lummi island wine tasting march 7 ’25
Wine Tasting Friday Mar 7 4-6 pm
clearing morning fog…
Friday Bread Pickup This Week
Kamut Levain – Kamut, also known as khorasan wheat, is an ancient grain that has more protein than conventional wheat. Some people who can’t tolerate wheat find kamut to be more digestible. The bread is made with a levain that is fermented overnight before being mixed with with bread flour and fresh milled whole kamut flour. It has a nutty, rich flavor and makes a golden color loaf. – $5/loaf
Le Pave d’Autrefois – Translates roughly as “old paving stones.” This is a ciabatta-like bread with a lot of hydration so it isn’t really shaped so much as simply divided into approximate squares – hence the ‘paving stones’ name. Made with a mix of bread flour as well as fresh milled whole wheat, rye and buckwheat flours for a lot of hearty whole grain goodness. A great artisan bread -$5/loaf (or paving stone) – $5/loaf
and pastry this week….
Traditional Croissants – Made with a levain as well as “old dough” where a portion of the flour, water, salt and yeast is fermented overnight. The final dough is made with more flour, butter, milk and sugar, & laminated with more butter before being cut and shaped into traditional French croissants. Quantities are definitely limited so if you want croissants this week be sure and get your order in early! 2/$5
Island Bakery has developed a rotation cycle of several dozen breads and pastries. Each Sunday the Bakery emails the week’s bread offering to the mailing list. Orders received before 5 pm Tuesday (and not already claimed!) will be available for pickup at the wine shop each Friday from 4:00 – 5:30 pm. Contact us at least two weeks before your visit to get on the bread list .
This week’s Wine Tasting
It has been many years since we visited Seguret, possibly the Most Picturesque Village in France. Washington winemaker Bob Betz had suggested it was not to be missed, and so we made a point to visit. Like many designated Picturesque Villages, there is little Industry beyond Being, well, Picturesque, constantly Posing in a way. Every turn of an alley, every stone stair climbed, every archway-framed view has its Finger on your Cute Button before you can even begin to shrug and exclaim Jacques Robinson!
This photo was taken from the window of a (of course) Charming Little Tea Shop about halfway up the steep, narrow, and winding cobbled walkways of the village. It was great to sit down, have a little something, and explore the interesting selection of teas. We settled on an Oolong tea called Tung Ting (aka Dong Ding), which has become a Favorite Late Afternoon soother.
I bring this up today because this weekend we are pouring a white wine from Seguret which blends some of our favorite white varietals (see notes, below). Hopefully it will taste almost as good accompanying the view from our wine shop window as it would if you were actually there!
Domaine de l’Amauve La Daurèle, Côtes du Rhône Villages Séguret ’23 France $21
Grenache blanc, clairette, viognier, & ugni blanc; expressive nose of white fruits, mirabelle plum, and acacia honey; soft on the palate with lively citrus flavors…very Food Versatile!
Lancyre Pic St Loup Vielles Vignes ’20 France $18
100 % malbec; unfolds with dark, enchanting notes of blackberry, grilled plum, and jammy raspberry with accents of orange peel, vanilla, and tobacco spice, finishing with balanced structure, plush texture, and a lengthy finish.
Idilico Monastrell ’22 Washington $19
Known as Mourvèdre in France, monastrell typically showcases tart dark cherry, freshly crushed pepper, some game notes, bright acidity and freshness and low alcohol levels. Fermented 10 days on lees and aged in neutral French barrels.
Economics of the Heart: Lock Him Up!
In five short weeks, Heritage Foundation’s Project 2025 blueprint to end American Democracy (which they unveiled a year ago) has already decimated our civil service with many thousands of short-notice firings, deeply compromised the many-layered security systems in our national databases, given away or sold national security secrets to our historic enemies; abandoned our historic international alliances and commitments; gutted long-established civil service protocols and social support networks, eliminated oversight of federal agencies, and replaced competent, long-serving, professional, and dedicated agency leaders with deeply unqualified Maga sycophants who all qualify as “domestic enemies by taking oaths to the Tweetster instead of the Constitution. And all the while Congressional Republicans look away, mumble, and acquiesce.
All of this deliberate chaos is, as designed, taking huge daily tolls on national morale, our national and international institutions and relationships, the smooth functioning of our public sector, and both our own and the global economy. All of these actions violate both existing law and solemn oaths of office, and over 20 Blue-State AG’s have filed scores of federal lawsuits around the country.
