lummi island wine tasting march 1 ’19
note: some photos may link to larger formats when clicked…
Friday Breads This Week

Whole Wheat Levain – Made with a levain, bread flour and about 25% fresh milled whole wheat. I like to say it has a ‘toothy’ crumb, with great texture and flavor and a nice crisp crust. – $5/loaf
Buckwheat Rye – Fresh milled buckwheat and rye flours are soaked for 8 hours without any yeast in a method known as an autolyse, which allows what little gluten there is to start developing and really gets the enzymes going before the final mix – which is then fermented overnight in the refrigerator. The buckwheat-rye soaker is mixed with bread flour, salt and yeast and a bit of honey. Goes well with all sorts of meats and cheese – $5/loaf
Bagels – always popular and usually sell out quickly. These bagels are made with a bit of preferment, in this case a sponge, mixed, shaped and refrigerated overnight before being boiled and baked in the traditional manner. This results in a delicious chewy bagel. Your bagels come with assorted toppings, sesame seeds, poppy seeds, mixed sesame and poppy and plain. Each order is mixed – sorry no choices – 4/$5
Touriga Nacional
Portugal has a lot of interesting wines with unusual and difficult to pronounce names. Most of these varietals are peculiar to Portugal and rare in our experience, the best known being Touriga Nacional, a full-bodied Portuguese red wine grape with aging potential similar to Cabernet Sauvignon. It has long been a blending grape in Port, and now is more often seen as a dry red wine which stands very well on its own.
Some people liken it to Napa Cabernet or Australian Shiraz for depth of flavor and tannic structure. It typically shows palate-coating and tooth-staining notes of blueberry, plum, blackberry, bittersweet cocoa, and a touch of mint and violet. Our featured wine this weekend is a particularly pleasing 100% touriga nacional that we think everyone will enjoy.
We have had one bottle sitting on the shelf for a year or so, having sold most of it when we first poured it at a tasting. Out of curiosity, we opened it a few days ago, and immediately ordered another case. It has a lovely, subtly gritty yet velvety texture, big dark notes of ripe plum, blackberry, and chocolate, while delivering at the same time a higher, almost ephemeral, register of peach, apple, and nutmeg.
It’s the kind of wine Ben Franklin must have been thinking about when he wrote to his friend André Morellet, “Behold the rain which descends from Heaven upon our vineyards, and which incorporates itself with the grapes to be changed into wine; a constant proof that God loves us, and loves to see us happy!
March Wine Shop Schedule

