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DO I SPEND TOO MUCH TIME ON WINES?
Probably not, though wine has been one of the backdrops for me sharing
& Learning So VERY MUCH with you all in the space of this long
rectagle called Cleveland Park Wine & Spirits
PERHAPS I DON'T DEVOTE ENOUGH TIME to the essence, the core, the
inner, the true, the real, the most special, wonderful , meaningful,
lasting parts of what we do here @CPWineSpirits?!? I try, it is hard to
focus always on the core of things as we are all so stressed, pulled,
driven, forced to finish for 5 minutes peace, those same 5 minutes that
Mrs Large the animated hippo was trying to find in the children's story I
read to ours way back when? Do any of you know that story, I love it!
Mrs Large maybe got four and a half minutes peace in that story, happy
for it she was,
I LISTENED THIS MORNING driving to work a cd that I bought and
picked up last night called : JUDY COLLINS Who Knows Where The Time
Goes. Any of you know it? I thoroughly enjoyed it, surprised myself,
smiled, was pleased, was moved, was emotional, inspired, fired,
engrossed.
IT ALL HAPPENED as I have been trying over time to find old music
that once inspired me when I was in prep school and college and had more
time for listening carefully and being so by the music swallowed whole
and consumed in that moment!
I REMEMBER the album cover, I owned the actual vinyl of that Judy
Collins album that was my very favorite of hers, that Stephen Stills
played on, probably produced. I was hoping this cd was that same album, I
do not think so. Any of you know it?
ANYWAY, I decided to buy it from the Record Tape & Exchange,
even though it might not be the one, I still wanted to see what I
thought and felt once again, if anything? Would I be lost or numb to
this music and this voice from my past?
I AM LOVING IT, and it built from song to song, a momentum that
carried me along, an energy, an emotion, a lovely female voice , words
that had so much depth and evoked so many scenes, images, tore at so
many heart-strings.
THE FIRST SONG hooked me line and sinker : " Hello Horray ", then "
Who Knows Where The Time Gose " soothed and smiled me, yes, smiled me! I
was beginning to feel back at home as at back at home in my teens and
early twenties!
THE SONG That reall hooked me, however, was : " First Boy I LOved
". That was where I felt the guts, the raw nerves, the guuueral, the
howl, the burn, the chafe, the commitment necessary from me : I had to
respond, and I did.
THEN Leonard Cohen came along with his great lyrics in : " Bird On A
Wire ", and that grounded, floored, elevated, elated, smiled me once
again! When was the last time you got thoroughly smiled? And to think I
was an English major and I learn it and break it to suit, to create, to
evolve, to flesh-out, make flower my needs, my concerns, my human-ness,
my personal-ness, my man-ness, my artists-ness, my father-ness, my
husband-ness, so many of my real yet sometimes lost, obscured, forgotten
ness'es! What makes me who I am as I am , then and now, and will always
be.
I WAS NOT prepared to like : " Pretty Polly " but the visceral, '
heart-blood ' quality of high riased voice, emotion, rawness, violence,
... it all gathered and gathered and exploded over and over into me,
upon me, over me, around me, it would not let me be : close to a
haunting crushing emotional crying and sympathy.
I LOVED THIS all, was smiling, moved, almost drained, caught-up,
involved, engaged, enraged, calmed, cleared, coddled, cuddled, crammed,
creamed, controlled-almost with word, sound and more. Loved it.
I COULD SEE many of us enjoying this, and it could be enjoyed with
many of our favorite spirits from beer, cider, liquers, liquors, waters
and wines, ... I could list many here, and I may.
BIG-THEME BEER-TASTING Thurs. April 6th, 2017! :
I DO WANT TO REMIND Everyone about our Big_theme Beer-Tasting this
Thursday, April 6th, 2017 tasting here that I have been helping Santos
Rivera to organize and bring to you. It is our 2nd BIG-THEME
BEER-TASTING : Join Us, have a great time, try some great beers and one
cider, too, and meet people, share in our community here, feel
appreciated and alive!