Although these arrows have all been pointing in the same Authoritarian direction since the 2024 election in November, No One was prepared for the jaw-dropping and shameful White House shakedown of Ukraine and President Zelensky in the White House last Friday (Feb 28). That spectacle reminded us all, of course, of the 2019 whistle-blower exposure of the Tweetster’s threat to withhold Congressionally approved military aid to Ukraine unless Zelensky would lie about the Bidens, triggering an international scandal and the Tweetster’s first impeachment. The Oval Office meeting on Friday was clearly a well-rehearsed pay-back ambush that backfired by revealing Zelensky the hero, the Tweetster the self-obsessed sh**head he really is, and the others present the sycophantic fools they are.
The inescapable fact is that psychological assessments of the Tweetster’s behavior over many years have consistently correlated with textbook definitions of psychopathy and sadistic personality disorder, both of which were on full display in his aggression against Zelensky on Friday. He was loud, rude, bullying, blaming, coarse, and breathtakingly un-statesmanlike. His every action is solely in service of his hungry-ghost ego.The entire performance was not just a long-awaited act of revenge for Zelensky’s inadvertent role in exposing Trump’s bribe attempt to help him smear the Bidens. It was also part of his long-term fantasy of becoming America’s Putin, and at this very moment he is well on his way to that goal.
It should by now be obvious to everyone on the planet that these hateful, persistent, and ever-deepening personality disorders, aggravated by his obvious mental decline, are completely incompatible with the highly demanding requirements of an effective Presidency to listen, understand, consider, and discuss a broad range of complex topics. Of immediate concern is that with neither Congressional nor Cabinet consultation he has single-handedly abandoned our 80-yr alliances with our NATO allies and many other countries in favor of autocratic states including Russia, Israel, Saudi Arabia, Iran, Hungary, and North Korea, not to mention his weird side shows on Greenland, “Gulf of America,” immigration, DOGE, Musk, air traffic control, or actually having any sense of responsibility whatsoever for anything.
This is NOT politics as usual. Everything our country has stood for for 250 years is on the line, right now, right this minute. Every US Senator and Representative must be bombarded continually with demands that they show up, speak up, and defend our Constitution against Project 2025. Whether by 25th amendment, psychiatric evaluation, arrest, imprisonment, or “compelling retirement package,” Trump and his unqualified traitors must be removed from office IMMEDIATELY or we REALLY WON’T have a country anymore!
LINK: Call/write your Senators and Representatives NOW!
lummi island wine tasting Feb 28 ’25
Wine Tasting Friday Feb 28 4-6 pm
familiar sight at the ferry dock….
Friday Bread Pickup This Week
Whole Wheat Levain – Begins with a sourdouinal mixing of the dough- which is then fermented overnight in the refrigerator. This long slow process allows the fermentation process to start and the gluten to start developing. About 25% fresh milled whole wheat, a ‘toothy’ crumb, great texture and flavor and a nice crisp crust. – $5/loaf
Semolina Levain – Semolina is made from durum wheat, which is a hard wheat and often used in pasta. The flour has a lovely golden color that comes through in the bread. Uses a sourdough starter/levain that ferments overnight before mixing the final dough with bread flour, semolina and fresh milled whole wheat and little butter for a soft crumb. Makes great toast! – $5/loaf
and pastry this week….
Muffins – 4 for $5. All orders include 2 each of:
Almond Poppy Seed Muffins – Some people think of lemon with poppy seeds, but I think of almond. Everything you want in a muffin
moist and delicious with a streusel topping.
Chocolate Chip Muffins – Just like a chocolate chip cookie, but in a muffin! Made with regular white flour, eggs, buttermilk, butter and of course chocolate chips. Yum!!
Island Bakery has developed a rotation cycle of several dozen breads and pastries. Each Sunday the Bakery emails the week’s bread offering to the mailing list. Orders received before 5 pm Tuesday (and not already claimed) will be available for pickup at the wine shop Friday from 4:00 – 5:30 pm. Contact us at least two weeks before your visit to get on the bread list .
This week’s Wine Tasting
Lancyre Pic St. Loup Rosé ’20 France $15
Raspberry and pear aromas on the nose, with distinctive spicy, minty garrigue notes. Big, bold and firm on the palate, ending with a long, clean finish; pairs perfectly with hearty salads, grilled vegetables, kebabs, stuffed tomatoes or charcuterie.
Phelps Creek Pinot Noir ’19 WA $28
Polished acidity balances a rich nose of leather and tobacco; palette of bright red fruits, lush texture full of
earth and spice notes reflective of Gorge volcanic soils.
Idilico Graciano Reserva Snipes Mountain ’17 Washington $28
Best known as a blending grape with tempranillo; all by itself this Washington graciano offers jammy aromas of raspberry and blueberry, cigar box, and light spice accents; fermented two weeks on the skins and aged 15 mos. in small French barrels; inky color, wild aromatics, huge fruit, zesty acidity, and lingering finish. Whew!