So. Our plan is to pack up the trailer and head off on Sunday for a few weeks in a general southerly direction to get some work done on the trailer, play grandparents, try to get Warm, and, you know, Re-Create. What this means for our Faithful Members and Visitors is that the Wine Shop will be Open both Friday and Saturday this weekend, March 1-2.
The shop will be OPEN for Bread Fridays (including wine tasting!) through March, but will be Closed the following three Saturdays: March 8, 15, and 22.
We regret any inconvenience, and hope to see you all here this weekend as usual!
Mar a Lago Update: Matters of Character
Yesterday we found ourselves hypnotically drawn to the Compelling Drama of Tweetster lawyer Michael Cohen’s testimony before the House Committee on “Oversight and Reform” (does that actually Mean Something…?). The continually Surreal takeaway from the experience was the Obvious Partisanship of the committee members.
Democrats, generally considered Heathens by the more Pious Republicans, tended to relate to Mr. Cohen as a Prodigal Son who had succumbed to Temptation, fallen into Shame, confessed his Sins, and Come Home to pay his Due Penance.“Yes, my Brother, we welcome you back to the Flock, and celebrate your Redemption!”
Republicans without exception held to the Party Line of, as one member put it, “Liar, liar, Pants on Fire!” (Did these people actually go to School somewhere…?) All of them played the “You are a Condemned Liar; we Casteth you Out, we Sticketh our Fingers in our Ears to protect ourselves from Hearing your Blasphemy” card over and over. As if they had no internal resources whatsoever to tell, as Grace Slick once sang, Truth from Lies– no powers of discrimination; no options for investigation, confirmation, or refutation; and Most Disturbing (but Predictable), not the slightest hint of compassion, empathy, or respect for the Confession of the Prodigal Son.
Politicians are by their nature Liars and Hypocrites. It is their nature to characterize every issue, no matter how complex, in the simplest Binary Terms. In our time we have seen this tendency refined to its Most Toxic Level by Dark Lord McConnell, who can, more than any politician we have seen in our lifetimes, take one position one day and its exact opposite the next as if neither the previous day nor the previous position ever existed.
For our part, the point in the hearings where the Rubber Met the Road was when Mr. Cohen responded to a Republican Antagonist who was attacking him in Defense of the Tweetster, “I did the same thing that you are doing now for 10 years…I can only warn people that follow Mr. Trump– as I did blindly– are going to suffer the same consequences that I’m suffering.”
to which we can only say…”Whisper Words of Wisdom, Let it Be…”
Washington Post Tweetster Lie Count to date: 7,546 as of 1/1/19
This week’s wine tasting
J. Laurens Cremant de Limoux Rose France $15
A longtime favorite here at AWG–Chardonnay, Chenin Blanc, and Pinot Noir; shows a gentle yeastiness, effusive effervescence and rich, tangy, mouth-filling fruit. Makes just about anything Festive!
Phantom Chardonnay ’16 Calif $17
Fermented and aged sur lie without oak; delivers rich aromas of white and yellow fruits, with bright crisp notes of citrus zest, honey, apple, and spicy minerality on the long, broad finish.
Townshend Red Table Washington $12
Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Syrah blend; aromas of black cherry, blackberry, strawberry, cedar and a hint of orange zest fill your senses with lingering pepper & tobacco notes.
Lonardi “Bepi” Rosso Veronese ’16 Italy $18
Corvina and Rondello; something of a ripasso, fresh and clean with ripe bright notes of cranberry, cocoa, and black cherry, sweet earth and spice.
Quinta de Pinto Riserva Touriga Nacional ’14 Portugal $22
aced with violets and wonderful aromatics that combine with its fine structure, balance and elegant mid-palate for a very pleasing whole. Fresh and lively, with a hint of eucalyptus on the finish: a great food wine!
lummi island wine tasting feb 22 ’19
note: some photos may link to larger formats when clicked…
Friday Breads This Week
Multi Grain Levain – Uses a flavorful mix of bread flour and fresh milled whole wheat and rye. A blend of flax, sesame sunflower and pumpkin seeds and some polenta add great flavor and crunch. And just a little honey for some sweetness. A great all around bread that is full of flavor – $5/loaf
Polenta Levain – Made with bread flour and polenta in the final dough mix. This is not the sweet corn cranberry bread that I have done in the past that is enriched with milk and butter, this bread is a nice rustic loaf with great corn flavor. – $5/loaf
…and pastry this week, always popular, and twice now having seemed to precipitate a number of Real Bear sightings on the island (we are not making this up! –hopefully, no Bears invited this time)…
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. – 2/$5
Savoie Blanc

On average, vineyards in the region have moderate elevation between 1000 and 2000 ft., where vineyards are influenced by both the altitude and the moderating effects of the nearby Mediterranean and southern hillside exposures. Savoie whites, including the one we are tasting this weekend, include Jacquère, Chasselas, and Altesse. Jacquère is the most widely planted grape in Savoie, producing lively floral and white fruit flavors. Altesse brings complex flavors of fresh almonds, bergamot (think Earl Grey), pineapple, and quince. Chasselas does well in cooler, short summers (it’s grown right here in Whatcom County!), and offers hints of buttered toast and dried fruit. All in all, this Savoie is a perfect wine for those sunny Spring afternoons that are Just Around the Corner…!
February Blues

