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Anthony Quinn's Impressions Of J. Freedom Du Lac's " Article : " Where Wine Meets Wealth "/ Saturday, 12/31/2011 In Wash Post

2012-01-06T05:26:00.000-08:00

It was well-written this article of Freedom Du Lac's entitled : " Where Wine Meets Wealth ". Appearing on New Year's Eve DEcember 31st, 2011 in Satuday's Washington Post newspaper on the front page. I did not read it until Sunday as it was a really unseasonably beautiful and warm Saturday in the sixties I believe and I was appearing on NBC4 and being interviewed at 9AM about some of my favorite bubbly/champagne and sparkling wine selections ( as well as a sparkling wine cocktail of my selecting ) to celebrate New Year's Eve a bit later. It was all so much fun and after the interview I rushed off to work to show and taste our customers on some of the bubbly that I had selected and already shared on NBC4 earlier. There was not time : people would be rushing soon to the store to buy their last-minute needs to finish off 2011 and to ring in 2012!

I liked Freedom Du Lac's story once I got over my initial shock that and article had been written about Pepi Almadorov and the store Calvert Woodley ( up the street from ours : Cleveland Park Wines & Spirits on Connecticut Avenue N.W. ) and my first thought that the article had been largely procured by all the weekly advertising dollars that Calvert Woodley pays yearly? It did occur to me, really it did. However, once I actually got over this and actually read the article I liked how Freedom Du Lac approached it and wrote as much about Washington D.C. now and in the past and how things have changed and evolved. It became for me a human interest story, a history story, too. It spoke much more of simply Pepi and one store.

I also liked that the story had been written about an actual wine store : one that is in Washington D.C. where so much started first and which has paved the path for so many other wine stores and stores that simply include wines as one of the very many things they sell to get their start and their foot-hold in Virginia, Maryland and Delaware. I liked this a lot. Like us at Cleveland Park and many of the other excellent wine stores in Washington D.C. ( MacArthur Beverages, Chevy Chase, Schneiders. Burka's Fine Wines, Bells, Wide World Of Wines, Cairo ) and more we started as beer, liquor and wine stores and we have continued as such. We are small family-run operations here in Washington D.C. like Calvert Woodley and we have been around for a very long time and we have survived so far all the larger retail operations that have simply added wines to their inventory to increase their profits, even like places like Wallgreen's pharmacy a block away from us that claims they want to simply answer their customers requests and be more for them ). I say and have said already to the lawyers of Wallgreen's : " Then why don't we start being more to our customers, too and start selling some drugs to make up for the revenue that you take from us by selling really inexpensive beer and wine? They did not know how to respond to this question of mine. So bravo to Freedom Du Lac for actually picking a true beer, liquor and wine store to write about. That pleased me enormously. It also pleased me to see that a fellow Washington D.C. retail wine expert like Pepi Almadovar was given some time and attention for a change. Too often if not always it is someone in a restaurant setting ( a chef or a sommelier, doesn't matter if the chef or the sommelier has paid their dues yet it seems )gets all the lime-light. Don't get me wrong : fair is fair : and they deserve some of this attention but certainly not all. Again in my humble opinion I believe firmly that it is the beer, liquor and wine stores where most people learn and get advice on how, when and what to serve depending on their events. So bravo to you Pepi : you deserve this article and I am thrilled for you. Happy New Year to you and to your family. Yes, it's true, I have known Pepi for years having sold to him for many of them when he worked at Schneider's Fine Wines on Capitol Hill.

I liked Freedom's keen observations like when he wrote : " With New Year's Eve approaching, most of the customers dodging one another in the family-owned store's aisles carted off champagne or tiny bubbled alternatives. One man picked up a bottle of $110 Barons de Rothschild Blanc de Blancs. Someone else asked for a 2004 Cristal For nearly $200 : 12 percent alcohol by volume for the 1 percent ". The " 1 percent " that can or choose to buy/ afford it as you can buy a case of our MONTELLIANA Extra Dry Prosecco from Veneto, Italy ( that's 12 bottles ) for $144 that includes tax and still have $56 left over to buy a bottle of the POMMERY N.V. brut champagne for $47 a bottle : 13 bottles for the price of one really expensive one!

Freedom Du Lac continues : " Most of Calvert Woodley's 52 employees take home less per week than the roughly #1,500 it would cost to buy a single bottle of 2005 Lafite. " Sad.

Freedom adds : " But the rage-against-the-wealth ethos represented by the Occupy movement is missing from the store. There's more awe than resentment about how the haves throw their money around here." Another sad statement in my humble opinion.

I also love how Freedom quoted other of the CW staff like Dillon William, 51 a Jamaican immigrant and Fogle. About Phillip Fogle, 43 Freedom writes : " He lives in Ward 8 , where the unemployment is around 2o percent, and he's surrounded by poverty. ... For New Year's Eve, after working the 9-7 shift, Fogle said, he's going home to listen to jazz and open a half-bottle of Ben Rye, a sweet wine that sells for $32. " These are really keen inclusions by Freedom. They help to paint a much bigger picture and it's interesting to read and to learn from it. I certailnly did,

I am sorely sorry that he did not include Tom McKnew that has been at Calvert Woodley for as long as I can remember and that has helped make it what it is.

Freedom continued to write : " Multiple bottles of Andre Cold Duck wound up in shopping cart Thursday ( the bargain sparkler sells for $5.99 ), people were loading up on $9.99 bottles of Kendall-Jackson Chardonnay and bagels were outselling caviar ( $69 an ounce ) by a wide margin . ... The store also is selling far more bottles of prosecco - the budget- friendly Italian sparkling wine - than Krug, Dom Perignon and the other high-end, $125-and-up champagnes in the lead-up to New Year's Eve ".

I love how Freedom ended the article : talking to Pepi and quoting him : " I think only of satisfying the customer". I feel the same, the customer is always first. Greet them politely, make them feel welcome and give them the respect they deserve, listen carefully to them and assist them as best as you possibly can. That's doing the job right.

To Freedom I say to you : good job and think now of visiting some of the " other " quality store I have mentioned above and giving us some equal opportunity, too. With Valentine's Day approaching on the 15th of February 2012 I believe? Anyway, this gives yo plenty of time now to contact some of us and come to our stores to see the excellent jobs that we, too do, We may not have 52 employees but we are equally determined to " satisfying the customer " / our valued customers as well as they new ones we have still to meet or are just meeting today for the very first time. Cheers, Anthony ( TONY ) Quinn

Tastings In Cleveland Park Wines & Spirits In Washington D.C. N.W./ 2011/ IL CAMPO'S GIORNATA 09, Sangiovese ( $34.99 ) Paso Robles Luna Matta Vnyd &

2011-12-20T16:10:00.000-08:00

& More ... this headline should read : I tasted three wines of IL CAMPO here ...

What a nice treat these were and a total discovery for me. I had never heard about them before John and Theresa Morrison brought them to my attention in the middle of 2011 was it ? I cannot remember exactly but here I was able to try all three and we now sell the two reds. We still have not bought the white yet and I will think about that perhaps for the this spring 2012.

Here they are all above as we tasted them recently. In the picture below is pictured Theresa Morrison and Mark of J.W, Sieg Imports.

Tasted also " Il Campo " 2008 Central Coast ( $27.99 ) " A modern field blend inspired by Italy " and also made by GIORNATA Wines in Paso Robles, California. We started with this " Il Campo " - the one with the red label. Theresa came and included it in one of her in-store wine tastings on either a Friday or Saturday with our customers of Cleveland Park Wines & Spirits ( 3423 Connecticut Avenue N.W. Washington D.C. 20008 Tel : 202-363-4265 anthony.quinn@clevelandparkwine.com also on Facebook at : Cleveland Park Wines & Spirits and on Twitter at : cpwinespirits ).

This GIORNATA above has 14.5% alcohol by volume, www.giornatawines.com was tasted this past Saturday December 17th, 2011 from 2-6PM with John Morrison. People loved it and we sold several bottles at $34.99 I believe? Look at the beautiful deep, rich red color above. It's impressive and splendid just to look at. Being an artist I am drawn to things like this and am thrilled to be able to record and to share them here with you all and simply not just say to you all to buy it because it received a high numerical store from some wine writer. I strongly believe that we will all be out of a job if that is all we do : depend on scores to sell our wines. Look at the color I say. smell the bouquet : waken up and realize that you are the one that matters here. It's only your palate and knowing your tastes that should matter!

Pick up the glass and swirl it around and watch the light reflect through and off of the red GIORNATA as it moves in beautiful, soothing, exciting circles around the glass like a fine race car! Enjoy the ride , it's yours to do with what you will.

Cheers, TONY

Beautiful, even on it's side : like magic - how does it stay in the glass?!? You better rescue it before it spills out and pour some into your awaiting tongue and mouth and senses that are already partly under it's spell. Happy New Year everyone. It's now 12:04PM here at home in northern Virginia on Monday, January 2nd, 2012 as we all get ready to go off and have our brunch at " First Watch ". Anthony ( TONY ) Quinn

2 Morning Poems 12/14/2011 : Org Orga Organ Anic / So Ear To Earth Of Lif / Enjoy, Thinking Of Marc Tempe-Roy Cloud-Biodynamic Wines

2011-12-15T05:36:00.000-08:00

Here are my 2 Own Morning Poems of December 14th, 2011 that I wrote yesterday morning before starting work thinking of the book by Roy Cloud called : " To Burgundy And Back Again " that I am reading and the chapter called " The Bear " that is about the wines of Marc Tempe in Alsace, France and his biodynamic farming and wine-making practices. Cheers and enjoy, Anthony ( TONY ) Quinn

Org Orga Organ Anic

So Ear To Earth Of Lif

Clos Dale Diary Daily

Close To Farm Yes Be

Grapes Close Terroir Vines

Dig Nourish Flu Flourish

Be Maximed Be Nuroured

Perform Max From Elems

No Addits No Dictives No

More Sulfurs No More Dead

To Deaden Less Marc Sez Il

Si Dit Lui Oui Il N'Aime Pas

Oui Wants Respecter Land

Son Terroir Les Years All

Tous

Different Must There In

Work Nature What Give It

Up?!? To Best Respect The

Labors The Toils Of Soils The

Earth Produces Sometimes Rains

Boils So Much Chance Change

Uncertain At Best Must Work

Close Closely Play Odds Some

Accept The Rest ...

#1 Le 14 Decembre, 2011 Mercredi matin en voiture en Virginie a 11:37AM on a cool, cloudy, fresh, brisk. no rain, no sunshine fall morn I like it thinking of Marc Tempe , cheers, TONY

To Be Tem Temp Temped

All Zzzzey Waaay Ok

Si Oui D'Accord Okay

Thinking Of Nature Respect

Organics Meme Bio Bio

Dynamics- Beeoohhh

Soil Terroir Nutrients

Sustenance The Best Possibs

Without Adding Chems Few

Chems Less Sulfurs Don't

Want Kill Tuer Leave

Best Alone Help Small Ways

To Thrive Harvest Plenty

Heal Ways Along Healthy

Arrive

The New / Old Family-Tribe

Many Tribs Along Way

No Way To Know Exact Early

Impossible To Say! Want Be

Fulfilled Full Disclosure Full

Remplir Dismay Listen To Marc

Tempe It's Okay He Plays He

Does Some U Peu Gamble To

Respect Earth Year His Grape

Make Best Wine Can He ...

#2 Le 14 Decembre, 2011 Mercredi matin en voiture en Virginie a 11:45AM on a gray, cool, no-sunshine, no rain, thinking of Marc Tempe's Alsace organic biodynamic wines ... The Bear! Cheers, TONY

Finding True Joy In Reading Roy Cloud's Book : " To Burgundy And Back Again " / Especially " The Bear " Chapter Of Marc Tempe

2011-12-13T05:54:00.000-08:00

I met Marc Tempe and his wife Anne-Marie a couple or three years ago was it when you brought them by Cleveland Park Wines & Spirits Roy? What a great visit that was. I feel the three of bonded pretty much immediately as I took pictures and tasted and we all exchanged stories. What a great yet brief moment that was in my life and yet I remember it quite vividly. At least I remember the smiles all around, the laughter, the glee and the mirth. As a result reading your chapter called " The Bear " about Marc and his wife, the land of Alsace, the converted cellars and antic and " new " attic and the cat's ( the one that is " special " ), their daughter and the love-sick boy, the child on his bike driving like a mad boy ... the Sylvaner debacle here in the Unites States at first ... well, it all comes so vividly alive to me and of course I am only quickly remembering snatches of all of this that I have just read as I type away like a madman myself. Thanks for all of this Roy, I am getting so much pleasure and joy from reading it this morning before I drive off to work in a few minutes.