Economics of the Heart: Wealth, Entitlement, Chaos, and Cruelty
The rollout of the new so-called “Administration” since January has made it clear that its goal is the complete destruction of the United States of America. These are not just a handful of billionaires who can never have enough wealth to feel really secure or fulfilled. They are angry and hateful and are compelled to inflict pain and suffering on the entire world. It’s as if the only way they can feel any sense of stature or achievement is to cause widespread suffering.
We see this in the firings, the demotions, the complete abandonment of the rules that for 250 years have kept our country safe and prosperous, and continually has moved toward inclusion and universal well-being. What we see are a bunch of angry men who know no joy except in the suffering of others, as if making enough people suffer enough for long enough will give them some kind of peace, or revenge, or…?
This week’s suggested thought-provoking readings directly or indirectly resonate with our collective search for some explanation for the apparent need of Project 2025 to cause massive suffering to as many people as possible while destroying our alliances, and crashing the global economy.
Charlie Sykes interview with Olivia Troye
lummi island wine tasting Feb 21 ’25
Wine Tasting Friday Feb 21 4-6 pm
clouds’ illusions we recall…
Friday Bread Pickup This Week
Breton – Incorporates the flavors of the french Brittany region. Bread flour and fresh milled buckwheat and rye make for interesting flavor and the salt is set gris -the grey salt from the region that brings more mineral flavors to this bread. – $5/loaf
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 culture that is used to create a levain before the final dough is mixed with traditional bread flour, spelt flour, fresh milled whole spelt and fresh milled whole rye. It is a great all around bread – $5/loaf
Gibassiers – A traditional french pastry recipe from southern France. Made with a delicious sweet dough full of milk, butter, eggs and olive oil, with orange flower water, candied orange peel and anise seed. After baking they are brushed with melted butter and sprinkled with more sugar. – 2/$5
Island Bakery has developed a rotation cycle of several dozen breads and pastries. Each Sunday the Bakery emails the week’s bread offering to the mailing list. Orders received before 5 pm Tuesday (and not already claimed) will be available for pickup at the wine shop Friday from 4:00 – 5:30 pm. Contact us at least two weeks before your visit to get on the bread list .
This week’s Wine Tasting
Juggernaut Chardonnay ’22 Sonoma $17
Barrel fermented; aromas of apple, Asian pear and lemon meringue open to rich, lingering flavors of stone fruit, honeysuckle, and yellow plum, with finishing notes of vanilla, butter cream and hints of clove.
The Wolftrap Syrah Mourvèdre Viognier ’21 South Africa $13
Consistently appealing aromas and flavors of ripe plum, red currant, violets, Italian herbs and exotic spices; vibrant flavors of dark berries and spicy plum with hints of orange peel that linger on a juicy finish. (read more)
Marietta Old Vine Red ’22 California $16
Zinfandel-based red blend from Geyserville with lovely bright plum fruit, dark and focused notes of briar and black tea, perfect balance of big flavor and vibrant sophistication, with medium body, sweet spice and velvety tannins to pair with almost any occasion.
Economics of the Heart: Prosperity Depends on Trust
Maggit leader poses proudly for Fox cameras…
While musing for a topic this week, I came across this site for Deloitte’s Economic Outlook for January. In the early years of the wine shop we had a periodic Canadian visitor who would load up a box of white wines, stay for a little chat, and disappear for some months. As I recall he had been with Deloitte for some years, and that they had something to do with “accounting.” Those were always enjoyable conversations, and I have been curious about the company; so on a whim clicked on the report and was pleasantly surprised to find an engaging perspective on a broad range of international economic topics that affect everyone, everywhere, every day.
Moreover, every one of these global economic perspectives underlines the absolute necessity of open, honest, collaborative economic and political relationships among all the countries of the world to have any collective hope for a sustainable future. Below are links and brief intros to four arenas that will be affecting the future of the entire world, and which will be made much worse by the ongoing coup attempt of Maggit loyalists, who have no clue about any of it, angrily tearing down 250 years of Constitutional government for no particular reason.
Read on…
“The best” combination of policies should allow real US GDP to grow by 2.4% in 2025 before slowing to 1.7% in 2026. The negative economic effects of tariffs, such as higher inflation and weaker real GDP growth, are not expected to be fully felt until 2026 as per our baseline scenario. In the meantime, rising tariffs will encourage frontloading of imports and consumer spending. On the positive side, this is expected to boost consumer spending temporarily and raise business inventories. On the downside, it is expected to cause imports to grow faster than exports, thereby creating a drag on GDP from the external sector making our baseline scenario highly unlikely to materialize exactly as we have outlined here. Understanding the uncertainty surrounding federal policy, we have created alternative scenarios where the economy could perform better or worse depending on the mix of those policies. This scenario would cause US real GDP to grow by just 1.6% in 2025 and contract by 2.1% in 2026.
