Wine Tasting March 26 ’11 Earth Hour Day

Posted at March 24, 2011

Take part in the worldwide observation of Earth Hour by lighting a couple of candles, turning off the lights, and sipping a meditative glass of good wine (we can help you get ready!) for an hour beginning at 8:30 pm.

Several announcements this week:

NEXT Friday, April 1 from 4:30-6:30 we will host an opening Gallery reception for our friend, neighbor, and April artist Anne Gibert, who describes this group of paintings thus: “They are various creatures, some real, some imaginary. Some are from Lummi or recent travels. Some animals (bear, coyote) some birds, some people. A couple of small landscapes and one big one of that green sailboat that was moored off my beach* last summer.”     * (long story!)-


New card rack! Over the past year several of our artists have featured their work on cards (does anyone actually send real cards anymore???). Our neighbor Eberhard made us a lovely rack where we can display a selection from the past year’s artists, including Kim Gardner, Eberhard, and Brendan Dunn. The new rack is at the top of the stairs–take a look!


What can I say, last week was another great tasting! I think we are starting to see some of the fruit (literally and figuratively) of the global wine glut we have been anticipating. As part of the continuing process of big economic fish swallowing up smaller big fish and becoming Huge Fish, many small family wineries continue to be bought up by giant corporations, sometimes keeping the same standards, sometimes not. And, like fishermen trying to catch everything in the ocean, everyone tries to make as much wine as possible and sell it for as high a price as possible. But at the same time, since about 1980 (Reagan economic mythology began ) real wages in America have remained static even while the very rich have become the ultra rich.

All YOU need to know is that now the world is making more wine (and ever better wine at that) than ever, and yes, there are some really fabulous and expensive wines out there none of us can afford, and all the wineries want to get into the cult wine category (few will make it) so it also means a lot of great deals on a lot of pretty tasty, well-made, inexpensive wines!

So following the trend for the last few months, last week’s tasting featured four gems. The new Stephen Vincent chardonnay and “Crimson” blend were typically overdelivering fruit and flavor; the new Terre Antiche montepulciano is even better than last year (and only eight bucks!), and the ’06 Pasanau Ceps Nous “baby Priorat” was absolutely delicious!

Sean and Shawna Sean and Shawna on their honeymoon

This week’s wines:

Casa Lapostolle sauv blanc 09 Chile $10 88pts
Green-gold color. Smoky peach and yellow plum on the nose, with a subtle lemon note adding energy. Fleshy and a touch sweet, with deep orchard fruit and melon flavors and firmer orange and lemon pith qualities. Finishes with good breadth and lingering citrus character. (what Rich calls “grassy minerality”–!)

Santa Digna Carmenere 07 Chile $10
Chalky notes of toasty plums, blueberry, raisin give way to finish of dark prunes and spicy white pepper…a great value and longtime AWG favorite!

Martinez & Martinez Red  ’07   Washington      $20
Bright, expressive wine with aromas of raspberries, pencil shavings and cherries, followed by ripe, plump flavors of red and black fruit atop a rich, silky palate.”

Browne Family Cabernet  06     Washington     $27

Read winemaker notes

Wine Tasting

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