THIS RECTANGULAR SPACE here has held many memories and and
experiences, many of you have been here and many great things have
happened. It has been an amazing rectangle, and like flies on the walls,
the stories this rectangle holds, has held, knows, can tell, too if
only they could talk?!?
SO I WILL DO MY BEST to share some of the highlights I see. One
being the strong sense of community that we all hold and share. It is
not just about spirits, it is about everything, now as much as ever
before.
PEOPLE COME and GO and we had Trace and Shilpa stop by this weekend
that lived in the Quebec House. They were here this weekend, and we had
to have a group hug before proceeding to anything else. We will
probably be delivering to them soon here in Washington D.C., where it is
legal to do so.
THEN Meri K that lived in the Broadbent apartments came by and
brought some home-made cookies for us yesterday as she heads off to the
West Coast to join her two boys and families, a total upheaval and
change for her! I ate two of the cookies earlier : D-Voooon : another
way to say divine! Santos needs to taste one now!
I MISS some people that have passed away like David, Zia, John,
Stephen, Agostino, Pat, and more. You were the very very best, you would
come make conversation, trade stories, anecdotes, smile, smirk, laugh,
guffaw, ... and we would all be off on some laughing, gut-splitting fun
tirade, escapade, fueled by one another's countenamces, facial
expressions, stances.
IT HAS ALWAYS been the highest honor that many of you have brought
your relatives here to meet us, and we have celebrated largely when
these visits have occured.
WE HAVE CELEBRATED here so many weedings, engagements, birthdays,
even deaths and sicknesses, together, as one, as a Cleveland Park
neighborhood family of good people just doing what is right and working
as a team to move along, enjoy, share, feel the love, the care, the
community-hood!
SO : Thanks to you all, keep on coming, keep it coming : we will,
too : we need one another to make it forward in thse difficult times. We
are now taking doantions for cervical cancer research. I got the idea
from Mandy, one of our great regular customers. She suggested it to me.
Thanks Mandy.
KARL and DIANE just returned to say ' hello ' and buy what they
needed while back for a visit. They miss us and our store, do not get
the advice or service where they are. I sent them to Coppi's Organic as
Karl is a cyclist and here for that now. He plays while Diane works ...
or so Diane said to me with a smile earlier. I will not touch that! Good
to see you both, enjoy that magnum of Primitivo 2010 from D&N,
$16.99, I hope you like it. And your friends will love the Right
Reverend western Australian Cabernet Sauvignon, from Nick Stacy, $24.99,
and the PERLA Del GARDA 100% Merlot, $29.99, from Giovana in Veneto,
Italy!
THIS WEEK in TASTINGS :
TONIGHT : Tuesday April 4th, 2017 ( 5-8pm ) :
We taste Bulgarian wines with Diane, two kosher wines , reds, from
Bulgaria, both from CASTRA RUBRA, a 1) 2010 $35.49 blend, and a ... 2)
Pendar 2010 red blend, too, $18.99 ...
Wednesday, April 5th, 2017 ( 5-8PM ) : We have the owner of the
Navarra Spanish Mon Jardin Victor here for his third visit I believe to
taste some fine Chardonnay, some fine Garmacha red and some fine dry red
blend of Tempranillo and Cabernet Sauvignon, all fine values!
THURSDAY , April 6th, 2017 ( 5:30-8:30PM ) : We have our five-six
beer and cider experts, lovers of both here to taste their assortment of
both from Canada, Michigan, Virginia, New Orleans and more : JOIN US :
free -tasting, you are all welcome to join us for this 2nd BIG-THEME
Beer-Tasting here! FUN!!!!
FRIDAY, April 7th, 2016 : We have the owners of REDWOLF Imports
here to taste two of their fine South African wines, an earthy-barnyardy
dry red that I love, and another, too : last-minute, thrilled to have
them both and to introduce them here.