On the same hill it was easy to turn the snow banks into snow caves when they were high, or snow forts when they were lower, and make snowmen and snowballs when the snow got moist enough to be “sticky.” But that was a Long, long, time ago.
Here in our corner of the PNW for some 40 years, I have gotten used to the Winter Gloom, and over time accepted the Bargain that seemed to come with the Territory: in exchange for the lingering and Oppressive Winter Gloom, one learned to appreciate the arrival of the the first Harbingers of Spring shortly after Groundhog Day. Though you might not have seen the sun since early October in some years, mid-February brought warmer temperatures, longer days, and early buds on the Indian Plum, pussy willows, and daffodils.
This winter has been Different, especially the last several weeks– as it has for much of the Nation. It has been Too Cold, gone on Too Long, and delivered Too Much Snow. It feels like the Worst of both Maine and Washington, though of course no one here has Any Idea about Sliding, cuz till now it never snowed enough to make it possible!
Mar a Lago Update: Rumors of the Coming Mueller Report
Speculation has it that Special Counsel Mueller is about to release some results of his investigation of the Tweetster, his Ilk, Kith, Kin, Ko-Konspirators, Kronies, Kommie Kontacts, Krooks, Konfederates, and Konfidants. Speculation also has it that no one should expect much immediate excitement. Rather, as the Washington Post puts it, a short Mueller report would mark the end of the beginning, not the beginning of the end. That is, it would be a sort of Road Map the Attorney General (that should be interesting…), FBI, Federal courts, House Committees, and other investigators could use to delve more deeply into matters uncovered by the investigation so far.
It sounds like a Big Dose of Lowering Expectations, kinda like when you’re seven years old, it’s Christmas, and your folks tell you, “you know, Honey, you, um, probably shouldn’t get your hopes too high for that Pony you’ve been wanting so much…” In our own case, there was something about the recent election, the Halfway Point in a Tweetster Four-Year Term, that invoked feelings of Resignation and Hopelessness in a Spicy Sauce best defined by the Indian Guru who told his Followers with Deep Amusement, “There’s No God; there’s No Heaven; and There’s Nothing You Can Do About It!”
As we have mentioned recently, it is Komforting to have the House in Democratic hands. And there is a strong likelihood…mmm, hold on a minute, let’s lower our expectations a bit and say “some possibility” that various investigatory entities at all levels will be able to use pieces of Mueller’s road map to get some Leverage on Justice.
While the Skeptic who has lived inside me for a long time remains cautiously hopeful, the Reality seems to be that the Tweetster could be several years into or even past a Second Term before the Wheels of Justice might free us from his Madness. In the meantime, the Stolen Election of Aught-Sixteen will never be corrected nor Damages Paid. The Global Damage of however many Surreal Years this goes on will never be repaired, the System that allowed it happen will has yet to be improved, and the Justice of turning the clock back to the So-called Election of Aught-Sixteen and Starting Over is definitely “There’s Nothing you can do about it!”
So. Mueller Report or no Mueller Report, it’s a Long Road back to Normal.
Washington Post Tweetster Lie Count to date: 7,546 as of 1/1/19
This week’s wine tasting
Viallet Vin de Savoie Blanc ’16 France $12
Fresh, crisp, bright, and tangy, with notes of stewed fruit and honey, and a refreshing balance of minerality and acidity.
Domaine La Croix Belle Caringole ’14 France $11
Syrah, Carignan and Merlot blend from Languedoc’s Cotes de Thongue region; fresh and supple with flavors of cherry, and black olive, and herbs.
Monte Tondo Veneto Corvina ’16 Italy $12
Ruby red; bright lively nose with fresh cherry, blackberry and black pepper; supple, well-integrated tannins and a well balanced, dark fruit core with cherry, dark chocolate, a smooth, seductive slightly spicy finish.
Terra d’Oro Zinfandel ’16 California $15
Vibrant aromas of clove and big, generous fruit lead to concentrated flavors of juicy plums and blackberries in a soft frame of toasted oak.
Kerloo Majestic Syrah Grenache ’16 Wash. $24
Aromas of leather, black cherries, and plums; on the palate smooth and silky with a complex, lingering finish.
lummi island wine tasting feb 15 ’19
note: some photos may link to larger formats when clicked…
Friday Breads This Week
Levain w/ Dried Cherries and Pecans – A levain is made the night before final mixing of the dough as when using a sourdough starter. The final dough combines the levain with bread flour and fresh milled whole wheat before loading up with dried Montmorency cherries and toasted pecans. A nice rustic loaf that goes well with meats and cheese – $5/loaf
Pan de Chocolate – A delicious chocolate artisan bread made with a levain, bread flour, and fresh milled rye flour, honey for sweetness, vanilla and plenty of dark chocolate. Makes fabulous toast – think about spread with peanut butter, even better french toast – $5/loaf.
Chocolate Panettone – Panettone is an Italian Holiday brioche often including candied orange
peel and raisins and made as a large loaf. These Chocolate Panettone are a smaller version made with lots of sugar, butter, eggs and honey including three types of chocolate, cocoa nib praline, and candied ginger, before being topped with a chocolate glaze, and no candied orange or raisins. Great as a pastry, toast, or a great bread pudding! – 2/$5
Carmignano

Carmignano was designated a separate DOC in 1975, before which its wines had been known as Chianti Montalbano. The soils in this small region are rich in lime, with good drainage and favorable balance of hot days and cool nights, which some of us think give the Carmignano sangiovese a bit more weight than Chianti in general, making it a good pairing with rich, savory dishes. Possibly a bit intense for some palates, some of us find it….how shall we say…curiously compelling.
Wine Club Notes