There are countless ways international goods trade will keep changing in response to climate change. For example, EU countries impose a carbon tax on energy imports proportional to their carbon impacts, decreasing their demand relative to renewable or lower-carbon resources. Despite Maggit-man’s $multimillion debt to Big Oil while alienating much of the world against the US, both our carbon production and consumption are likely to substantially slow our progress toward a greener economy.
COVID-19 and Income Inequality
Disparities in income and wealth continue to be exacerbated because of differentials in occupational employment among US racial groups. Blacks and Hispanics are disproportionately employed in low-paying occupations5; low-paying jobs were often shed most quickly in a recession, Black and Hispanic jobs were both more likely to be disrupted by Covid shutdowns, least likely to have health insurance, and most likely to have been earning the least. Rising income inequality during recessions is a consistent consequence of worsening labor market conditions during a downturn, making rising income inequality a predictable consequence of worsening labor market conditions during a downturn.
The Link Between Trust and Economic Prosperity
The share of the global population that believes “most people can be trusted” fell by roughly 20% over the last 15 years.1 Rising inequality, political polarization, and a higher frequency of what were previously considered once-in-a-lifetime disruptions, such as the Covid pandemic, have exacerbated this downward trend, with serious implications for the economy. In fact, in 1972, Nobel Laureate Kenneth Arrow famously wrote, “Virtually every commercial transaction has within itself an element of trust, certainly any transaction conducted over a period of time.”2 A business (or government) thrives on the cumulative trust each of its stakeholders place in it. In this sense, trust is like an interdependent web that connects all actors in an economy and influences how they work together to drive or stifle growth; as trust improves, economic prosperity grows…and, we presume, vice versa.
lummi island wine tasting Feb 14 ’25
Wine Tasting Friday Feb 14 4-6 pm
Happy Valentine’s Day!
Friday Bread Pickup This Week
Pan de Cioccolate – A delicious chocolate artisan bread that isn’t an enriched sweet pastry dough with lots of eggs, butter and sugar. Rather this bread is a rich chocolate bread made with a levain, bread flour and fresh milled rye flour, honey for sweetness, vanilla and plenty of dark chocolate. Makes fabulous toast, even better french toast – $5/loaf.
Dried Cherries and Pecans – also made with a levain that is mixed the night before final mixing of the dough using a sourdough starter. The final dough is made with the levain, bread flour and fresh milled whole wheat and then loaded up with dried cherries and toasted pecans. A nice rustic loaf that goes well with meats and cheese –$5/loaf
and pastry this week…
Chocolate Babka Rolls – A sweet pastry dough full of eggs, butter and sugar, rolled and spread with a chocolate filling, rolled up and cut into individual rolls that are placed in baking forms for baking and then brushed with sugar syrup after baking. I’ve heard some people say they hide these to keep them all to themselves. – 2/$5
Island Bakery has developed a rotation cycle of several dozen breads and pastries. Each Sunday the Bakery emails the week’s bread offering to the mailing list. Orders received before 5 pm Tuesday (and not already claimed) will be available for pickup at the wine shop Friday from 4:00 – 5:30 pm. Contact us at least two weeks before your visit to get on the bread list .
This week’s Wine Tasting
Cloudlift chardonnay ’22 Washington $28
Scents of honeysuckle, sweet lemon curd, and pear drift out of the glass, with mouth watering acidity carrying flavors of crisp green apple and pear with a burst of lemon zest on the finish.
Humble Roots Shiraz – Viognier ’20 Australia $18
Delightful blend of 98% Shiraz and 2% Viognier; shows layers of fleshy plum, oak, and blackberry with earthy hints of incense, ash, cocoa, black currant, and pepper.
Chiarlo Barbera d’Asti ’21 Italy $18
Ruby red with violet hue; elegant nose of rich plum and berry with notes of flowers and bark; palate of red cherry and red currants with a savory finish.
Economics of the Heart: Underground Discussions
A lot of us believe that the emerging American civil war is the culmination of decades of deliberate lies from right-wing newspapers, radio, internet, and TV (is there still “tv?”) programming with the single goal of making millions of people believe wholeheartedly in a fake reality. While we can probably trust our local media about local events, our new federal “government” has now abandoned both law and conscience in its apparent mission to create as much pain for as many people as it can. (see last week’s post about the Red Meanies).
One natural outcome of that recent history is that a lot of mainstream media has lost our trust. At the same time, a lot of talented writers and activists have moved their regular columns into backrooms on the web where they get subscribers interested enough in their ideas to pay a modest subscription fee. We are pretty new at this, but here are a few that are consistently informative and thought-provoking as we gear up to protect our democracy.
2072 Granger Way