SATURDAY, April 8th, 2017 ( 2-6PM ) : We have Andrew Stover here
from Siema Imports to wax-poetic over some of his fine wine selections
with the owner of ORBELUS in Bulgaria, they are fine wines, the best,
right now we have the Melnik here usuing the Early Melnik indigenous
grape variety, a dry red, $19.99 a bottle! Join us, what an amazing
treat this will be. Get bottles signed, cheers, thanks for everything.
YOU ALL are the very very berry cherry BEST! TONY 4/4/2017
WHAT FOLLOWS Below is an old store email I wrote and sent on April
5th, 20111, read & enjoy it and check for current prices,
availability, vintages, to know better the current status of anything?
Cheers! TONY 4/4/2017
Both Liquor & Wine? I'm a wine guy and I write the store emails
each and every week here in our marvelously vibrant and exciting
Cleveland Park neighborhood in Washington D.C. Northwest and I am
thrilled to be here and to do so. There's so much to share and to talk
about and for me wine is where I feel the most comfortable. That's why
it is great to have Greg Siebert here to help me now. As he is coming
from Rochester, New York with 17 years behind him of bar and restaurant
experience to help me out. We were talking last week and he was saying
that he would start to write something pretty soon about all of this in
perhaps a blog? I mentioned that he could do it as well on both Facebook
as well as on our web page? All would be welcome as people turn to all
these different channels of communication to get their information
today.
WINE WAS KING A FEW YEARS AGO and TODAY it is having to share more
of it's throne with both beer and with liquor as well as with ciders and
bottled water and olive oil and whatever else that we get. So the
market is shifting and we are selling more and more to a younger crowd
that is interested in things across the board. WE are naturally trying
to cater more to this crowd that is embracing us, our more-relaxed
environment and our willingness to do all that we can to be as
accamadating and have as many of the things that they want. We have to
stay together and work together and thus grow and blossom more together -
one large and expanding family of sorts in a very volatile and
confusing time of so many quick changes and upheavals.
SO IN THESE TIMES OF CHANGE EXPECT TO SEE changes here. One already
has been a tightning-up of our space and displays and shelves with
better organization and more signs to let you know where things are
available. There is still more planned and we want it to be as pleasant
and stimulating an experience for you as possible. Greg has been a big
help in accomplishing much of this and for this and many other things he
already has my utmost respect and thanks. Merci, gracias et thank you
Greg from all of us here at the store.
I SPEND A LOT OF TIME each Tuesday writing this store email and so I
would like to get more of you all to open the emails and at least scan
them. That is a goal that I strive for and so I play with the headlines
and try and draw you closer and perhaps by focusing a bit more on beer
and liquor this may occur? What do you all say? Do you want more from us
about these topics? Let me / us know - share so that we may address
these issues and do a better job. For that I thank you now for any input
you may all have. Respond to this email and both Greg , Ravi and Santos
and I will see what your concerns may be.
BEER FROM SANTOS :
1) ORANGE BLOSSOM Cream Ale from Buffalo Bill's Brewery ( On
Special $8.99 a 6-pack of 12-ounce bottles, 5.2% alc. by volume ) is "
ale brewed with honey, orange peel, natural flavor and orange flower
extract added". It always sells out each time we have it. Have you all
tried it? Great packaging, too. Who drinks it and with what? Tell me
your favorite story with this Orange Blossom? Share...
2) WILD GOOSE Brewery Hand-Crafted SNOW GOOSE Winter Ale ( On
Special for $5.99 a 6-pack , 12 ounce bottles, 6.3% alcohol by volume,
seasonal ) " changes things up with a round, toasty body and vibrant hop
finish. This robust English style ale can be enjoyed long after the
snow has melted away ". Go to : wildgoosebrewery.com, since 1989, in Maryland.
3) OLD CHUB Scotch Ale brewed and canned by OSKAR BLUES Brewing,
Colorado, USA ( $8.99 a 6-pack 12 ounce cans, 8.02% alcohol by volume )
is : " It's like Sputnik, A virtual Planetoid, " announce each and every
shiny green and silver and black and white writing can. Cheers!