I was involved with the Sylvaner debacle in my own little way : at least the ending of it as there were many, many cases that I bought and had shipped from California to our store here in Washington D.C. because they were available and available at such a great price that I could simply not refuse buying them. I will write more about that later today but will post this now " as is " because of my high level of joy and enthusiasm over this great book of yours Roy. I simply want to share more of it and I will soon. Cheers and stay-tuned, Anthony ( TONY ) Quinn

I read a bit of " To Burgundy And Back Again " each night and I really do love it. The part about Marc Tempe making biodynamic wines really speaks to me now more than ever before. Roy talks about what is done today in his book, especially in the chapter " Chemical Changes " and I find this alarming and it's something that I have become more and more aware of with time. He talks about the cooperative that he and Joe visit after they leave Marc and Anne-Marie Tempe and this scares the shit out of me : troubles and depresses me and really makes me scratch my head and wonder how we have come to this today? I will perhaps discuss this more but now leave you with : " The place was a tank farm, a factory for wine production ". Gasp!

I have sold a whole lot of Tempe wine at Cleveland Park Wines & Spirits over the years. Not so much recently and I will shortly change that. I will call Arielle Monaco my rep for Country Vintner and place an order with her today. I will also call you up Roy and ask you to come have dinner with us and talk about all of this if you have any time on your hands. My ulterior motive is also to get you to talk about your experiences at NYU as my son has applied there and wants to go there more than anywhere else at this point!

I loved hearing all about Marc Tempe and how closely he follows the years and the season's and his whole philosophy of how most everything has to happen first in the vineyard. Marc does a bit to help the vines along the way but it's all about Mother Nature and what happens and what he has to deal with as a result.

Roy writes : " He said that in a year such as 2001, nature gave him grapes lean with minerality: in 2002 she gave him grapes rich with botyrytis ; and in the torrid year of 2003, she gave him grapes fat with sugar. That's what she dealt and that's what he worked with. He didn't turn to the powders and potions available in modern cellars to make a consistent product ( make no mistake : There's a whole Pandora's box of tricks out there that is all too often abused in commercial winemaking ). So if someone did not like his wine from a given vintage for stylistic reasons, that was fine - so long as they understood what he had to work with and thus respected his effort ". I like this, I like it very much. Bravo Roy for putting this all in your book. It needs to be said over and over and over again. I am thrilled that you have stuck with Marc and Anne-Marie Tempe through thick and thin.

I will write more about the wines I bought from Roy Cloud and Marc Tempe. I bought what seems like boat loads of one of the vintages of the Sylvaner. It was a ridiculously inexpensive price and I gambled on it. When it was great is was super great : when it was off it was hard and difficult to explain and understand and yet there was always something there worthy to drink as it was very much alive and it's own being. It had character and oodles of personality even when it had lots of bruises and blemishes and places hard to explain. Oh well, for the price we charged for it at $6 a bottle I believe it was worth a gamble. I got lots of bottles returned, many more than usual. I was blamed for this , of course, being willing to sell what some deemed as marginal wine but I was thrilled to be able to offer something really special at a really special price when the bottle sang volumes and wove it's magic and crooned all it's sweet ditties and charm! It was organic, it was alive : it was magnificent at times and not so at others. So be it. I'm glad I did it. Some of you out there drank some of the greatest wine for the greatest value that you will ever drink as a result. Cheers and stay-tuned for more soon as I continue. TONY

Anthony Quinn AKA Tony The Wine Guy On NBC4 Universal 9AM Saturday Morning 11/26/11 On Holiday Party Wines Under $20 A Bottle

2011-11-27T12:19:00.000-08:00

This was absolutely a great event for me and I had a blast and enjoyed every moment as it unfolded for me from the first when I received my email from Angie Goff asking me if I would be interested in doing this segment on holiday party wines under $20 a bottle? I jumped at the chance of course and responded pretty much immediately that I would love to do it.

It's really quite an amazing set of circumstances and so I will relate them here quickly before telling you all what twenty-four wines I brought to the studio to talk about in three categories : 1 ) Wines In The Fridge, 2) Wines To Take To A Party , 3) Wines To Serve At Your Own Party : and all three categories including some wines that looked more expensive than they actually were.

Years ago at the Mayflower Wines & Spirits I met an American young woman teaching French and in a three female group ( her sister and herself and one other young woman ) called Betty. We would both speak in French and tell and listen to each other's stories back in the tasting room up the ramp and to the left. Those were some really fun and special times there at the wine-tasting station. Anyway I had not seen Amy ( Ziff, and have never met her sister Elizabeth ) since then and here she came into the store with her friend Anna Pagli. They were both with their backs to me looking at the wall of spirits and I noticed Amy's incredible dreadlocks. They fascinated me they were so bold and raw and authentic. I kept stealing glances at them.

Later in the Italian and French wine department Anna asked me a question about some Reserva LIBRANDI Ciro wine and if I had any and that started our conversation. I was looking there at them face-to-face and suddenly I realized that this might be the Amy that I had known so many years ago? I summoned my courage from my gut and told them that I thought that she might be the young woman I knew so many years ago in an all female rock group? They smiled and asked me the name of the female rock group? I said " Betty " of course and was right! Well, that all played a big roll in my getting to be on NBC4 Universal yesterday, Saturday morning at 9AM November 26th talking about holiday party wines at under $20 a bottle.

It's such a small world after all. I love it, really I do. So to continue now with this story above. Anna Pagli brought her friend Katy Adams to Cleveland Park Wines & Spirits one evening and Anna wanted to know if I recognized her? I said I knew who she was and we were off all over again. I was introduced to Katie at our tasting table and I drew everyone around and closer and started to taste everyone on what I had there from that Saturday's tasting. It was late and I had lots of great wine left-overs which included some of the excellent MARCHEI DI BAROLO 2004 single-vineyard Barolos ( the Canubi was one of them - that Vince Grande had brought and left as a treat for me ) as earlier it was Cleveland Park Day ( Saturday, October 1st, 2011 - I have already written about this here at chatwine ). Vice had done a long Italian wine-tasting with his wines from around Italy. Thanks Vince : it was a great day and a great success even with the crappy gray and wet weather.

Katy liked how I worked my tasting table and included everyone and explained and entertained as I poured for everyone. She told me that I should be doing this on t.v. or on the radio and that she knew people and did this and coordinated and arranged for people to come together and work together. Sounds a whole like what I do? I liked hearing all this of course, very flattering to my very tired ears and so I brought out the 2004 single-vineyard Barolos from 2004 and together at the very end the three of us polished them off. But before that Katy with her big smile and golden locks started texting her friend Angie Goff and I watched her do this by my side. I had my trusty camera there and even took pictures of all of this while it was happening. She showed me as she talked and texted and I learned a whole lot about Katy and we bonded really quite quickly right there in a very short space of time with Anna mostly observing the two of us. What did you think of all of this Anna as it was unfolding before all of our eyes? Pretty remarkable / pretty special, right? I thought so, it really did surprise me and I was hoping and wondering and scratching my head all the time.

After we three closed the store down with Ravinder Sharma we headed our own ways and I did reach out to both Anna and to Katy. I became " friends " with both Anna and Amy ( and her sister Elizabeth Ziff of the group " Betty " ) and I emailed Katy and thanked her and exchanged emails with her. Small world, really and then about two-three months later I got this email last week from Angie Goff asking me if I wanted to be on their NBC4 Universal segment of holiday wines under $20? Wow, blew me away. I love it, really I do.

I still have all the twenty-four wines to add here but I think I will stop here and make this a Two Part Blog on chatwine and include the twenty-four wines in Part Two. This is Part One. I like it : the Before and the After.

Cheers to one and all : happy holidays 2011 to one and to all and thanks for everything that you all did to get me to NBC4 Universal yesterday at 9AM talking about holiday party wines costing under $0 a bottle where I included the traditional and the old world ( VALDIPIATTA Chianti Colli Senesi, $16.99 , vegan ( TARIQUET Cote dry white blend of Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc ) and organic ( ALTAMANTA of Menzoza, Argentina, I spoke about the Natal Chardonnay of owner Andrej ) and biodynamic, sparkling wines from clear ( the two CANTINA MONTELEANA Prosecco and the " Annalisa " Moscato ), to pink( the LEO HILLINGER 100% Pinot Noir Austrian that supports breast cancer awareness ), and to reds ( the DREI DONA Dolce Lambrusco ), from dry to sweet, all over the world including the dry red Saperavi grape variety of Georgia, the popular grapes like Malbec that come from Cahors, France and I mentioned the CEDRE Malbec. It was amazing : only four to five minutes, clearly not enough time. But I hear that I got more time than most. Thanks Andrew for that. You all : Elaine, Chuck, Chris were a whole lot of fun to work with. More about that in Part Two. Anthony ( TONY ) Quinn

So Many Lost Opportunities For Everyone With Wines Written Up In Washington Post Newspaper Food Wines Section! Not Working As A Team? My Big Beef

2011-11-20T11:25:00.000-08:00

There are simply so many lost opportunities that I see weekly on Wednesday mornings when I pick up the Washington Post newspaper and go to the Food Section to read Dave McIntyre's wine articles. I read them, they generally are quite fine and enlightening with varied text and subject matter. Then I look at the specific wines recommended with the names listed of the distributors and where they may be found in local restaurants. hotels and wine retail shops in Washington D.C., Maryland and Virginia. I am often appalled at how very few places are listed as carrying the wines. A great case in point is today's Sunday Holiday Food section article ( " What Do You Pair With Baloney " R5 , published today on Sunday because next Wednesday is the day before Thanksgiving and it would be cutting it really short to get the wines in time for our wonderful turkey meal!

I say " lost opportunities " because between the newspaper. writer of the articles and the wholesalers ( as well as the wholesale reps on the street and not in the office taking the messages about where the wines are available for purchase ? ) there does not seem to be much coordination from what I have learned talking to many of those concerned. It seems that many of the reps are not even alerted to these articles and the wines that are about to be written up? Why is that? Why doesn't the office wholesale person tell those calling from the Washington Post newspaper say that they will get back to them within a few hours? It would seem to be the best thing to immediately put out a call, email, call or text to all reps telling them the situation and asking them to call their accounts to see if they would like to sell and be mentioned for selling these wines about to be written up?

So many of my reps I have to call on Wednesday morning and ask them why we were not alerted or included once the article comes out? I have to call and ask to buy some for delivery the next day and wait all day long as people come through the store with the copy of the Washington Post Food section in search of one or more wines? I also have to hope that the wines are available for me to still buy some? AS in the case of the Cameron Hughes wines that were written up a couple of weeks ago the wines were not even in stock at the wholesalers yet. I do not have them even now? Are they finally available? Why has no one called to give me an update on that situation with the Cameron Hughes wines? Too busy I suppose. I will call soon myself.

" Lost opportunities " because the wines are usually recommended and customers do read these articles and they are interested in trying some of them? Why not, often they are real discoveries for many of our customers, not the usual choices you find everywhere but fun and exciting wines like today's " the 100% Partridge Foot - Pied De Perdrix " red grape varietal that they think is a cousin of the Malbec grape? And isn't the Malbec grape the " hottest grape variety " going today in red wines? I do believe so.

We were fortunately mentioned in this article as having the wine. I sold some over the weekend and told my customers that they would be reading about it in tomorrow's Washington Post Food section. Fortunately for me this is all true and the article with the wine came out as promised and we all look good. Now it's only a question of whether or not our customers that bought it like it or not? I will find out later. It was also mentioned as a " great value " by Dave.

Unfortunately I got a call from an old friend as well as a fine rep from another wholesale house ( this is the second time for this : with the Pedro Ximenez dry white FALERNIA Chilean wine it never got into the Washington Post newspaper. Not enough room according to my rep so it was only mentioned in the " online " piece. I never heard anyone ask for it off the online piece? ) and he mentioned that the Cavaletto Bricco Boschio Freisa 2008 ( $21 ) would be in the paper and would I like to buy some? I love indigenous grapes like this and I love the Piemonte region of Italy and I have carried other red Freisa wines at Cleveland Park Wines & Spirits ( 3423 Connecticut Avenue N.W. Washington D.C. 20008 Tel : 2020363-4265 sales@clevelandparkwine.com, anthony.quinn!clevelandparkwine.com , also on Facebook at : Cleveland Park Wines & Spirits and on Twitter at " cpwinespirits ) over the years. The one I remember best is Ugo Chiolo's Freisa from so many years ago when I met Ugo years ago at Wines Limited imports. The wine was mentioned to day and nowhere is there any mention of Cleveland Park Wines & Spirits?

