, or sourdough, traditional bread flour as well as spelt flour, fresh milled whole spelt and fresh milled whole rye. – $5/loaf
Semolina w/ Fennel & Raisins – Another levain bread made with bread flour, semolina and some fresh milled whole wheat. A little butter for a tender crumb and fennel seeds and golden raisins round out the flavors. – $5/loaf
Gibassiers – A traditional french pastry made with a delicious sweet dough full of milk, butter, eggs and olive oil. The addition of orange flower water, candied orange peel and anise seed bring great flavor to these pastries. After baking they are brushed with melted butter and sprinkled with more sugar. Ooh La La a delightful pastry to go along with your morning coffee or tea. – 2/$5
(note: 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!)
Susumaniello
Susumaniello is an Italian wine grape found only in the Italian wine region of Puglia, which runs along the Adriatic coast from the Achilles tendon of the Boot of Italy to the heel. More familiar varietals from the region include primitivo, negro amaro, and red and black malvasia. The name of the grape refers to its high levels of production when the grapes are quite young. A black grape variety genetically related to garganega, it is named after its prolific production in its first ten harvests, after which productivity strongly decreases harvest by harvest, down to an average of less than one kilo per plant.
Despite this peculiarity, plantings of the grape have been increasing, beginning at Tenute Rubina winery in Brindisi, in 75yr-old vineyards incidentally purchased in the 1980’s as part of a much larger vineyard acquisition. The goal is now to develop Susumaniello into the Flagship wine of Puglia. Helping that goal along, Rubino also runs a restaurant called Numero Primo, which offers instructions for the perfect food matches for the wine, both crostoni.
Constance’s Art Show Continues
Last Sunday we held an opening reception for our new art show at the Gallery, featuring long-time Island yoga teacher and (as we now have learned) accomplished painter Constance Drake. The opening was very well attended and her work very well received. All use oils on wood or canvas to develop complex textures and color ranges that evoke the many moods of the Pacific Northwest that we all recognize even if we have a hard time defining.
The show will run for only a few more weeks, through the month of August. Don’t miss it!
Mar a Lago Update: El Paso vs. Tweetster
From one perspective it is a Puzzle how the Media decide which Mass Shootings to report and which not to report. However that works, it has become evident that there have been 248 Mass Shootings in the United States so far in 2019. That’s averaging more than one per day. So why does it seem like Big News that on one day this week there were two mass shootings (Dayton and El Paso), when we have been seeing more than one a day for at least seven months? Why do some few enter and stay in the News Cycle for weeks while most go unmentioned?
However it has happened, it is a Shock to hear it as a Matter-of-Fact Fact. Like, Really? Every Fookin’ Day a Mass Shooting and everyone just goes about their business? How Did We Not Know This?
Actually, besides the El Paso (Aug 3) and Dayton (Aug 4) shootings, there were four more mass shootings on Aug 4 (two in Chicago, one in Grenada MS, one in Memphis); two on Aug 5 (Brooklyn, NY and Suitland, MD); one in Detroit on Aug 6, and one in St. Louis on Aug 7. To summarize, in this country so far in 2019 we have had 248 mass shootings, with 246 people killed and 979 people wounded.
We all know the usual scenario: politicians wring their hands and mouth Sympathy for a few days until the News Cycle turns to something else, and nothing changes. Will it be Different this time? Well, it does feel different this time, doesn’t it? We see a Unified El Paso standing up to the long Campaign of race baiting waged by the Tweetster since 2016. They have called him out on his racism. We know that some 90% of Americans favor background checks for anyone seeking to buy guns. It feels like we are on the threshold of something. But on the down side we know that Darth McConnell refuses to bring any Democratic bills before the Senate for a vote.
Oh, and by the way, a recent article on Political Polarization makes a strong argument that most of someone’s political affiliations can be accurately predicted by knowing their race, religion, education, gender, and age. And that should make us wonder if our values determine our political affiliations, or, in this world of media and social media manipulation, it is the other way around.
Washington Post Tweetster Lie Count to date: 10,000 as of 5/1/19
This week’s wine tasting
Argiolas Costamolino Vermentino ’18 Italy $14
Pale golden-tinged straw color; Botanical herbs and white stone fruit on the nose and palate, with good length and freshness, finishing clean and medium-long, pairing well with everything from salad to pasta to fish and even savory meat dishes.