4) PRESIDENTE Cervesa Pilsnere beer brewed in the Dominican
Republic ( On Special for $7.99 a 6-pack of 12 ounce bottles, ) is a
staple item for us and Santos has got a display of it up front and I am
sure also chilled in our beer case in the back. As the temperatures rise
into the eighties as they did yesterday it will be a welcome treat.
Cheers.
5) SCHLAFLY Export India Pale Ale Special Release ( $12.99 a 6-pack, 12 ounce bottles , 8% Alc. by volume, schlafly.com ) is something that Santos just handed me to put into the email. Limited release.
6) BELL'S " Oberon " Ale ( $9.99 6pack 12-ounce bottles ) is
back once again much to the relief I am sure of all of you out there
that love this ale.
LIQUOR & LIQUEUR By Ravinder Sharma :
1) MATHILDE Liqueur " Poire " original liqueur from Ars,
France ( On Special for $22.99, 18% alc. by volume, 750ml bottle ) now
is available in this larger-size bottle, too. It's a regular and loved
item here in Cleveland Park.
2) Lorenzo INGA Grappa di Barolo ( made from the Nebbiolo
grape ), double-distilled ( $26.99 a 375ml bottle, 40% alc. by volume )
is back by popular demand. Flavorful. too.
3) OCOCAJE Pure Pisco D.O. ICA is from Peru( $24.99 ) and is
brand new here. I still have not sampled it. The word Okukaje means "
between hills ", made from the Quebranta grape must. Come check it out
as well as our other Peruvian Piscos.
4) MALT SCOTCH WHISKY Aged 12 years from Michel Couvreur (
$56.99 ) is exclusively pot-distilled from germinated barley dried on
Scottish peat. Unfiltered in Michel's Burgundy caves and reduced with
Scottish water. A French-Scottish effort
here. Cheers...
WINES From Greg & Tony :
WINE VALUES UNDER $10 a Bottle -
WHITES :
1) CORTENOVA Pinot Grigio Delle Venezia 2010 ( $8.99, 750 ml
bottle, ) is one that Greg loved - so fresh and bright and so easy to
enjoy with or without a meal. ALSO : available in the red Montepulciano
as well.
2) DOS PASOS Sauvignon Blanc 2009 from Chile's Aconcagua
Valley ( $8.99 ) has got some extra flavor and taste as well as color to
warm us all up a wee bit as it's still often cold and wet outside.
ROSE :
3) CHATEAU GUIOT Costieres De Nimes dry French rose 2009 (
$9.99 ) from Saint Gilles, 30800 is a blend of both Grenache and Syrah. I
used it for my wine class here last Saturday and it has some extra
depth and body and was well-received by all.
REDS :
4) Petit Caprice 2009 Vin De Pays of the VIGNERONS De
CARACTERE ( $8.99 ) is a favorite repeat here. It's a blend of 75%
Grenache and 25% Syrah and very forward and fleshy and drinkable all by
itself.
5) TRES OJOS Unfiltered Old-Vines Garnacha ( called Grenache in
France ) from Calatayud, Spain ( $8.99 ) is so flavorful and pleasing
and Greg loved this one, too.
6) " Solemiro " 2009 Rosso Di Toscana from Peter Matt is an
old-fashioned style Tuscan red - pithy and earthy and rustic and with
some edge and always best when served with a meal. We both really liked
this Solemiro dry red.
OTHER WINE VALUES :
1) Nata Vachnadze Saperavi Kakheti Georgian wine ( $14.99 )
was tasted here this past Friday by rep Mamuka along with four other
Saperavi indigenous wines and they all sold quite well. This needs a
meal and has got it's own interesting personality and character. Great
when you grill outside.
2) Reserve ALTO 3 Malbec from Catamarca, Argentina ( $15.99 )
was tasted here this past Saturday and sold quite well. It's a flavorful
and dry red that is best when paired with a meal.
3) ONIX Priorat Classic 2009 from Spain is a blend of 50%
Garnacha and 50% Carignan. It sells for $22.99 and is an absolutely
delicious mouthful of satisfying flavors and tastes. Greg absolutely
loved it and announced that it might have been the best wine he tasted
last Wednesday when our reps came with many bottles to taste.