What happened here? It only says that the Freisa is on the wine list at the Occidental Grill. No stores are listed as carrying the wines. " Lost opportunities " here if you ask me. Who dropped the ball? I got the call, I ordered the wine, the wine got delivered and is priced and on our shelves and ready for sale when people come in with their articles. Only they will not be asking for this wine as we were not mentioned and so they will assume that we do not have it?

I am thinking of calling the wholesaler now and asking for the wine to be picked up along with the French cremant which I bought for the same article and which is not even listed? Did they run out of room again and is it only on the online article from this morning? Are they trying to have people only see the full articles and reviews online? I thought they wanted to keep the actual newspaper alive and thriving? This does not send a good message for that?

SO : my BIG BEEF with this system as I see it these last few years is that it is certainly working rather inefficiently. I recommend more time and coordination and getting the wines placed in as many establishments as possible. This helps the consumer, this is certainly more efficient. Wholesalers in the offices where the calls are being made : PLEASE alert your reps so that they may do their jobs better. Such a waste, such " lost opportunities for so many of us. We all look bad, we all lose and who does that serve?

I wish I could be kinder, I wish I was not so mad that here while I am not feeling well on my one day-off from a busy holiday season I am typing this blog and getting ready to send and post it. I know many do not care, I know that many don't think it matters. I do, I want to see it changed, I want to see better for the reader of Dave McIntyre's articles on wines and giving them more chances to buy these wines he recommends. It can and should be done. There should be much better coordination amongst all those involved. Cheers and Happy Thanksgiving to one and to all.

I feel good in the long run because Steven of Touton Selections did his job well on this ( he always does ) and so when people come in search of the Foot of the Partrige- Pied De Perdrix " dry French red I will be able to tell them that I also carry the Cavaletto Bricco Boschio Preisa 2008. Anthony ( TONY ) Quinn

Jim Reeves Comete Wines/ Jean-Marie Garnier Selections French Small Burgundy & Maison GUYOT Rhone Wines @ Cleveland Park Wines Oct.-Nov. 2011

2011-11-18T08:29:00.000-08:00

I should have already posted this about Jim Reeves that has a small and excellent selection of French wines mainly from Burgundy and the Rhone Valley called Comete Wines / Jean-Marie Garnier Burgundy Selections and Maison GUYOT Rhone wines. I will have to get all the information posted here. These pictures are from Jim's third visit I believe in October or November of 2011 to Cleveland Park Wines. For now this is simply a pictorial overview of our interaction with Jim over the last six months.

Theresa Morrison pictured above of her own import company with her husband John Morrison ( 34 South - Boutique Wines ) sells Jim's wines in Maryland and so was here at Cleveland Park Wines & Spirits ( 3423 Connecticut Avenue N.W. Washington D.C. 20008 Tel:202-363-4265 anthony.quinn@clevelandparkwine.com , also now on Facebook at : Cleveland Park Wines & Spirits and on Twitter at : cpwinespirits ) to taste Jim's selections that he was proposing for the store this end of 2011.

We sampled 1) a Ballorin 2005 Marsannay 2005 red, a 2) Bourgogne Hautes Cotes De Nuits 2007 , 3) a Bourgogne Ballarin Pinot Noir, a 4) Ladoix 1er Cru 2005, a 5) Cotes De Nuits-Villages Vieille Vignes 2006 and a 6) Bourgogne Haute Cotes De Beaune 2006. As I said more info to follow.

John, one of our good customers joined Ean and me in tasting these wines of Jim's with Theresa. It was a good selection. I am looking at one bottle now as I type : the Maison GUYOT Saint Joseph Grande Reserve northern Rhone Syrah dry red that I plan to enjoy this weekend at Christmas with family and friends. WE bought the Crozes-Hermitages 2007 and are already sold-out Jim so I will have to order more from you really soon. This Saint Joseph 2007 ( great French Rhone vintage ) will sell for around $25 a bottle. I may buy some of that, too once I try it this weekend JIm and will let you know after Christmas.

Look at that beautiful color above. On this visit to us Jim brought a selection of both red, white burgundies as well as a couple of red Rhones. It was plenty to absorb in a short period of time and from it and the previous two tastings/visits of Jim's we were able to jive Jim orders for both a regular Chablis as well as a Premier Cru producer ( both the same maison ), two or three red burgundies including an excellent Marsannay 100% Pinot Noir and the GUYOT Crozes-Hermitages.

I will fill-in the other details of names, prices and vintages really soon. It is our busy holiday season of 2011 with Honukkah starting at midnight tonight ( Tuesday, December 20th, 2011 ) and so I have very little time to do this now. I will complete it in January of 2012. In the meantime enjoy these pictures here of our last tasting with Jim Reeves at Cleveland Park Wines & Spirits here in our nation's capitol.

I think the pictures themselves tell a fun and intriguing story that is a bit of a challenge to unravel when looking at the. Have a good time trying.

LOve looking at that red color of burgundy above as seen through the ceiling lights above. Nice. Being an artist myself this kind of thing appeals greatly to me as I search always for a new and fun and hopefully more interesting angle to capture moments.

I like seeing you above Jim as seen through one of your own wines in our Reidel glasses.

I think that both John and Theresa were happy to taste Jim's wines? They both seemed to have their favorites.

Thanks for all your time and efforts Jim : we/ I do appreciate it and we are happy to work with you.

The picture above shows some of the wines we tasted and gives a bit more information. Enlarge it on your monitor to see the details better. Cheers, and happy holidays 2011 and Happy New Year 2012 to one and to all! Anthony ( TONY ) Quinn

Ricky " D " DeLauder of STONEMASON / STEEPLE JACK Aussie Fine-Value Wines Here @ Cleveland Park Wines & SpiritsOct-Nov. W/ Richard Of NDC , 2011

2011-11-18T07:54:00.000-08:00

Ricky " D " Delauder's wines are in the store now of the STONEMASON and the STEEPLE JACK from Australia and selling well now and I wish during this busy holiday season of 2011 that I had time to write about them more but I do not! We are selling them well here at Cleveland Park Wines & Spirits (, 3423 Connecticut Avenue N.W. Washington D.C. 20008 Tel : 202-363-4265 sales@clevelandparkwine.com, anthony.quinn@clevelandparkwines.com , also now on Facebook at Cleveland Park Wines & Spirits and on Twitter, too at : cpwinespirits ) thanks to both Rick and to Richard my NDC rep ) and I want to share these pictures that I took when Rick tasted me on them three or so months ago here in our nation's capitol.

I have know Rick now for so many years, ever since he came to Burka's Fine Wines back in the 1980's ( he used to work for Central Liquors ) and he was peddling the LINDEMAN'S Australian wines that we started to buy and sell really well when practically anyone had ever heard of them before : imagine that?!? Seems like so long ago Rick.

Anyway, I was really impressed with these STONEMASON wines and I believe that this line really over-delivers for price and quality quite a bit. Bravo STONEMASON : and thanks Rick and Richard for showing them to me once again. Glad to have three of them now in the store ( Cabernet Sauvignon, Chardonnay and is the third a Shiraz? I believe so. ) . They all sell for $11.99 a bottle. What fine wine for such a reasonable price. Come on by and try them out for fit, feel and size. You're going to like them.

More to follow later. Stay tuned. Happy Holidays 2011 to one and to everyone and happy new year 2012, too. Cheers, ... G'day mate ... Anthony ( TONY ) Quinn

You look ravishing in this picture above Rick! Cheers ... say a bit " hello " to Mary for me ... I miss her and her smile and good cheer.

I think I got some good pictures here. They in themselves tell a nice story. Being an artist I am very well of helping to tell a picture through my pictures that I take as I may not always have the time to write on myself. Cheers. TONY

Wine-Maker -Gardener of Monticello, Wine Owner Gabriele Rausse Visits Cleveland Park Wines / Making VA. Wines Since April 1976 : WOW, Impressive!

2011-11-17T05:15:00.000-08:00

It was great to have Gabriele Rausse of his own Virginia wines visits Cleveland Park Wines & Spirits and surprises me and everyone else at our Big-Theme American Holiday Wine-Apple Cider-Homemade Washington D.C. Chocolate Tasting ( 5:30-8:30PM ) Wednesday November 16th, 2011. Lots of people showed up even with all the rain and drizzle that started yesterday morning and continued into the night and throughout our 3-hour tasting. Thanks to you all for coming. Thanks to you Gabriele from driving all the way up from Monticello, Virginia to be with us.

Even though it was totally unexpected and I was completely caught off-guard with very little of Gabriele's wines in the store ( they had all sold and I needed to order more! ) Gabriele was the perfect guest and we tasted his current dry rose ( $14.99 ) and his special Reserve Chardonnay ( $22.99 ) and sold them well. He also tasted a half bottle of our NICOLIS 2000 Amarone Della Valpolicella ( On Special for $17.99 ) and his other wines in the store : his regular Chardonnay and his special-bottling of Nebbiolo. I've already ordered more of his wines to come to the store with our Margaux and Company rep. Dawana as some of our customers paid last night for these bottles that we were sold out of. All good, all fun, all instructive. What a great treat, too!

Gabriele is without a doubt one of the founding figures, grandfathers of the Virginia wine business that started was it in 1968 with the FARFELU VINEYARD and their wines. It has since been sold not to many years ago. We bought wines from the last owners of FARFELU VINEYARD : Caroline and John. Caroline used to come to the store and she tasted her wines with our customers years ago. What a fun memory that is. I blogged about that here many moons ago at chatwine. Check it out.

Gabriele started making wines all the way back in Virginia in April of 1976. That is when I graduated with a BA in English literature from Randolph-Macon College in Ashland, Virginia where Country Vintner Imports is now based. Small world, really it is. Country Vintners represents many fine Virginia wineries like BOXWOOD Vineyard in Middleburg, Virginia ( Amanda poured those wines for us last night of the 2008 and 2009 vintages of the " Boxwood " and the " Topiary " of both the dry reds and the dry roses - thanks Amanda, you really helped us out when Rachel could not come at the last minute ).

Last night we also had Carol the owner of ELK RUN Vineyard ( 3rd oldest Maryland winery , Carol was back for her second time ) in Mount Airy, Maryland, Lawrence of BREAUX Vineyard in Purcerville, Virginia, Dawana of FOGGY RIDGE Dugspur Virginia apple ciders and sommelier Andrew Stover of Vino50 imports ( Hawaii, Michigan, New York State, southern Oregon, Idaho ) , as well as Chris of International ( California wines ) and Regis of Roanoke Imports ( Oregon Pinot Noirs and the FORIS Gewirztraminer ), and Bailey of her own Washington D.C. homemade chocolates pouring and tasting.

This was Gabriele's third visit to our store. I have already blogged about him now twice I believe. I just wanted to say that it was a treat to have him back at Cleveland Park Wines & Spirits ( 3423 Connecticut Avenue N.W. Washington D.C. 20008 Tel : 202-363-4265 anthony.quinn@clevelandparkwines.com, also now on Facebook at : Cleveland Park Wines & Spirits and on Twitter at : cpwinespirits ). I look forward to having him many more times to tell us about the wonderful history of Virginia wines. I did record him with my Flip camera recently and want to include that here sometime as well as get more footage of him speaking of his many years in Virginia. He has also been responsible for the Monticello Thomas Jefferson gardens I believe for years now? I want to hear more about that. We speak English and French together. Thats' really fun as Gabriele comes originally from the Veneto region of Italy.

Gabriele has told me that he would be pleased to come to our store anytime to taste his wines. I will have to look at our calendar and organize something quickly so that we can taste a number of his excellent wines with our customers.

We will have the unoaked/stainless-steel Cabernet Sauvignon, the Reserve Chardonnay and the dry rose in the store soon to sell and in time for Thanksgiving and the rest of our holidays of 2011. Give us a call or email me and let me know if you want anything specifically of his. Thanks Gabriele for tasting last night. You made our evening truly special. Bravo, grazie, merci, thanks, gracias ... Anthony ( TONY ) Quinn

Tasting FABBIOLI CELLARS 2009 Leesburg, Virginia Tannat Dry Red Over Last Five Days/ Loving It Last NIght 11/14/2011

2011-11-15T05:59:00.000-08:00

Doug that works for owner and winemaker Doug Fabbioli of FABBIOLI CELLARS in Leesburg, Virginia dropped this bottle off of an open FABBIOLI CELLARS 2009 dry red made from France's Tannat grape from Madiran, southern France. Tannat of all grapes is the highest in a natural substance called Resveratrol and since the articles started to break about this in 2006 there has been renewed interest in the Tannat grape variety.

