It's always fun to get someone like Michael Martini here in the store to taste with customers. This was sometime in 2006 ; I will find the paperwork and include that shortly.
I had met his father years back when I worked for Forman Brothers distributors back in the mid 1990's - Louis Martini when he came to do a seminar tasting for the salespeople of Forman Brothers. I enjoyed meeting him : gentle, soft-spoken, like a gentle giant moving ever so slowly but thoughtfully and with definite knowledge and purpose.
I asked him how long a Zinfandel could age and he responded fairly quickly that a good one could easily last twenty years or more. He should know. LOUIS MARTINI winery has been making really great wines at great values for more than forty years I believe.
I remember drinking a bottle of the 1968 Merlot I believe, or it might have been Cabernet Sauvignon. It tasted like it had been made the day before and I drank it sometime I think in the mid 90's. Wow, it was stunning, like the fairest of the fairest California sunshine's through grapes that tasted of bright, no-bite, creamy pure vibrant red cherry/berry/strawberry flavors - unbelievably impressive for so much bottle age. BRAVO to you all for this delicious red California wine!
When Michael Martini came to taste this go-round in 2006 sometime we decided to taste both the Napa and the Sonoma bottlings of the Cabernet Sauvignon as well as one or two of the smaller-batch, more expensive Zinfandel that tasted like a great old Italian wine as well as a Cabernet Sauvignon. I will have to find my notes, it's been almost three years since the tasting and memory fails me now. I do, however want to share these pictures with you all as they are quite interesting.
I spoke some with Michael : never enough as I have to share the winemakers / owners with our customers. I did find out from Michael though that he plays in his own rock band along with someone from FERRARI-CARANO and another winery which the name escapes me now. I liked that quite a bit and would love to hear your music Michael. I can't remember if you told me you were the singer?
Anyway, the tasting was another big success. We had a number of our favorite customers stop by to taste with you like Ian, Mary-Shannon, Margaret, John and more. Both the two Cabs : Napa and Sonoma sold well. We actually sold out of the Sonoma first because it is such an unbelievable value for all you Cabernet Sauvignon lovers out there : and it's balanced and focused and a great match for food with the alcohols all in check so as mot to overpower either the wine or the food.
Here are the pictures. I will add more later of the details, time, vintages, prices, etcetera. We always continue to sell LOUIS MARTINI Cabernet Sauvignon here at Cleveland Park Wines & Spirits ( 3423 Connecticut Avenue, N.W. Washington D.C. 20008, sales@clevelandparkwine.com www.clevelandparkwine.com Tel : 202-363-4265 ).
It's 7:55PM now on Friday evening here at the store in our nation's capitol, January 2nd, 2009. Happy New Year to everyone. Cheers, TONY
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