Wine Tasting October 1 ’10

Posted at September 30, 2010

The first thing is that I wasn’t supposed to be here last weekend. The plan was that my old friend and boat  (it’s moored south of the ferry landing along with a bunch of others) co-owner Bob were going to sail out to Sucia last Friday for the weekend, because his son was getting married there. Between iffy weather forecasts and the exigencies of parental responsibilities, the sailing trip was cancelled, and there I was marooned at the wine shop as usual. As it turned out, Saturday was a stunning day, and the wedding festivities went off (so we are told) without a hitch. So congratulations to Beau and Kari, aye, hoist yer glasses, mates!

The other thing that didn’t happen was that Judy didn’t have to step in to fill in with the wine pouring, so everybody got the usual scene rather than the Party Atmosphere that she seems to carry with her. She did, however, stop by and share a few new wines with us, some of which you are likely to see again in the future.

The other convergent event that set the tone for the day was the little Blogofest that spilled onto our shores. As some of you may know, our Most Loyal and Faithful supporter Anne, who lives down the street, has a charming little blog (see sidebar) . So does her daughter Julia  (Duchess Omnium). Anne has made a lot of friends with her blog, including other writers of like mind, and the weekend past was the occasion of visits from two linked bloggers (Ruth and Tessa ). So below we have the four of them, together at last, having travelled to Lummi Island from England, Austin, and Toronto, respectively, just because they like each other’s writing. Is that cool or what?

Last week’s wines were uniformly popular and therefore highly recommended. The possible asterisk there is the Layer Cake cotes de rhone, which is a tad on the Old World style for many Western palates. This week we will pour the latest incarnation of the Layer Cake shiraz (Australia), which is definitely New World, along with several other lovelies.

And finally, I think the big KING-5 Best of the Whatever contest may be about over. I haven’t checked to see how we fared, but I do want to thank all of you who voted for us for best wine shop in the Northwest (which of course we are, because of all of you who come and hang out and join the ongoing salon. Thanks! And just in case it’s NOT too late to vote again, Here’s the link!

This week’s wines:

Nefarious Cellars “Consequence” White ‘08    Washington   $15
Off-dry in style, a blend of Aligote and Viognier, a great patio sipper, with flavors of peaches, apricots, green apple, stone fruit, and ruby red grapefruit, with really lovely mouth-cleansing acidity.

Ricardo Santos Malbec ’07 Argentina $16

A ripe, juicy style, with a mix of raspberry and boysenberry fruit that stays fresh, while spice and licorice hints chime in on the medium-weight finish.

Layer Cake Shiraz   ’09  Australia       $14 WS89pts

Smooth and round, almost black in color, with the generous currant and black plum flavors poking through a layer of fine tannins on the finish.

Waterbrook Reserve Merlot   07   Washington     $20   WS92pts

Ripe, pure, focused and beguiling for its balance, offering blueberry, raspberry and plum fruit at the core, layered with hints of red pepper, clove and peach fuzz as the finish extends extraordinarily well.

Wine Tasting

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