In the past in France in the region of Madiran there almost at the border of France and Spain the old classic Tannats were really age-worthy wines and not to be touched for years later : cellared properly and for all intents and purposes forgotten till a really cold and rainy day many moons hence.

When Doug dropped this off last week I was too busy to focus on it. R=There simply was not time. He kindly left it for me and Eon to try along with three other wines to try together ( two Cabernet Franc wines as well as the red top-of-the-line blend Tre Sorels ). Thanks Doug, I have made it through so far the Tannat, the Tres Sorels and still have the two Cabernet Francs to go with Ean ).

I have seen the 2009 Tannat FABBIOLI CELLARS morph and change and readjust and offer up different parts of it's personality over the days it has been open. It has always stayed fresh and bright, a bit hard and dense, spicy, earthy and the fruit has always been masked to a great extent by the other components. I have tried it with my meals and drunk it will grilling outside this past Sunday and Monday nights as I like very much to grill.

Last night was the revelation : it blossomed, it came into full bloom : it softened and rounded and became utterly enjoyable. I am glad that I waited, that I tried it each and every night since it was open and that there was still enough in the bottle each time to do so. Otherwise I do not believe that I would have ever made this discovery? probably not.

I really enjoyed it last night - Monday night, November 14th, 2011 as I grilled our salmon fillet outside on our deck. It was unseasonably warm and balmy ( in the seventies for November? ) and it was a treat. The color has always been deep and thick and reflective like a calm lagoon on a starry evening. I like it. I have taken pictures of it a little while ago and will include them here later.

So, I am still always learning things. I like that, I need that : keeps me stimulated and in love with wine as much as ever before. Cheers and thanks for the samples Doug. This was a grand eye-opener and for that I am grateful. Take care, Anthony ( TONY ) Quinn

Cameron Hughes California Wines Fiasco Averted With Quick-Thinking After Great Wash. Post Article 3-4 Weeks Ago! We Have 2007 Cab, Merlot & Chard!

2011-11-06T06:34:00.000-08:00

I don't like to write this kind of article because no one looks good in it. The other Wednesday I woke up and read the Dave McIntyre wine review in the Washington Post's Food section. It was all about Cameron and how he has made a successful business buying up many lots of wine in California ( and now in other parts of the world like Spain ) and bottling them and selling them under his own name.

We at Cleveland Park have decided to work primarily with his California " discoveries " and leave the Spanish Tempranillos and the Argentina Malbecs to others as that is something he has added onto his base which has always been California.

They are excellent - the California ones - all with lot numbers. We did really well with his " Flying Wine-Maker " label of the old vines Zinfandel. Our customers loved it. That was perhaps two years ago that we did that one? I think so. Time rushes by.

Cameron Hughes has been by Cleveland Park Wines & Spirits himself and it was great to meet him. I liked him and I always love meeting the principles involved in any wine project/dream/love/adventure/art work. Yes, I'm a romantic, I still hold out for all of this and am happy to say so in a world of larger and larger corporations that are happy-delighted even now to start out with a concept and a label and then a bottle and then something to put into a bottle that tastes more like everything else jammed into it along with the fermented grape juice to appeal to a larger and larger and still even larger audience that will buy it. But what are they buying? All that is stuffed in with the fermented grape juice displaces it and makes it taste like a whole lot of " other " things and I have trouble finding or tasting the grape in the wines any more.

Cameron sells wine, I like this : it tastes like the grapes from which it started. Bravo, and the values are there. Thank you for that, too. I do not thank you, however for having a wine article come out in the Washington Post newspaper that I love to hold in my hands and read quickly each morning that is still not in stock with my local distributor ( that's an unprofessional fiasco in my humble opinion having been in the wine business now for more than thirty years ). How could you have let this happen?

I read Dave's article on Wednesday morning and wondered why I had not been called in advance to be ready with wine in the store? I had a few remaining bottles but not enough to supply a review of this magnitude. I was mad about this and confused. I called Jeffrey my rep and inquired and heard him out and ordered my wine for delivery next morning. I was still mad. People had already called wanting the wines and placing orders with me. Customers came to the store asking for the wines bringing their copies of the Washington Post Food section with them. I explained and said I would have the wines the next day and took their names and phone numbers.

The next day I was really busy and was waiting for the wines. They never came. I called and asked where they were? I was so busy I then forgot about it till Friday when I thought about it all over again as another customer came asking for some of the Cameron Hughes wines written up in Dave McIntyre's wine article. I called Jeffrey again and we spoke. I heard more of the story from his side then. I was still mad as there were still so many questions unanswered.

I averted this fiasco after about three days at my wine store in Washington D.C. : Cleveland Park Wines & Spirits ( 3423 Connecticut Avenue N.W. Washington D.C. 20008 Tel:202-363-4265 slaes@clevelandparkwine,com, www.clevelandparkwine.com anthony.quinn@clevelandparkwine.com also now on Facebook at : Cleveland Park Wines & Spirits and on Twitter at : cpwinespirits ). It took me awhile for I did not fully understand what was happening at the time. I had to make several calls to finally see the bigger picture. Once I did understand I asked my local rep Jeffrey : "well, what do you have in stock from Cameron Hughes? " A simple question. Glad I asked it because by the weekend after the article had come out that Wednesday I had three Cameron Hughes wines to sell that I had already been selling thanks to the hard work of their local sales manager Maureen Britti. I was delighted to have them : a Napa Merlot ( $14.99 ), an Alexander Valley Cabernet Sauvignon ( $16.99 ) and a Chardonnay ( $12.99 ) all from the great 2007 vintage and all selling for under $17 a bottle in our store. I called my customers once my local rep Jeffrey delivered them himself that Friday after the article, called my customers asking about them and they started to sell within minutes of arriving at the store. Fiasco, crisis averted with quick thinking and the help of Jeffrey and the understanding of my customers when I explained what had just happened.

No, I did not have the wines written up in the Washington Post. I had the earlier great vintage of 2007 that I had been selling and preferred to sell now instead of the current releases. I will sell them after the 18th of November when they finally arrive. Why has it taken so long for them to arrive?

I just got a second drop delivered by Monument Imports yesterday, Friday, November 5th, 2011 and again the three 2007 wines are selling like hot cakes. Bravo! Again everyone is happy. No, I do not yet have the current vintages written up ( where are they? ), and I do not have any of the Pinot Noir that got a great review yet? Oh well, I am told that they are coming and will be available after November 18th, 2011 when the article will be by then for all intents and purposes dead in the water so to speak. Harsh analysis from me, I know. Embarrassing for me to be writing it. I am not happy to be doing so. Irritating really but I was a bit mad. perhaps a lot mad. The one right thing that happened with all of this was that our name was put into the paper as carrying the wines - some of the wines from Cameron Hughes. Thank you for that. I do appreciate that. The rest needs to be evaluated, and remedied as it has been I suspect one big embarrassment and a lost opportunity to sell the wines successfully in and around Washington D.C. in all the stores and not in just one big chain like Coscto.

Discovering that the wines are now being sold in Costco in my opinion does nothing to make the Cameron Hughes wines more appealing as a retailer. In fact it makes me want to stop selling them almost immediately. I understand for money purposes why they sell to Costco but it diminishes the dream for me and makes it more simply a functioning, working horse kind of thing that pays the bills but does not fuel the fires of imagination, of dreams and of the creative endeavors it takes/ has taken Cameron to put this all together. Sorry to see it reduced to this Cameron. I will think carefully now how to proceed with the selling of your wines. Maureen really has done an excellent job promoting them for you and I have to think about that as well as I arrive at a final decision. Hard work should not be punished but rewarded.

For now we have some of the Cameron Hughes wines and I am very happy with all three. I have not as yet tried the new vintages I do not believe? I do look forward to that and getting the wines that were reviewed by Dave delivered to us and getting them to our customers that have asked for them. They have for now some of the excellent 2007 vintage of Cameron Hughes wines to enjoy. So for the moment considering the circumstances we at Cleveland Park Wines and Spirits have done our job. That pleases me. That's what we are here to do.

It will be interesting to see how this all plays out. I have lots of other things going on like our Big-Theme American Wine-Tasting to continue planning. Maureen was going to be a big part of that until all of this happened. She asked me if she was still included and I was sorry to tell her that I had to make other arrangements once this all started and did not seem to have a clear plan or resolution.

You see our Big-Theme American Wine-Tasting is scheduled for Wednesday, November 16th, 2011 ( 5:30-8:30PM ) and I need to have everything come early to be sure that there are no problems. Who knows, perhaps Maureen and I can still work something out? I will contact her and see this Tuesday when back at work. For the meantime things are on the back burner.

As I said I get no real pleasure writing this article blog of mine except to say thanks to those like Maureen and Jeffrey that got caught without much notice as I was and that have done what they can. I don't expect or want any thanks for any of this. As I said it makes us all look bad and ineffectual and as if none of us have done our jobs. I do not like that. I guess some truthful explanation of what happened might be nice but then again that's much too late and would not go very far to making anything better.

Why was nothing ever done : no one ever called? It's a big deal as far as I can see again from my humble experience being written up ( a whole article all about just one series of wines - Cameron Hughes in this instance - what I would give to have a whole article written up about us at Cleveland Park Wines & Spirits?!? Wow, that would be nice ) in the Washington Post newspaper which I still love getting, holding in my hands as I did earlier. It's now Sunday, November 6th, 2011 at 11 AM and I took a break in writing this to go sit outside on our hill out back in the warming rays of sunshine reading about Andy Rooney ( we will miss you! ) and of the " new " David Lynch record of music and more : all in the Washington Post Sunday- weekend edition.

Cheers and come buy some of Cameron's excellent 2007 vintage wines from us at Cleveland Park Wines & Spirits while we still have some. I do not know how much is left? I suspect that we will buy it all? Enjoy this beautiful Sunday in the meantime.

It would be nice to hear from you Cameron. Hope you are well. Anthony ( TONY ) Quinn

The Final Crushing Blow / Crush Of A Virginia Winery?!? Marterella Winery Fights - Gasps For Last Breath / Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night!

2011-10-31T06:17:00.000-07:00

I was crushed , angered sickened and saddened and infuriated and struck dumb between my eyes as all my senses reeled from such a shocking story of a local Warrenton Virginia winery ( the Marterella Winery ) and a local Homeowners association ( the Bellevue Farms ) butt heads repeatedly over the winery's right to have a tasting room and sell wines on their property? I read the whole article and reeled, blinded by the lack of human decency , to recognize the need to sit down and work out something between the two parties involved. What gives today when we clearly live in a world of gray and yet many of us are still adamant about insisting on only living with black or with white?!? We need to have some sense crushed into us : we need to be crushed together like our grapes perhaps? Together - YES , so that what bleeds out of both parties is a fair and equitable solution that involves some compromise perhaps but not sullied and tarnished reputations, bad blood and the certain death of one or both?

What am I talking about? Read the article titled " Bad Neighbors Or Sour Grapes ? " in today's Wednesday Washington Post newspaper of Monday, October 31st, 2011, the Metro Section, Page # 1 and written by Susan Svrluga. It was a really good article Susan. You clearly did your research and you write well and tell a compelling story, too. Bravo to you for that.

I had trouble finishing the story I was so enraged. I wanted to reach out to both owners Jerry and Kate Marterella and speak to them immediately. I wanted to invite them immediately to our monthly Big-Theme Wine-Tasting at Cleveland Park Wines & Spirits ( 3423 Connecticut Avenue N.W. Washington D.C. 20008 Tel : 202-363-4265 sales@clevelandparkwine.com, anthony.quinn@clevelandparkwine.com and www.clevelandparkwine.com, also now on Facebook at : Cleveland Park Wines & Spirits and on Twitter at : cpwinespirits ) to come and pour their wines. I was blinded in part by my rage at reading this injustice.

Yes, injustice. People should be able to get together and work their differences out without always dragging the legal system and the courts into their affairs. Just adults gathering to work out a compromise. The wine-tasting room should absolutely not have been closed down in my humble opinion. You don't simply cut off a person's livelihood to make a point. You don't cut off their air source to shove home a technical point : you act as grownups and you work for a common ground.

Was there ever any attempt at this? Was there ever any warning that things would be changed, that certain things would have to be discussed now before more time, money, energy, heart and soul and lives and livelihoods were put further on the line?