Oregon Solidarity Pinot Noir Rose ’18 Oregon $16
When a California winery canceled huge contracts for pinot noir grapes two days before harvest, area wineries united to buy the fruit, make excellent wines and save the vintners’ bacon. Chardonnay and pinot noir to follow soon.
Borsao Garnacha ’17 Spain $11
From 100-yr-old vines; heady, perfumed bouquet of ripe red and dark berries, incense and flowers; intense raspberry and cherry-cola flavors blending power, depth and finesse.
Tenute Rubino Oltremé Susumaniello ’16 Italy $14
Fresh, fragrant notes of cherries, pomegranate, raspberries and hints of ripe plum; fruity, minerally, and round on the palate with soft, pleasant tannins, a versatile and seductive pairing with richer dishes.
Shatter Grenache Vin de Pays des Côtes Catalanes ’17 France $19
From Old Vines in Roussillon’s black schist soil; nose of dark fruit with a hint of espresso beans. Velvety texture with black currant, spice and cured meat flavors with a touch of coffee; firm structure, supple tannins with excellent acidity and overall balance.
lummi island wine tasting aug 2-3 ’19
click on photos for larger images
Friday Breads
Cinnamon Raisin – Made with a nice mix of bread flour and freshly milled whole wheat as well as rolled oats. Some honey for sweetness, a little milk for a tender crumb and loaded with raisins and a healthy dose of cinnamon. This is not a rich sweet bread with a swirl of cinnamon sugar, instead the cinnamon is mixed into the dough and flavors the entire bread. It is a hearty rustic loaf. Great for breakfast toast, even better for french toast – $5/loaf
Toasted Pecan & Flax Seed – This bread is a little different than most of the levain breads that I make as it is made with a starter that is fed with rye flour instead of wheat flour which creates a different flavor profile. The final dough adds bread and whole wheat flour, toasted pecans, flax seeds and honey for a very flavorful bread – $5/loaf.
Brioche au Chocolate – A rich brioche dough made with plenty of butter, eggs and sugar, rolled out and spread with pastry cream before sprinkling with dark chocolate. The dough is folded over all that delicious filling and cut into individual pieces. 2/$5
(note: breads must be pre-ordered by Wednesday for pickup here at the wine shop at our Friday wine tasting, 4-6pm. Email us to get on the mailing list!)
962
Most of our regulars know Kellie, her mom and two brothers who frequent the wine shop on numerous Saturdays during the warmer months of the year or on Canadian holiday weekends (of which there seem to be many!) In the photo below are Craig, Kellie, and Mom…and, er, as we recall, this old photo was taken of them with another couple who happened to have the same name who were in the wine shop that day…
For about as long as we have known Kellie and her family, her husband Derek has been building a Porsche 962 race car. He somehow acquired the molds for the fiberglass sections of the body, and over the past 20 or so years has built a brand new version of the car.
Last Tuesday Island race car buff Tom Philpot and I drove up to Mission Raceway in BC for the car’s debut on a road race track. As you can see in the photo, the car is (click on image for larger version) Pristine, just off a very lengthy assembly line.
Sadly, the tires on the car were 20 years old and had lost their flexibility. On his first turn Derek spun out through a 360, quite sobering! Since racing tires work by heating up and shedding layers of themselves onto the track for control, and lose that ability as they age, he had to proceed with a healthy sense of prudent restraint the rest of the day, a big disappointment. He was on the track for maybe an hour altogether, but never got to drive the car as it was designed to be driven.
Still, it was milestone event, and really fun to be that close to a classic race car!
Art Show Opening Sunday
This weekend begins a new art show at the Gallery, featuring our dear yoga teacher and (as we now have learned) accomplished painter Constance Drake. I know, I know, she has kept it a close secret from most of us up till now, so here is your chance to come see another side of She who tries to keep us Old people functional.
We had our first look at her latest works as we put up her show this afternoon. She uses oils on wood or canvas to develop complex textures and color ranges that evoke the many moods of the Pacific Northwest that you all will recognize but may have a hard time defining.
