Saturday, December 6, 2008

Gonzalo of Vinifera Imports Tastes ( ROMITORIO ) Italian Wines ( MATER MATUTA / PRA Here At Cleveland Park Wines & Spirits, One Wed In Nov. 2008



This was a great day for me because I discovered this fabulous dry red from Lazio in Italy from MATER MATUTA. I bought it pretty much immediately and sold three or four cases : whatever was left in their inventory. It was great to be able to share such a fun and wonderful discovery with our Cleveland Park Wines & Spirits ( 3423 Connecticut Avenue N.W. Washington D.C. Tel : 202-363-4265 sales@clevelandparkwine.com www.clevelandparkwine.com ) customers. I loved that they could take home an older, more mature bottle to take home and enjoy with family and friends. It was still very much in it's prime and showing no signs of slowing down.

I also tasted the tasty 1994 " Madreselva " Rosso Lazio " Canale Del Giglio " and did not buy it because of a lack of money and funds : not because I did not like it or want to sell it. I simply had to chose one or the other alas...




We actually bought some of all of these wines pictured here including the ROMITORIO " Blue Man " Morellino di Scansano 2005 dry red and the PRA Veneto Soave Classico 2007 single-vineyard white called " Staforte ".




We had already sold these two before over the years : the " big discovery " was the 1999 MATER MATUTA dry and delicious classic-style, complex, layered and mineral and dusty-dry, spice and sinewy wine where the fruit was completely soaked up into the wood and soft tannins of the other components here. It was clearly a food wine that would reveal slowly more of it's charms in the context of the meal.

I wish that there were more to buy. Here on Sunday, December 13th, 2009 there is no more for us to sell in the store of this 1999.




The ROMITORIO " Blue Man " Morellino di Scansano 2005 was delicious with bright red toasted berry/cherry flavors of the grape and fruit up-front and center and filling completely the palate pretty much immediately. What was not to like here? It was wonderful either with or without a meal ...




The PRA Veneto single-vineyard " Staforte " 2007 Soave Classico was like a white version of the ROMITORIO Morellino di Sacansano Tuscan red : delicious, full and round and pleasing and completely mouth-filling almost immediately. It had such present brightness and silkiness and I could easily see sitting around while fixing a meal and drinking most of the bottle at that time even before sitting down later to a wonderful home-made dinner.




Gustavo from Brazil has left Vinifera and now we have for the moment Sotiris Bafitis as our sales person. Both are really superb and I must say that I miss you Gustavo and wish you well wherever you may be. Stop by the store next time you are in the area and catch us up on life for you now.






Happy Holidays to one and to everyone. Be sure and come see us for some wine to enjoy in this really cold weather around a fire with family and friends as you relax and feel good about yourselves and the color and the good cheer return to you after a day's hard and successful work. Cheers, TONY

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