This article makes the Bellevue Farms homeowners association look really bad. I mean when they tell another neighbor that they cannot sell their golden retriever's puppies that's pretty ridiculous. Also when " Our roads have gone to hell, the pool, the rec center - the tennis courts have weeds grown all up. They've let the community go, to destroy " the Marterellas says neighbor Kelley Jenkins , writes Susan Svrluga. It's just inconceivable all of this, really it is all so shocking.

Anyway, I finally got through this article and I reached for our phone. I wanted to get in contact with either Kate or Jerry Marterella. I called information and finally got the number for the winery. I called that and it was not connected anymore. They had to close the Tasting Room down in August I believe? It was court-ordered.

I called 411 again for directory assistance and got nowhere and my call was passed on and finally I got the phone number for a E. Marterella. I figured I'd call and that I at least had a chance that they would know one another. They did and the voice on the other end of the line asked me why I wanted to know? I explained and so I was given a number to call.

Jerry picked up and I explained my position and that I wanted to invite them to be part of our Big-Theme Wine-Tasting coming up on Wednesday, November 16th, 2011 from 5-8:30PM. Could they come? Jerry said that they would definitely come and that either Kate or their assistant Kelley would call me later today or by tomorrow. That was all okay with me. Jerry and I chatted some more.

In the few minutes that we chatted I learned that they grew on the property Cabernet Franc, Petit Manseng, either Vidal or Seyval Blanc ( I think Jerry said Vidal ) ? They also grow another grape, too and they also make a Merlot and a Meritage dry red blend as well as some Chardonnay. I learned that it was Kate's passion all of this and that it was Jerry's retirement. I also learned from E. Marterella that he thought that Jerry would enjoy talking to me having heard what I said to him. I liked all of this, I really did.

Funny, I have not even heard of this winery before or tried any of the wines. I told this to Jerry and he mentioned something about the wines doing quite well, about the Governor's Cup and about taking the wines and the wine-making very seriously there as that is what you have to show amongst many other Virginia wineries.

I mentioned that I supported Virginia wines in a really big way, had ever since the mid eighties with the Piedpont winery and Meredith vineyard, too. That Rein Dupont had sold me the wines from the Piedpont winery when I worked years ago at Burka's Fine wines back in the mid eighties. Jerry mentioned that Piedpont winery was closing and would no longer be open for business. I did not know this and Jerry was the first to tell me. Sorry to hear that : I liked the wines, Bud and Rein very much even though it was so many moons ago that our paths had crossed.

And I have not even tasted any of the wines and yet am inviting them to come pour their wines?!? Am I insane? A bit, but the good kind of insanity. I call it : doing the right thing. They need our help. They need to sell their wines now without a tasting room and that's really difficult. I want to help. I want to get their story out. Being the eternal optimist that I am perhaps it's still not too late to turn things around and get Jerry and Kate their tasting room and repairing the roads, the pool, the rec center, the tennis courts, allowing Kelly to sell her golden retriever puppies, too? One can always hope. I always do hope and do believe with all my heart that things can and will get better.

Anyway, I look forward to going forward with this, to meeting both Kate and Jerry, to tasting their wines, sharing them and their stories with our customers in our Cleveland Park N.W. Washington D.C. neighborhood on Wednesday, November 16th, 2011. I also hope this blog has a greater reach and does some good, too. We will see? In the meantime we will try and to the best that we can to do our part.

Cheers and good luck Kate, Kelley and Jerry. Talk to you soon. I will check this and post it now.

Happy Halloween! Yes, it's that wonderful day once again of pumpkins and ghosts and goblins and kids dressed up in all manner, some wanting to make a point like my son with his. It's also the night that at the Birchmere here in northern Virginia that Ray Manzarek and Robby Krieger ( two of the original members of the Doors ) will sing and perform. I want to go and am hoping it will all work out. Cheers, Anthony ( TONY ) Quinn

Jaunt Down Memory Lane 2006 / Who Do You Recognize Here Of These Wine-Makers / Wine Owners / Wine Reps That Came To Cleveland Park Wines & Spirits ?

2011-10-27T20:57:00.001-07:00

This is Lewis the wine-maker at the RECANATI vineyard in Israel. he came and poured his wines for us back in 2006 I believe. I blogged about it here on chatwine. What a great event that was. Pascal Salvadorie pictured here in a photo below with another colleague from Palm Bay Imports brought Lewis to Cleveland Park Wines & Spirits ( 3423 Connecticut Avenue N.W. Washington D.C. 20008 Tel : 202-363-4265 sales@clevelandparkwine.com www.clevelandparkwine.com anthony.quinn@clevelandparkwine.com , also now on Facebook at : Cleveland Park Wines & Spirits and on Twitter at : cpwinespirits ).

Pictured here are many of the various wine tastings that we have had at Cleveland Park Wines & Spirits. Everyone is always welcome. Any wine-maker or wine owner never needs an appointment and I make it a point to bring everyone together and to introduce everyone. I especially like to make introductions between our customers and the owners and the wine-makers. Often our customers have been to the vineyards themselves and the tasting rooms but it is not until they are here at Cleveland Park Wines & Spirits that they actually meet the owner or the wine-maker - or both. That brings me a whole lot of satisfaction. It's nice to put the pieces together wherever we can and to include as many people as possible.

After all : THIS is our moment, it's the only moment that is shared by us and the only moment that we can really experience - and should experience - fully - joyously -

So I am glad to be a small part in all of this.

When asked by Cathie years ago what I did I responded that I was the " wine-enabler " and I still believe that to this very moment here in northern Virginia where I live and am tapping away madly before starting work on this Tuesday morning of November 1st, 2011 at 8:57AM. It's cold by the way here today! Brrr ...

There's Pascal above. We have know each other having worked together back in 1986 and 1987 I believe it was together at Laurent Selections with Alan Cohen, Laurent Vonderheyden and Linda and Susan in the office and Ed in the warehouse in Bladensburg, Maryland. That's awhile back ...

Some Aussie red sparkling bubbly anyone? Pictured above and beautifully attired is the owner himself on the right holding his bottle.

Me with Lewis of RECANATI. My daughter loved Lewis' Chardonnay that I am holding a bottle of.

Me and two ladies selling to me : the one on my right from the United States and the one to my left from Brazil. Beautiful ladies, beautiful smiles. They work with Alan Cohen and his company called LVDH. I have bought their wines from Chile and sold them at Cleveland Park Wines & Spirits here in Washington D.C. Need to buy some more.

That's Michael Havens pictured on the right from his own HAVENS winery in California that made excellent Merlot and also excellent white Albarino, too.

Nothing like great sparkling cremant de Bourgogne with the two owners, husband and wife pictured above. I need to buy some again. We are all temporarily sold-out now.

Laurent Givry pictured above in the yellow sweater that imports these DOMAINE TRIPOZ sparkling cremant de Bourgogne as well as their excellent Pouilly Fuisse and their equally excellent Saint Veran non-sparkling dry whites. Mike Martin that used to work with me is pictured on the far left. I'm on the far right. Cheers ...

Manuel of Kysela Pere et Fils in the center with an Aussie wine-maker to his left.

A French wine-maker of top-flight cru Beaujolais. Gotta love it : excellent wine.

I'm going to post this now " as is " and continue it later. Enjoy the pictures. They speak volumes all by themselves and speak of the past and lots of good times, too. Cheers, Anthony ( TONY ) Quinn ...

It's time for work. A bientot mes cheres amis ...

Take a look at all these photos and see who you know / recognize? It never stops to amaze me how many interesting, talented and really fine people have come to Cleveland Park Wines & Spirits since I have managed the wine department since 2000. The nice thing is that I have the pictures in many cases to remind me / us of this. Cheers, TONY

FAMILIA ZUCCARDI, Mendoza Argentina : Tasting Torrontes '10, Bonarda, Tempranillo '07, Cab. Sauv. '07, & Malbec '09 Sunday Oct. 23-Monday24,'11 @ Home

2011-10-26T06:00:00.000-07:00

This was a great experience that I enjoyed this past weekend at home with my wife and my next door neighbors. It was fun : it was unexpected and overall really very nice and I learned something about three FAMILIA ZUCCARDI dry reds ( Cabernet Sauvignon Q series 2007 from Maipu -,Malbec Q series 2009, and 2007 Tempranillo Q series ) as well as about the dry white Torrontes Q series white 2010. I loved it. Thanks Cristina our rep of Winesellers LTD ( Niles, Illinois ) for getting me the samples to enjoy at home with food, family and friends. As a result you will have this blog as a testament to these two days of tasting and evaluating and largely enjoying the experience.

I started on Sunday as I was cooking - grilling outside both a large salmon filet for my wife and I as well as some pork filets to be shared among the three of us which included our son. I also decided to build an open-air fire out on our deck in our stainless-steel fire pit as it was quite cool and still damp and we wanted to be outside and the sun's warmth was leaving us.

Funny, I was ready for a glass of one of these red wines. I first took care of my wife and offered her a glass of the 2010 Torrontes FAMILIA ZUCCARDI Q series. I had a taste, too just to check the style out. It was medium-to-light-bodied, dusty-dry as I like to describe it, refreshing and a touch too cold. I would like it better as it warmed in the glass and opened to reveal more of it's fruit center and less of the acids and the outer structure.

I was really anticipating the red ( which would it be ? ) as I get ready to go outside and grill our dinner. I decided finally from the three reds that it would be the Tempranillo as I was fixing some pork filets and we were having Scottish salmon as well. This Q series FAMILIA ZUCCARDI 2007 Tempranillo ( " from selected and unique 40 year old vines from Santa Rosa vineyards ) was a bit tight and closed for me. It needed some food : it needed it now. It also clearly needed to open up and trying it like I did immediately after opening it was tough as I wanted it to pamper and to caress the insides of my mouth and belly. It poked at me instead : the acids seemed a touch hard and the fruit had not filled and rounded the center of the wine yet. It was too compact, too hard and not nearly open enough to please me as I went about grilling and working on our fire.

My wife brought with her a bowl of pistaccios to enjoy. We were both hungry and so we enjoyed those quite a bit as we sipped our wines and I waited impatiently for that moment when I would really enjoy this Tempranillo Q series 2007. When would that finally be / would it ever be? Fortunately for me it would soon be but I could not rush it. I should have opened it an hour or more before starting any of this. I should have guessed. I was too busy with all that I was doing and so I simply had to wait it out and it did deliver nicely.

I thought of my neighbors as I was grilling. They have been good neighbors and nice enough to let me use their lawn mower when I need to mow our lawn. I had done this just earlier in the day and I had told them that I had these wines and would bring a glass over for them to try each red with me. The food was cooked and the flame was off. I lowered the grill top and rushed over with the bottle of the Tempranillo for them to try. They were cooking dinner as well just back from two soccer matches for their kids. I poured and I rushed home.

The Tempranillo Q series 2007 FAMILIA ZUCCARDI from Mendoza, Argentina had opened more now and I enjoyed my glass with dinner.

However, that was not the end of the story or the evening. I still craved a wine that was fuller and richer and that would please me even more on this cool, damp October evening in northern Virginia where we live. I had gone ahead and previously just pulled the cork on the bottle of the 2007 Q series Familia Zuccardi Cabernet Sauvignon and poured myself a glass. I liked it almost immediately. It was much more open and from my opinion much more drinkable immediately. It was fuller, lusher, rounder and had less bite and was simply more pleasing. I was happier with this taste even if it was not necessarily the best taste to match with the salmon and the pork.

I tell people all the time : " drink what you like. Even if it does not match as well with the food drink it because it's what you like and want for the moment and this was you have both solid food and liquid wine and you are enjoying both. That's really all that matters. The rest is simply for show. So at dinner I really switched to the Cabernet Sauvignon 2007 to enjoy with my meal when my son and my wife and I all sat down inside while our fire that had warmed us outside continued to burn and we could see it and it's flames and glow.

I like the FAMILIA ZUCCARDI Q series wine labels. You have to have really good eyesight though as some of the most interesting print is so tiny at the bottom of the front label that you will more than likely miss it altogether. But before I include that here I will include their statement from the back label.

" For 40 years Zuccardi has been innovating and researching in different soils and microclimates of Mendoza. The Zuccardi Q Tempranillo was sourced from selected hand-picked grapes from low-yielding vineyards in the foothills of the Andes mountains, then vinified and aged for 12 months in new American oak barrels under the supervision of one of Argentina's most respected winemakers. This is a wine of great structure with notes of tobacco, leather and chocolate. It can be cellared for ten years ". I should have read this more carefully before opening and enjoying. I was too quick and too lazy to read all of this.