Although the show will be in place beginning Friday, we invite you all to attend the opening reception this Sunday, August 4 from 3:30-5:30 to meet the artist, see the works, and visit over wine and snacks. The show will be on display through the month of August.
Mar a Lago Update: Mayor Pete’s Paradigm Shift
In the interest of Full Disclosure, in case it hasn’t been obvious, we are card-carrying political Progressives. Like most political terms, this word has different meanings for different people. Our meaning is taken from the values we grew up with in the 50’s and sixties, when the political zeitgeist of the era was still firmly attached to the New Deal and the aftermath of World War II. The entire western world was breathing a sigh of relief, and there was a pervasive optimism even in our lower middle class household in Maine. Life was good, and we were proud and content to be Americans.
According to Mayor Pete (listen to podcast), our country basked in the Paradigm of the New Deal through the sixties and into the seventies. There were conservatives and liberals in both political parties, making party line votes in Congress the exception when they happened. The general sense was that the government was on our side and reflected our common values.
All of that changed when Reagan brought in the Paradigm of the Bottom Line, which continues to this day. This new paradigm was based on the philosophy that, as Reagan put it, “Government is not the solution to our problem, government IS the problem.” His administration then began the process of dismantling social safety nets, attacking unions, weakening economic competition, increasing defense spending, and increasing taxes on the middle class while lowering them for the wealthy. Under the auspices of “Supply Side” Economics, (aka Trickle-Down), the Rich got much, much Richer while everyone else has Struggled. The Public Trough could afford to pay for luxury cabins for the Very Rich, because they are, you know, the “Job Creators,” but, alas, but Oh, so Sorry, you have Steerage ticket, no Lifeboat for you!
According to Mayor Pete, the rise of the Tweetster is one of many signs that we are ready for a New Paradigm. Most obviously, the Republican Mantra of shifting more and more tax burdens to the middle class, lowering tax burdens for the Wealthy, and exponentially increasing the national debt has stagnated the Real Incomes of the Middle Class for forty years. We have a Congress stacked against progress by systematic gerrymandering across the Red States, a Supreme Court that condones both gerrymandering and unregulated campaign contributions by Corporations and the Very Rich that distort election results at all levels, and a Senate Majority Leader who refuses to bring to the floor any vote which is not in the interest of the Very Wealthy.
Mayor Pete suggests that it is time for a New Paradigm, a system where even those who are NOT Millionaires have a fighting chance for a satisfying and secure life– the life many of us oldsters experienced as kids in the Eisenhower-Kennedy years. Those who voted for the Tweetster were (we guess) choosing to Burn the House Down because they were Desperate after 35 years of Republican Trickle-Down Bullpucky. Like Chief Joseph, we all feel the politicians “made many promises, more than I can remember, but they never kept but one; they promised to take our land, and they took it.”
In every instance that we have watched and listened to Mayor Pete, we have been moved by his intellect, kindness, and keen insight. This week, watching him on the stage with a dozen other candidates, we gained new insights into his unique gifts that differentiate him from the other candidates. In short, it does seem like time for a New Paradigm the whole middle class can get behind, and so far he seems the only candidate with the talent and temperament to deliver it.
Washington Post Tweetster Lie Count to date: 10,000 as of 5/1/19
This week’s wine tasting
Three Rivers Steel Chardonnay ’14 Washington $11
Bright melon, freshly sliced apple and pear aromas lead to an incongruously unctuous texture and tasty apple and tart lemon with hints of minerality and a fruity medium dry finish.
Borsao Rose ’18 Spain $10
Spicy aromas and flavors of ripe red strawberry; nicely concentrated and supple, with refreshing minerality.
Crios Malbec ’18 Argentina $13
Bright, dark red. Redcurrant, black cherry, ripe strawberry and spices on the nose; sweet red fruit flavors are complicated by earth, licorice and menthol; creamy fruit is firmed by smooth tannins…a terrific value.
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.
Juggernaut Hillside Cabernet ’16 California $19
Huge, rich, and opulent, with complex flavors of chocolate, coffee, blackberries, cassis, mint, and velvety tannins. New French oak adds notes of vanilla and toast; concentrated, rich, and smooth on the palate.
2072 Granger Way