|
|
Wines
We're offering a short list of wines. Most wines will be local (Windfall Winery, San Juan Vineyards, Lopez Island Vineyards, Mount Baker Winery) or artisanal wines that complement our work. We'll add to these write-ups as time permits.
Reds
 The best selling red in our little town bakery is ... from France. Domain De L'Auster's Faugè res is a nice table wine that features soft tannins and a typical French refinement. It is a blend of 40% Syrah, 30% Grenache, 20% Mourvèdre, and 10% Carignan. We took it to a friend's house and had it with some grilled meat. Randy Fenley's Mount Baker Malbec was at the same table. The Malbec is a bigger, richer, more sophisticated wine, but for $10, this Faugeres is hard to beat. This is an easy-drinking, nicely shaped red that you can enjoy for the next two-three years.
Mount Baker Late Harvest Viognier
Randy Fenley of Mount Baker Winery loves to make fine red wines. But he's got some great whites as well. Try his Chardonnay ($8.50) and Pinot Gris from our shelves.
The Late Harvest Viognier ($19 for 375 ml bottle) is exceptional. And that's not just our opinion. This wine was among the 1,000 wines chosen for a wine writers' dinner in California. The field was narrowed to 200 and after the meal, the writers were turned loose on the tables. They awarded only seven medals. Randy's Late Harvest Viognier was chosen as the best dessert wine there. "A nice pat on the back," was Randy's response. This is not an "ice wine" where the sugar is concentrated by freezing the juice and removing the ice-water. Grapes were harvested late, December 10 for this bottling. Hanging on the vine, grapes give up some of the water and the sugar concentrates naturally. The result is a sweet but not cloying wine that shows its varietal character. Sit back and enjoy it against the late sunsets.
 Asian Pear Wine from Windfall Winery
Larry Soll brought us our first case of wine. We love this wine and we love Larry's mission of providing "forever affordable housing" partly supported by his wine making.
Windfall Winery's Asian Pear wine has a gorgeous golden cast, is full with the Asian Pear fruitiness complemented with citrus and oak. And it is low in alcohol (11-12%), which is unusual in American wines these days.
Larry was one of the founders of the San Juan Community Land Trust and he puts a lot of money from his wine sales into the Trust. The Trust sells houses to low- and moderate-income families. Buyers enjoy all the rights of home ownership but the Trust retains ownership of the land. When an owner wants to sell the house, they are obligated to sell to another qualified buyer according to a formula that will insure the house stays "forever affordable."
We're happy that Windfall's Asian Pear Wine was the first wine on our shelves.
|
|