In my defense, though I would like to say that I like to be surprised. I don't want to go into an experience knowing a whole lot. I want it all to be wonderful and serendipitous and clearly " of the moment - my-our moment ". So I sacrifice some for this but I think what I come away with is infinitely more revealing and mine and a true discovery on my terms and no one else's. That's the ultimate : that's the very best I can do from my point-of-view.

I liked this back label. I do not like that they do not mention the name of the " most respected winemakers "? What are their names : please tell us here in the comment section at the end of this blog. That would be nice to know.

On the front label they write about the 2007 Q series FAMILIA ZUCCARDI Cabernet Sauvignon : " From La Consulta ( 1100 mts 3608 " ) and Tupungato vineyards ( 1250 mts / 4Q ( or is that " 0 " ? ) 35" altitude? I like this. It stimulates conversation. Please do comment further on this for everyone reading this. Explain it further and tell us all what it really means for the wines that we are drinking?

Cheers. I will write more soon. I am posting this blog " as is " and will continue it later tonight when I get back from work. Enjoy it as it is. I will also add the pictures that I took later. I still have to finish telling about our neighbor that came over this evening and then enjoying the wines ( including the Malbec - which I found the least-pleasing of the three reds ) again the next day - Monday - when I opened the Malbec Q series FAMILIA ZUCCARDI 2009.

I should also mention that I have not spoken of the Bonarda Q series because Cristina brought that to Cleveland Park Wines & Spirits ( 3423 Connecticut Avenue N.W. Washington D.C. 20008 Tel : 202-363-4265 sales@clevelandparkwine.com www.clevelandparkwine.com, anthony.quinn@clevelandparkwine.com , also now on Facebook at Cleveland Park Wines & Spirits and on twitter at : cpwinespirits ) earlier last week. We enjoyed it there. Thanks Cristina. Stay-tuned for more really soon. Anthony ( TONY ) Quinn

Martina Molino , Wine-Maker @ Azienda Agricola MAURO MOLINO. Piemonte, Italy Tastes Dolcetto '10, Barbera '10, Nebbiolo '09, Barolo & Barolo Vigna 07

2011-10-24T08:25:00.000-07:00

I am thrilled to have tasted all these five dry MAURO MOLINO Piemontese wines with wine-maker and daughter of owner Mauro of his own winery MAURO MOLINO this past WednesdayAt Cleveland Park Wines & Spirits. It was an unexpected treat for me. I have already written some about the experience and tasting at the end of all of these pictures that I just mounted here earlier so scroll down for that.

I was really enjoying taking these artsy pictures as I tasted. I was in my artist's frame-of-mind more so then than many times and for that I have to explain as it transports to a place that I really like to be that combines both my art sensibilities and my abilities to taste and evaluate wine. It's sort of seamless for me : sort of like Rex Harrison says in the movie with Audrey Hepburn : " like breathing in and out ... " : the two for me simply go hand-in-hand and I often do not really get a chance to explain this but I feel the need to do so here.

Like an angel above : closed eyes are not always a flaw of the picture : tranquil, peaceful and lovely Martina. It gives me a chance to reflect on the peace that I find in your wines and their origins. They are a perfect match. I am sure that the vines and their roots and the grapes as they formed and grew all had to struggle and persist and make the best of each and every day : and simply survive at times to live till the next day to be able to tell the story?!? Yes, I think that's right.

I'm always grateful that I think to take pictures of all the bottles. This fixes them as an integral part of the story : their story with Martina and Mark Congdon of JW Seig Imports at Cleveland Park Wines & Spirits last Wednesday, October 18th, 2011 in Washington D.C. N.W. It's like fixing a pastel drawing or sketch after you make it so that the shapes, forms and lines do not smudge. It's a good idea : preventative and important.

I love the varying colors of these wines made from the Barbera, Dolcetto and Nebbiolo grapes. The colors also change with age. We have the vintages here of 2010, 2009 and 2007.

I love the picture above : the red color of the wine fills the whole space almost : wonderful and inspiring and warming, too.

In the picture above the red translucent color of the MAURO MOLINO wines is important but so is the light from the ceiling lights above in Cleveland Park Wines & Spirits.

Martina, thanks for pouring us some more of your excellent wines. Too bad we could not have made a day of it and sat outside over a leisurely lunch at Byblos Deli across the street from us on Connecticut Avenue N.W. Washington D.C. The stories that we could have told, listened to and shared. Wow, now that would have been acutely special.

You have a pretty and a warming smile Martina, just like your wines : a beautiful blush of flesh and grape to make someone come fully alive. That's the idea, isn't it? Si ...

Thanks Mark for bringing us Martina and her family's excellent MAURO MOLINO dry reds from Italy's Piemonte regions : Barolo, Langhe and Alba! Cheers!

Now this picture above is all about fun and the unexpected angle and composition. See the color of the wine below? Divine. Cheers

The light from above does give some brightness to the wine in my Reidel glass above. I like that.

Look at the way the light and the images are distorted by the Reidel wine-tasting glass above? Interesting, unexpected yet welcome and challenging, too.

For more information on these wines go to : www.mauromolino.com and info@mauromolino.com. Cheers.

Beautiful blond hair, flowing and it frames Martina's face so beautifully. The touch of an angel there.

Even on a brown wooden surface the 2009 Nebbiolo above still has life and color that's beautiful and that calls to me and my lips to return for yet another taste / sip and wonderful experience of all the flavors that it contains deep inside these mostly transparent colors. Where do they hide? What nooks and crannies do they stay hidden from our eyes that are drawn to it?

I'm glad to be in this picture with you Martina. Beautiful moment, beautiful smile : wines that I love with all my heart. Bravo and cheers.

Ean tastes the wines of MAURO MOLINO with Martina and Mark above.

This was a really fun, serendipitous treat for last Wednesday afternoon, October 19TH, 2011 with our J.W. Sieg rep Mark Congdon.

We tasted five wines with Martina the wine-maker/ daughter of owner Mauro of his own winery Azienda Agricola MAURO MOLINO. It was simply fun and refreshing and an overall treat to meet Martina and taste her family's five wines as I snapped away with my camera and she spoke of the wines. Ean Bond that now works with us also smapled some of the wines.

We tasted ( in this order ) : 1) the Docetto D'Alba 2010 ( $19.99 ), the 2) Barbera D'Alba 2010 ( $19.99 ) , the 3) Nebbiolo from the Langhe region of Piemonte, the 2009 ( $21.99 ) , the 4) Barolo 2007 ( $44.99 ) and the 5) Barolo " Vigna Gancia 2007 ( $60 ). They were classic, focused and fresh and bright. Made me think I was in Italy and I smiled inwardly as I went from one to the other.

We at Cleveland Park Wines & Spirits ( 3423 Connecticut Avenue N.W. Washington D.C. 20008 Tel : 202-363-4265 , www.clevelandparkwine.com, sales@clevelandparkwine.com , anthony.quinn@clevelandparkwine.com, also now on Facebook at : Cleveland Park Wines & Spirits and on Twitter at : cpwinespirits.com ) but will buy some and have them for sale in November, 2011.

Stay-tuned for the pictures ( my notes on the wines are at work and I will include them, too really soon ) and more info go to : Fraz, Annunziata, 111 - 12064 La Morra ( CN ) , Piemonte, Italy, Tel : 0173-50814 , email : info@mauromolino.com, www.mauromolino.com ). Cheers, Anthony ( TONY ) Quinn

Michael Hope Of HOPE ESTATE Vineyard, Hunter Valley Visits Cleveland Park Wines / Tastes Current Vintages In 2006? Start Of Beautiful Relationship!

2011-10-23T11:58:00.000-07:00

Above Michael Hope of his own winery the HOPE ESTATE is holding a bottle of his Shiraz made from grapes grown in western Australia. I have to ask him what part they are grown in? I think because of these bottles that it must have been Michael's second or third visit to Cleveland Park Wines & Spirits ( 3423 Connecticut Avenue N.W. Washington D.C. 20008 Tel : 202-363-4265 sales@clevelandparkwine.com anthony.quinn@clevelandparkwine, www.clevelandparkwine.com, also now on Facebook at : Cleveland Park Wines & Spirits and on Twitter, too at : cpwinespirits ) because of this? I do not think that when I first met him with Laurent Givry was it of Franklin Selections that he had this Shiraz from western Australia yet available?

It's now Sunday, October 23rd, 2011 here at my home in northern Virginia at 3:10PM and I wanted to do a blog on Michel. I do not think I have done one before? Have I ? I will have to check.

Anyway we have in the store at this minute his Shiraz from the Hunter Valley at it is a special bottling in pink instead of in blue and the sales help raise money for breast cancer research. We have been supporting these special bottles as we support breast cancer research and support it whenever we possibly can.

We love having your wines in our store Michael. Come on and see us. You can put Dolly Parton's visit on hold and jump on a plane and come see us now. We can organize a tasting of these special bottles which includes the Chardonnay as well and talk about you, your, wines, the Hunter Valley and western Australia and raise money and awareness for breast cancer research and finding the cure. Cheers, be well and do write and tell us / me how you are doing? I hear some from our rep Cristina of Winesellers Inc. these days. Take care, TONY

This was one if not the first visit of Michael hope of his own HOPE ESTATE Wines & Vineyards in Australia's the Hunter Valley I believe in 2006? It was a fine tasting of his current releases available through Winesellers Inc with Adam Sager I believe? What fun, what discoveries. It was great to meet you Michael and to taste with you and make you part of our " extended " Cleveland Park Wines & Spirits wine-life-food-enjoyment-positive vibes and creative energies - family. Cheers and come see us again.

My Nicely Bottle-Aged & Very Fond Memories Of Rob Deford , Owner Of BOORDY Winery In 1980's-Till Now / Great Times - Looking For Many More!

2011-10-12T07:29:00.000-07:00

Just like for the me the sixties was the decade for music the eighties was the decade for wine. I learned so much in those really formative years back in the 1980's. Rob Deford and the BOORDY wines of those white hybrids in particular were key for me.

I met Rob back when I was working at the Mayflower Wines & Spirits with Michael Downey and Sidney Moore. Back then I was the one in charge of buying the American wines of California and everywhere else. Actually I shared the East Coast wines I believe with Michael Downey as he also knew some of the owners and wine-makers back then. Chris Smith was a real inspiration and a real facilitator when he left Morris Miller and began to champion many of these wines. Thanks Michael and Chris. You both helped me to open my eyes to what was there almost right at my doorstep.

This morning in the Food section of the Washington Post I read this article on the Maryland wine business written by Dave McIntyre called FROM THE GROUND UP. There's a beautiful picture of the rolling green vineyard rows on the front page of the Food section with a smaller picture of Rob Deford looking older and wiser and more like Sting! Now that's a complement Rob : hope you like it! The quote under it reads : " Above, Rob Deford has been transforming the way he grows grapes and makes wine at his Boordy Vineyards in Baltimore County.

Back in the mid eighties we sold the BOORDY wines at the Mayflower Wines & Spirits at the intersection of New Hampshire Avenue and M Street N.W. Washington D.C. Rob used to come and taste us on the wines and then he came and tasted our customers on the wines, too. Sidney's monthly mailed newsletter would get everyone to come. The Mayflower Wines & Spirits was a destination point and " the place to be ". It bustled and it moved and there was activity and motion and lots of joy and excitement. Rob you were a part of all of this and certainly added to it. Thanks for that.

The eighties was a completely different time : blank white canvases to be filled, dreams and small businesses thriving and lots of hopes and muscle grind from the family members. They were really inspiring times where it was really all about the basics and the real quality of these basic ingredients and concepts. Less about big business and the idea of let's make some money : find a concept, design a label, get a bottle and then what wine will we put into it?!?

Back in the eighties the wine was always front-and-center. It was always center stage. I liked/loved these days and remember them fondly. So many things were just starting. So, when I read Dave McIntyre's sentence : " It was first planted to vines in the mid 1970's to supply red grapes to Catoctin Vineyards. Catoctin was part of the heydey of Maryland wine in the 80's, along with wineries such as Montbray, Byrd, Boordy and Basignani. Then Montbray, Byrd and Catoctin ceased operations... ". This hooked me and I had to keep reading!

I'm late for work so will post this now " as is " and finish it later. Come see me Rob at Cleveland Park Wines & Spirits ( 3423 Connecticut Avenue N.W. Washington D.C. 20008 Tel : 202-363-4265 clevelandparkwine.com, http://www.clevelandparkwine.com/, anthony.quinn@clevelandparkwine.com, also now on Facebook at Cleveland Park Wines & Spirits and on Twitter at : cpwinespirits ).