More to the point, here we are in 2019 (really?…seriously?…OMD!) a New Year here at the Wine Shop, and it is yet again time to renew Wine Club memberships, as many of you have already done.
This is our gentle reminder that to maintain your wine club benefits ($5 wine tastings and sales tax-free purchases) through 2019, you must renew your annual calendar year membership.
We rely on and appreciate your support, and look forward to another year of sharing the nourishing space we somehow mutually create each weekend. As an old friend sometimes says, “We are all Lucky Ducks!”
Mar a Lago Update: I’m Not Getting My Way, It Must Be a National Emergency
Back in 2016 or so when we took the photo that has accompanied this weekly paragraph in the wine blog for the last two years, we were on a day trip to Friday Harbor on San Juan Island. Near the ferry dock and adjacent marina is a small park with a fountain feeding a sweet little pool of water in which swam this Sunglassed Plastic Duck. It had a familiar Air, a certain Nonchalance, a certain je ne sais qua air Symbolic of…hmm, who or what was it…?
After a few moments’ contemplation, we realized OMG, it’s the Tweetster! Though never doubting the truth of this insight, it was a long journey to drill down to the meaning this image evokes: Smug, Oblivious, Infantile, Pampered, Vain, Invulnerable, Self-Centered-– a constellation that adds up to a profound sense of Personal Entitlement, unconstrained by any sense of Personal Responsibility.
The last two years have largely confirmed the intuitive metaphorical validity of the Plastic Duck. It cannot be denied that the Political Dynamic since 2016 has been, sadly: Tweet (five minutes effort); b) Analysis (three days commentary); c) Retweet (five minutes); d) the Re-Analysis; etc. That is, the Tweets drive the news analysis, not the other way around.
For just over a month we have all been getting used to the New Reality of Divided Government, and it is an unfolding Revelation that it can make so much Difference in the Balance of Power. Supposedly the Tweetster will soon declare a National Emergency to get funding for his Wall, whatever that might mean.
All we can be sure of at this point in time is, it won’t be pretty!
Washington Post Tweetster Lie Count to date: 7,546 as of 1/1/19
This week’s wine tasting
Lumos Pinot Gris Rudolfo Vineyard ’17 Oregon $18
Clear light golden straw color. Lively and complex aromas of lemon, green apple, nectarine. A vibrant, dry yet-fruity body and a tingling, breezy, nicely balanced nut-skin finish.
Saint Nabor Gris de Gris Rose ’16 France $10
Bouquet of red fruit and honeysuckle with linden-tree nuances; light, crisp and easy drinking, with palate of wild strawberries and blueberries with mineral nuances.
J Lohr Cypress Merlot ’16 California $10
Classic varietal aromas of black cherry and plum with subtle hints of oak; savory red fruit and comforting weight finishes with a touch of chalky tannin. Seriously over-delivers for its modest price.
Terra d’Oro Zinfandel ’16 California $15
Vibrant aromas of clove and big, generous fruit lead to concentrated flavors of juicy plums and blackberries,all with a good dose of toasted oak.
Piaggio Carmignano Il Sasso ’13 Italy $29
Rich, ample and voluptuous, with black cherry, plum, lavender, spice, tobacco and dried herb notes, and int3ense fruit and texture. There is not much subtlety here, just plain gorgeous!.
lummi island wine tasting feb 8 ’19
note: some photos may link to larger formats when clicked…
Friday Breads This Week
Fig Anise – Always popular, made with an overnight sponge fermentation, then mixed with bread flour and fresh milled whole wheat. Honey, dried figs and anise bring in all the flavors of the Mediterranean. A great flavorful bread – $5/loaf
Breton – Incorporates the flavors of the French Breton region. Bread flour, fresh milled buckwheat, and rye make for interesting flavor and sel gris – grey salt from the region brings more mineral flavors to this bread. Goes great with meats and cheeses – $5/loaf
Rum Raisin Brioche: A delicious brioche dough full of eggs, butter and sugar. Filled with golden raisins and chunks of almond paste and topped with a chocolate glaze before baking...mmm! – 2/$5.
Real Rioja

Cubillo, which we are pouring this weekend, is the youngest and least complex of the Lopez de Heredia Rioja wines. In the Cubillo vineyard tempranillo vines are harvested along with garnacha, mazuelo and graciano. It is aged in neutral oak barrels for two years and another two in bottle, nearly long enough to be classified as a Gran Reserva. Nevertheless it displays a brighter and more youthful personality than Lopez Heredia’s longer-aged red Reservas and Gran Reservas, and consistently shows brighter fruit and more pronounced acidity than many other Crianzas.
While most long-established wineries in Rioja work to maintain traditional standards for the qualities define the wines of the region, Lopez Heredia arguably clings to the Old Ways more than others, as if to wag a finger in the air and saying, This is Rioja!
More Lirac