4) BAGORDI Rioja 2009 ( $13.99 ) from Spain has a lot of
elegance and finesse and polish and immediately pleasing falvors.
Medium-to-light bodied and a joy to drink now. We tasted it here this
past Saturday to much acclaim.
5) DOMAINE De La GUICHARDE 2009 Cotes Du Rhone dry red (
$14.99 ) was another wine that Greg and I tasted with Regis last week.
Greg really liked it and opened a bottle yesterday for our customers
here. It sure is balanced and forward and really nicely nuanced. Quite
the treat to enjoy now, this 2009!
6) CHATEAU D'AGEL 2009 Minervois dry French Southwest French wine (
$11.99 ) has got just enough of everything to make it an ideal wine to
enjoy with seasoned and grilled foods.
7) BT Garnacha Tintoera " Spanish Inspiration " from BODEGAS
TINTORALBA ( $9.99 ) is another really tasty wine to enjoy with this
cooler weather and dampness.
8) Lot 96 from California's FOPPIANO Vineyards ( $10.99 ) from
owner Lou Foppiano ( he tasted it on me recently and I LOVED IT! ) is a
blend of various grapes and made by his female wine-maker. What a treat
- and I was thrilled to know that it was so inexpensive.
9) APPALINA 2008 Merlot French kosher ( $10.99 ) from the Vin
De Pays D'Oc is absolutely delicious and a real treat to enjoy now with
or without a meal. I really enjoyed it and have ordered some immediately
with the holiday Passover around the corner.
10) DON MANUEL VILLAFANE 2010 Torrontes 2010 ( $11.99 ) from
Mendoza, Argentina is a great " new " addition to our store. I think it
is the first time ever that we have had this wine.
11) LEGADO De Don Manuel Villafane 2009 Chardonnay ( $12.99 )
is a nice flavorful dry Chardonnay that wants me to drink another glass
for it's balance and finesse and overall balance. It's actually quite
lovely. That's why I bought more than usual - I liked it much more than
usual. A whole lotta wine for the money!
12) Cabernet Sauvignon 2008 of the Don Manuel Villafane Estate (
$12.99 ) fro, Mendoza, Argentina is one that my two good friends Lee
and Leslie liked the other day when they met the owner Harrison when he
came to taste and the store was filled with wine reps. It sure was
balanced and flavorful and a very nice balance of components.
WEEK'S TASTINGS :
Friday, April 8th, 2011 ( 5-8PM ) : We have Jody Jackman
coming to pour some wines and I have just called to see what we will
focus on. I'd like to do something " fun and different " and " for the
very first time " as she has such a broad portfolio. She just called and
we will be doing the DEAD CANYON Cabernet Sauvignon from Washington
State ( $15.99 ), the HEALDSBURG RANCH Cabernet Sauvignon from
California ( $13.99 ), the SAN QUERICO Organic Cabernet from Tuscany (
$16.99 ) and the dry white soave CORTE GIARA from ALLEGRINI, too. All "
new and exciting " here for us.
Saturday, April 9th, 2011 ( 3-7PM ) : We have Franceen Khang
coming from Palm Bay selections to taste the RECANATI Israeli kosher
wines ( 4-5PM ) and this will be just in time for our Passover holiday.
I AM SURE I HAVE FORGOTTEN MANY THINGS like our business
association of Cleveland Park of 31 members just got together at Ardeo
to discuss our next stage and plans with Lauren Adkins of the National
Trust for Historic Preservation's " Main Street " program to see what
things we could do to get more recognition and to get a nicer two blocks
for everyone here to enjoy even more than already. We can tweak things
and make this an even better bit of shopping, dining and community than
it is already. We want to be proactive and promote better our community.
It was a great meeting. Cheers and come by for all our sales and
promotions - we have so very many of them here for you all. I just do
not have time to relate them all just now so come by and check in with
us ASAP. Cheers, TONY
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