Rob, I'd like to have you back to the store to launch your wines when they are finally released. Consider this an offer to use Washington D.C. as a point to showcase your wines of your first release with new vines and grapes. Cheers, TONY

Meeting Owner Andrej Razumovsky Of Argentina's ALPAMANTA Wines One Early Oct. Night 2011 Con Dan Terassa & Loving The Cab Sauv. 08 & Natal 09 Chard!

2011-10-11T06:03:00.000-07:00

Reminds Me Of My Recent Visit ( Also Because Of Dan Terrasa ) Con Owner Lucas Nemesio Of NEMESIO, Pategonian, Argentina Wines! This is the way the headline should read if I only had more space!

I have sitting here to my right the empty two bottles of the ALPAMANTA " Natal " Chardonnay Mendoza, Argentina, 2009 : as well as the ALPAMANTA Estate 2008 Cabernet Sauvignon, Mendoza Argentina. I really liked both.

Two nights ago on Sunday, October 9th, 2011 sitting outside at dinner on our deck with our dear friend we finished the little bit left in the bottle from my meeting with the owner and Dan a few days before this. It was amazing : so full and round and lush and rich and delicious : I loved it. It was so appealing and so perfect for the coolness and the darkness of the night except for the candles on our table as the evening drew to a close. It warmed, pleased and comforted me : wrapping it's flavors all around me and insulating me from the cold that I was feeling from being outside.

I wrote here a few days ago and some of what I wrote has disappeared! Aaaarrrggghhhh! I don't understand : so frustrating!

Anyway, I wrote about how I loved this serendipitous meeting with Andrej and with Dan the other night at Cleveland Park Wines & Spirits ( 3423 Connecticut Avenue N.W. Washington D.C. 20008 Tel: 202-363-4265 sales@clevelandparkwine.com http://www.clevelandparkwine.com/ anthony.quinn@clevelandparkwine.com also on Facebook at : Cleveland Park Wines & Spirits and on Twitter at : cpwinespirits ). Dan called and asked if they could stop by? He said he only had a couple of hours to be with Andrej and I felt pleased and honoured that he would want to bring him to meet me. Thanks Dan, I appreciate that vote of confidence.

They came by and it was perhaps 7-8PM already? It may have been a bit later, I don't remember. I remember, however really liking the encounter and our connection as we tasted and talked and told stories. I was extremely pleased with the wines, really I was. In many ways it reminded me very much of my recent visit with Patagonian owner/wine-maker Lucas Nemesio that was also extremely gratifying for me. I do not think I wrote about my experience with Lucas and I should have. That, too was like creating a real bond that continues to today and will for many years still to come even if our paths never cross again. Gracias Andrej e Lucas. You both are making quite exciting wines for the world to enjoy. WE are fortunate to have both here in Washington D.C. in our nation's capitol.

These meetings are so welcome to me and I like to welcome everyone with open arms and to make them feel comfortable and appreciated wherever I can. This past visit with Andrej Razumovsky, owner of ALPAMANTA reminded me of the travelers of the past and of the present that would stop at an inn or a pub or a tavern and take some refreshment, conversation, warmth and nourishment before heading once again out into the elements and to continue on their journey. I like that many owners, wine-makers, reps, national and international sales managers, marketing directors, wholesalers, brokers, whatever want to come to our store for a spell/ visit and to meet me. Thank you all. I hope you enjoy - have enjoyed your experiences as much as I have. Keep coming.

I spoke to Dan briefly the other day over the phone as his mother is quite sick and we wish her well. Hope everything gets better Dan : keep us posted. I still have pictures to post here and I still need to get the wines shortly Dan.

Dan you reminded me again of how much I loved the ALPAMANTA Cabernet Sauvignon 2008. You told me that it was my favorite of all the wines tasted. It was superb. That gives me a red and a white that were both superb from you Andrej. I like that a whole lot.

I am thrilled about this as I am so happy to be talking about another wine from Argentina and not another bloody Malbec. I want to also talk about the Bonarda, the Merlot, the Sangiovese, the Syrah, the Tempranillo and whatever other grapes that Argentina grows and not only the Malbec. I want to keep alive all of our many wonderful choices of wines being made in Argentina. It's not easy today as all that anybody wants to drink or talk about is another Malbec.

Dan, let's talk again soon and get a delivery scheduled to the store. So stay-tuned for more here and gracias amigos Dan, Andrez and Lucas para todos. TONY

PARADIS PRIVE Dry Rose & White French Luberon ( Cave De Bonnieux )Sampled For First Time With Kathryn & Dickson Early Oct. 2011 @ Cleveland Park Wines

2011-10-11T05:57:00.000-07:00

This was like so many other serendipitous yet not exactly " chance " encounters. Yes, I had known people would be showing up to taste me on some wines. Yes, I knew that it was someone that our good customers of Cleveland Park Wines & Spirits wanted me to meet " if I was interested ? "

As I later told Kathryn and her son Michael that the fact that our good customer Dickson was interested that made me interested, too. We sampled both a rose and a white French Luberon white. The empty bottle of the 2009 rose is sitting right here by my side now in a clear, non-color with a gray and white and silver label.

I listened to Kathryn tell her story as I snapped quickly away with my camera of pictures of her and the two bottles and of Dickson of course. It was Dickson that initiated the conversation with me in the first place. He was very polite about it all and raised the question in a rather round-about way about whether I would be interested in selling wines from France's Luberon region? Having sold them for years as well as other of the many regions of France I was both interested and intrigued as to where this was all going? I did find out rather quickly and I gave him my card and told him that I would be more than happy to meet with the family that made these PARADIS PRIVE wines. I told him that they could contact me and that if he wanted to be in on the meeting that he would be more than welcome.

To make this story a bit shorter I will simply say that it took perhaps three weeks or so and the ball that had been set in motion was by now rolling quite fast and heading my way. I met with Dickson and Kathryn and then later with Kathryn and her son Michael Doyle ( President , md@paradisgroup.com , +1 917 539 9449 ) and then again with Michael this past Saturday at the store ( October 8th, 2011 ) when John and Theresa Morrison were doing an in-store wine-tasting. I told Michael about them and how I thought that they would be a really good fit for his wines. I also suggested that he come around and meet them at Cleveland Park Wines & Spirits ( 3423 Connecticut Avenue N.W. Washington D.C. 20008 Tel : 202-363-4265 sales@clevelandparkwine.com http://www.clevelandparkwine.com/, anthony.quinn@clevelandparkwine.com, on Facebook now at : Cleveland Park Wines & Spirits and on Twitter at : cpwinespirits ). He did, too.

We tasted the " new " vintage 2010 of the PARADISE PRIVE dry rose. It's quite delicious : more fruit-forward than the 2009 version which is more tight and dry and acidic. The 2010 you could sit around and chat and watch the world pass before your eyes and enjoy sipping it. What a lovely idea.

For more info go to : http://www.paradisprovence.com/. The wine is bottled by : Cave de Bonnieux, 84480 Bonnieux, France and imported by : Paradis Group, LLC Washington DC and it's a Appelation Luberon Controlee wine.

I have some pictures to add to this blog entry as well as more commentary. That will have to wait until later. In the meantime enjoy this story " as is ". I don't want to jinx it and how it may turn out. I like the wines and wish Kathryn and Michael and their family as well as the French wine-maker and those in France involved all well. It's quite a task to manage and run and promote the selling of wines today. There certainly is a lot of competition.

I will always support small family ventures like this and do all that I can to promote and to sell both the wines, the grape varieties, the way in which to enjoy these wines and of course the people behind them. This is key if we want to keep our choices healthy and alive and readily available to all of us. I take a whole lot of personal satisfaction in knowing that in my very small way I am contributing to the continuation of small and important ventures like these.

Kathryn and Michael : do tell me / us a bit of how it came to be that you ended up buying this vineyard? Tell us more, too about your collaboration with the French there and how together you are now presenting these exact wines to the world at large and in New York city as well as here in Washington D.C. now?

I look forward to having you both come to the store to taste your wines and us together selling them to our customers here in the Cleveland Park N.W. Washington D.C. neighborhood in our nation's capitol. WE will make a goof team I believe.

I also remember Kathryn your comment about how you thought that your son and I had very similar philosophies? You commented on it at least two-three times while we were speaking together this past Friday late afternoon ( the 7th I believe ). You may very well be right. It will be fun to sit down over a bottle of wine and a meal and explore this all further. Cheers and good luck to you and to your venture here in Washington D.C. I wish you all the best success. TONY

Hugh Hamilton Of His Own HUGH HAMILTON Vineyard in McLaren Vale,South Australia Spends Tues. 4th- Wed. 5th, 2011 ( 5-8PM ) Tasting Current Releases Of

2011-10-06T06:45:00.000-07:00

His Wines @ Cleveland Park Wines & Spirits ... Thanks Old Friend Hugh!

THis is how the headline should finish. Enjoy these pictures for now of a previous tasting with Hugh. I will include the recent one soon along with some of the stories and notes to flesh out the two evenings with Hugh. Cheers and thanks Hugh. You are a dear friend, I value your friendship. TONY

Drinking The Bourgogne Rouge/ Red " En Bully " RAPET PERE & FILS 2008 Over Two Nights Sunday, Sept. 25, 2011/ Merci Mark Et Jeanne-Marie De Champs

2011-09-26T08:31:00.000-07:00

This was quite the treat to be able to over the course of two nights enjoy the bottle of 2008 bourgogne rouge " En Bully " of RAPET PERE & FILS that wine rep of J.W. SIEG & Company Mark Congdon brought to Cleveland Park Wines & Spirits ( 3423 Connecticut Avenue N.W. Washington D.C. 20008 Tel:202-363-4265 sales@clevelandparkwine.com anthony.quinn@clevelandparkwine.com, http://www.clevelandparkwine.com/ also on Facebook @ Cleveland Park Wine & Spirits and also now on Twitter at : cpwinespirits ) on Friday, September 23rd, 2011 and that we sampled with customer and friend John Cavanaugh. What a great middle to a busy day! Thanks Mark, especially for leaving the four bottles of burgundy when you left so that I could enjoy them with my family and friends. They were all grand! They will also all be in the store on October 1st, 2011 and all on sale, too. What more could anyone ask for?!? The " En Bully " will be On Sale for $19.99 a bottle and I hope to have all 15 remaining cases to sell you all. Great news for this weather now and all our Indian summer evenings.

We will also get some of the 2007 Gevrey Chambertin red burgundy from the DOMAINE RENE LECLERC and also have that on sale in the first week of October with two other red burgundy selections from Jeanne-Marie De Champs the president of Artisans & Vines, LLC. I will list those her shortly with all the information and pricing. I have already blogged here about Jeanne-Marie de Champs and her selections at : chatwine so check them out as well by using the search engine here. I have in those included pictures as I will here as soon as I have a chance. Call me at the store for more info : 202-363-4265. Look forward to hearing from you. Cheers et merci a Mark et a Jeanne-Marie. A la prochaine, TONY

Last Night @ National Zoo Wash.D.C. Wine-Tasting " Grapes & Apes " W/ Andrew Stover/VINO50-SHINDIG/SAWTOOTH/ Cara Beach/GIRARDET Wine Cellars/Vines 14

2011-09-23T07:02:00.000-07:00

This was a great event last night at the National Zoo of Washington D.C. N.W. as they hosted their annual wine-tasting called Grapes & Apes from 6-9PM on Thursday, September 22nd, 2011 for the Friends of the Zoo I heard that one thousand people were in attendance. Nelso and I arrived from Cleveland Park Wines & Spirits ( 3423 Connecticut Avenue N.W. Washington D.C. 20008 Tel : 202-363-4265 sales@cleveland parkwine.com, www.clevelandparkwine.com, anthony.quinn@clevelandparkwine.com, also now on Facebook at : Cleveland Park Wines & Spirits and on Twitter at : cpwinespirits, too ) just after 6 PM to greet Andrew Stover the president of his own regional United Staes wine selections VINI50 and also the wine sommelier at Oye restaurant her in Washington D.C. ) and there were people gathering and starting to mill around us. Lawrence Camp the Business Development Manager of BREAUX Vineyards ( Purcerville, VA. www.breauxvineyards.com ) was set up next to us. Cara Early the Marketing Director of GIRARDET Wine Cellars in Roseburg, Oregon, 97471 541-679-7252 www.girardetwine.com ) that would be pouring the VINES 14 red 14-grapes wine blend with us was looking for parking and would join us shortly. We set up ans scoped the setting and got ready to start pouring.