This week we are bringing back two old favorites from another winery in the region which we have visited a couple of times and particularly enjoyed. Since our last visit some five years ago, sisters and co-owners Severine and Melanie have apparently been making another rosé besides their Tavel, under the simple label “Initial R.” We do have a vague memory, brought to mind by the photo to the left, that they were making a second rosé even then that was aged longer but still wasn’t quite as dark as the Tavel.
This weekend we will also be pouring their “Lirac Classique,” a traditional Lirac blend of syrah, mourvedre, and syrah that we often keep on our shelves and find a treat to enjoy at home.
Mar a Lago Update: The War We Are Losing
For as long as we can remember, Republicans have been trying to Out-Hawk Democratic opponents for offices at every level by inventing Straw-Man Enemies who want to take our jobs, seduce our wives and daughters, take our Hard-earned Stuff, and leave us in a Ditch in rural North Dakota. On reflection, these days when finding a Republican politician with an actual military record of any sort is a Curiosity, you have to wonder how these Bozos have managed to keep getting Traction with this nonsense, exciting all the other chimps and getting them to jump up and down and Want to Hurt Someone. Given this 70-year Republican mantra, one would expect Republicans to take a Strong Defensive Stance against any Real Threat to our National Well-Being.
Such a threat could come in many forms: overt or covert, flagrant or subtle, short-term or long-term. In whichever case, we want our Leadership to be on the Alert, ready to warn and mobilize us toward an effective defensive response.
Over the last several decades the United States has seen the rise of a Powerful Enemy which threatens pretty much Everyone and Everything. On many occasions since 2000 this Enemy has carried out numerous attacks against our country and its people, killing hundreds or even thousands, and causing tens of billions of dollars of damage. That Enemy is Global Warming, and let’s get it straight right now: Global Warming is the Enemy, and Climate Change is the Weapons System it is using to Destroy us. We can spend countless Billions invading Iraq, Afghanistan, Syria (and so many more) with military power, but do not even admit that This Enemy is even Real. WTF is Wrong with these people??
If we add up the costs since 2000 of increasingly damaging hurricanes, flooding, drought, habitat destruction, resource shortages and conflicts, mass migrations, and forest fires, all directly due to human-caused climate change, we are already in the trillions of dollars in damages. What other enemy could do us this kind of damage without some kind of retaliation? Climate Change is a Clear and Present Threat to our very existence as a species. We are waging a War against our own Planet’s ability to house Life in general, and Human Life in particular.
This is why the Broad Issue of Climate Change is THE Dominant Issue of the 2020 political campaign that has already started. The War is here, we are not fighting back, Time is Short, and we are in Grave Peril.
Washington Post Tweetster Lie Count to date: 7,546 as of 1/1/19
This week’s wine tasting
Ottella Lugana Bianco ’16 Italy $15
Trebbiano di Lugano (Turbiana). Intense straw yellow color with green tinges. Exotic notes of candied fruit and citrus, warm and very deep on the nose. Widespread expressive finesse, with rich and persistent texture.
La Rocaliere Initial R rose ’14 France $12
80% grenache, 20% syrah; pressed after 12 hours cold maceration, 10 days fermentation, and aged in both stainless steel and concrete tanks before bottling to display bright, red fruit flavors both fresh and versatile on the palate.
Avignonesi Rosso de Montepulciano ’15 Italy $18
Perfumed aromas of red berries, violets, cinnamon, and almond flower. Juicy and bright, with precise strawberry and redcurrant flavors and lively acidity. Finishes long and fresh, with lingering floral perfume.
La Rocaliere Lirac Classique Rouge ’15 France $16
Grenache, mourvedre, syrah from sandy and pebbled soils; floral and spicy bouquet reminiscent of garrigue scrubland. Powerful and full-bodied, it finishes crisp and rich, matching perfectly with the spirit of contemporary cuisine.
Lopez Heredia Vina Cubillo Crianza ’09 Spain/Rioja $22
Juicy and soft; fermented with natural yeasts in large oak vats and matured in neutral barriques for three year; shows good balance between fruit and more developed aromas, with hints of leather, cherries, spices and smoke. On the palate it is deep, full-bodied, focused and beautifully balanced, with fine complexity and grip and a long, classy, vibrant finish.


2072 Granger Way