We would be pouring wines for the next 3 hours solid from SAWTOOTH on the Snake River of Oregon at the border between Oregon, Washington State and Idaho. SAWTOOTH Vineyard is in Idaho. We poured the off dry Riesling and the pithy, spicy dry, hearty Syrah. From SHINDIG ( Andrew Stover's own blends ) we poured the Michigan slightly off-dry red blend of Merlot, Pinot Noir and Marechal Foch and Baco Noir. Everyone referred to it as the Pinot Noir. I corrected them and told them to think about the Baco Noir invented in Bordeaux, France by Francois Baco a very long time ago. We also poured the SHINDIG white dry blend of Seyval Blanc with some Riesling made in the Finger Lakes of New York State.

I'm off to work and will finish this later. Enjoy this so far and stay-tuned for more. Cheers, TONY

ZOE Means Life In Greek / A Dry Rose 2010 ( $16.99 ) SKOURAS Red Saint George & Moschofilero Blend Of Indigenous Grapes/ Captivatingly Rich Color!

2011-09-10T18:02:00.000-07:00

This is a really good picture of you Marcie Weinstein : I pretty much really do love it. Congratulations : hope you like it as much as I do.

The ZOE dry red blend from SKOURAS is pretty amazing and I am thrilled to have it at Cleveland Park Wines & Spirits ( 3423 Connecticut Avenue N.W. Washington D.C. 20008 Tel : 202-363-4265 sales@clevelandparkwine.com, www.clevelandparkwine.com, anthony.quinn@clevelandparkwine.com, also now on Facebook at : Cleveland Park Wines & Spirits and on Twitter at : cpwinespirits ) here in our nation's capitol. I bought a case recently and have been selling it well and putting some in the cold box/cooler for people to buy already chilled and ready to drink as well as warm off our display of mostly dry rose wines from all around the world. It sells for $16.99 and we are now all sold out. I will have to get you to add that to our order for the first week of October, 2011 if I have not already Marcie.

Just look at that color will you?!? Pretty amazing if you ask me. Makes me want to have a sip right now as I am typing away at this blog posting and it is already 10:57PM here at my home in northern Virginia and I am working pretty much now on " empty ". Oh well, I do most of my best work working on what I call empty!

This past week one of our regular customers came back and asked me if I had any more ZOE? I looked at her and smiled and said that " of course " I did. Little did I remember that recently she bought some from me and that I was beginning to run low. She told me that a recent family member of hers is named " ZOE " and that her relatives were all thrilled to discover both the wine and that they really liked it, too. She told them all that the wine could be purchased here at Cleveland Park Wines & Spirits and she wondered if any of them had already been here in search of the wine? I told her that I could not be sure one way or the other. Anyway this lady bought me out on this visit and so we will need more really soon Marcie.

It's got such great color and is so flavorful and pleasing, too. It's very enjoyable all on it's own. I think it will be welcome in the store even when the temperatures start to drop and it feels cooler. It will still work with many food selections and please people all on it's own as they sit outside on cooler days and evenings and perhaps continue to grill their food outside in the cold. The color alone will warm them up as they look into their glasses.

This is a very successful blend of the two Greek indigenous grapes of Moscofilero and Saint George. It feels good to have a really good Greek dry rose as part of our selection of quality dry roses in our Cleveland Park neighborhood.

Just tonight I had a brunette female customer come in asking my advice and telling me that she was making a Greek dish and would welcome a good Greek wine if there was such a thing? She said that her experience with Greek wines ten years or so ago was quite disappointing. I told her that we sold lots of Greek wines and that they were all quite excellent and that I recommended them without reservation. I went in search of a red dry version of the Saint George or Agiorgitiko indigenous grape variety to have with her meal and found her one costing $12.49 a bottle I believe? I will include the name tomorrow when I am back at the store.

I know she will be quite happy with my selection and look forward to hearing from her soon. Too bad I did not have this ZOE dry rose to have recommended to her as it's deep rose color would have mirrored the beautiful deep red dress and matching earrings that she was wearing this evening. I complemented her on them both and she said that it was not by accident that she had chose them as I quickly nodded that I knew this already as we both smiled at one another.

I will add more to this blog soon but will post it now " as is " and give you all a chance to enjoy these pictures that I took awhile back with my artist's eyes. Cheers and " zoe / life " to you all. TONY

The person above on the left side of the glass is Sotiris Bafitis that single-handedly assured a bright and rosy future and place for Greek wines here in the Washington D.C. metropolitan region when he first made the wine list at Zaytinya restaurant on 9th Street N.W. Washington D.C. 10 or so years ago. Thanks Sotiris. Of course many other people contributed and added to this over the years and so everyone from Aris Zizzis and Gus Kaleris the owner of Constantine Wines in Maryland and Yanni the owner of Dionysos Imports in Virginia ( and many others including those in New York city ) should all be given a big round of applause. Peter Anastopolos that used to manage Cleveland Park Wines & Spirits before I took over already had a very healthy selection of Greek wines that I have added to over the years making our store perhaps the most important single store with the largest selection of Greek wines available for purchase and I fear that very few people know this. Oh well, let's get the word out will you?!? Stop on by and check this out for yourselves will you?!?

As I said I will add to this blog entry as I have time. Cheers and thanks in the meantime. TONY

I love this last swirl of lush Greek rose color around the edges of this Reidel wine-tasting glass. Looks like a Greek dancer to me. Love it I really do. I can feel the power and the warmth and the majesty and the theater of it all - Greek life and passion and I can also see Anthony Quinn now as he was as a younger actor in the black-and-white movie : " Zorba The Greek " from the 1950's I believe at the end of the movie teaching his good friend the English poet how to dance on the beaches of Greece after witnessing first-hand their failed business venture fall apart/ break apart/roll off into the sea and be swallowed up by it! Time to dance, time to make merry, time to embrace Zoe then just like it is now. Cheers.

ROZES Amazing and Unique White Port ( $21.99 ) Poured By Our French Rep From Brittany, Francois Hurtel In Early 2011 NEEDS To Be Experienced To Be...

2011-09-10T17:50:00.001-07:00

BELIEVED!

The fact that this ROZEZ white port is made like no other that I know of or that I am told is made like no other, that it is deeper, darker, richer, more unctuous and golden and lulling and soothing and that one's tongue can more-easily float effortlessly on it's surface or submerge itself more completely into it's body and core and luxuriate more completely in it's depths : well, if this does not paint a special picture and make you want to rush over to our store Cleveland Park Wines & Spirits ( 3423 Connecticut Avenue N.W. Washington D.C. 20008 Tel:202-363-4265 sales@clevelandparkwine.com, http://www.clevelandparkwine.com/, anthonyquinn@clevelandparkwine.com , also now on Facebook at : Cleveland Park Wine & Spirits and on Twitter at : cpwinespirits )in our nation's capitol, then I don't know what will?

Did I say that it's amazing? Did I mention that each and every time that we taste it out we virtually always sell out before the tasting is over? Did I also say that it's perfect now as the weather changes and it gets a bit colder it now being the 30th of September 2011 the last day of the month? It's all true.

It's an experience in itself. It deserves to be experienced and thoroughly enjoyed. We sell it for $21.99 a bottle. It's worth every penny of that, too if not even more! The bottle, too is memorable and easily found as it's a ceramic squat white bottle : not easily mistaken for any other? I suppose that this was all discussed and carefully planned? Great marketing anyway you look at it.

Come on over to the store today as we have the better part of a case now on our shelves. I will ask our French rep from Brittany Francois Hurtel to come and pour it once again? Perhaps I can even persuade him to get his beautiful wife to come and help him pour as she, too has a beautiful smile and disposition just like that of Francois. What a team they make. Venez nous voir vous deux : vous etes magnifique ensemble. Merci et a la prochaine. Vous etes toujours bien venues chez nous a Cleveland Park Wines Et Spirits.

I should be speaking in Portuguese as ROZES is from Portugal. I did learn it fluently as a child in Rio De Janeiro in Brazil back from 1955-1962 when we lived there. And before Pele the most famous soccer player was yet famous he did on the beaches of the Copacabana teach me how to maneuver the soccer ball on the white sands when I was five and six years old! Oh darn it : I forgot my Portuguese since then and learned French instead. I will have to learn my Portuguese all over again and practice it when I drink next this bottle of MIOLO Lote 43 50% Cabernet Sauvignon / 50% Merlot ( not filtered ) 2004 from Brazil's Vale dos Vinhedos ( On Special for $19.99, reg : $24.99, 13.5% alcohol by volume ) with my wife and neighbors. Come buy a bottle of that, too when you buy your bottle of the ROZES unique white port. Cheers , TONY

More Of Tony In His Art! " Saxing Off " / An Etching I Did Years Ago In Paris, France ( 1979 ) Based On A Drawing I Did In The Paris Metro Of A Sax

2011-09-05T16:15:00.000-07:00

Musician ... this headline should finish. I wonder what wine he drank while playing in the Paris metro system? Should have asked him...

I meant to put this on my chatart post and put it here instead. I did this etching in Paris, France back in 1979 I believe from a frawing I did of a sax player in the Paris metro. Hope you like it. These are some of the experimental prints I made of it trying to decide how to print it eventually. Hope you like them. You may enjoy just about any wine as you look at them and study them and arrive at your own conclusions about what works and what does not? Cheers, TONY

My " The Beggar Woman "/ Etching Artist's Proofs Done In 1988-1989/ Metro Trocadero/ I Drew Her Each Morning/ ZUCCARDI Argentina Wines Oct. 2011

2011-09-05T14:41:00.001-07:00

I had learned about wine in part already with my father as we would visit the Nicolas wine shops at first. Then we discovered Steven Spurrier's Caves De La Madeleine and his Acedemie Du Vin. When I turned 21 my parents gave me a class there ( the first wine class offered there ) and I was allowed to come on a trial run. Patricia Gallagher was not sure that the older men would like me and welcome me to the class? So it was a test to see if I passed? According to my mother I passed with flying colors and was invited back! I like that, I like it a lot.

Anyway, at some point while learning about wine with my father I also started to draw the musicians and the people in the Paris metro. I was fascinated by this one particular old beggar woman in the Trocadero metro and I drew her many times and this etching is the result of those drawings.

This etching represents the life as I envisioned it of this old beggar woman from being a young girl to a young lady to finally coming to beg in the Trocadero metro.

The walls of the metro represent the people like me that are almost machine-like and indifferent and cold and simply pressing on to get to their destinations. Not pretty, not right. Something wrong with this picture isn't there? Should be fixed, shouldn't it?

Anyway, I wanted to share these artist's proofs with you and get your impressions?

On wine, last night my wife and I enjoyed some Argentina dry white and red : she the ZUCCARDI 2010 Torrontes white and me the ZUCCARDI Mendoza Malbec 2009 dry red. Also tried over the weekend the ZUCCARDI 2007 Cabernet Sauvignon and the 2008 or 2009 ZUCCARDI Tempranillo, They were all so different and opened slowly and gracefully. I liked the Cabernet the best, then the Tempranillo that needed the most time. I liked the least the Malbec becasue I thought of it as columns of flavor and I will check it tonight, a day-old and see if my impressions change. Cheers, Anthony ( TONY ) Quinn

Georgian-French Wine-Tasting Collaboration Of Mamuka( Saperavi Red), Laurent( Quincy,Bugey) & Anthony Quinn @ Cleveland Park Wines In Wash. D.C. 2011

2011-08-31T15:04:00.001-07:00

This was a great moment for all of us and we had a number of friends of Mamuka, Laurent and Cleveland Park Wines & Spirits ( 3423 Connecticut Avenue N.W. Washington D.C. 20008 Tel : 202-363-4265 www.clevelandparkwine.com, anthony.quinn@clevelandparkwine, sales@clevelandparkwine., also on Facebook at : Cleveland Park Wine & Spirits and on Twitter at : cpwine.spirits.com ) all show up. There were even people from the Georgian Embassy that came. It was really well-attended and the wines all showed beautifully, too.

We poured many of the red wines of Georgia all made with the Saperavi grape. We even introduced some " new " ones. I will include all of this information a bit later as I am now at home and without access to that.

We also poured the French wines of Laurent Guignard above that had an excellent sry white Loire Valley French 100% Sauvignon Blanc from the town of Quincy ; as well as a Bugey foothills of the Pyrenees mountains off-dry slightly rose-tinted sparkling wine as well that was equally appealing and charming.

I have much to say and to add but for the moment I will post this and let the pictures tell their stories and get you all curious and wanting to know more. Cheers, Anthony ( TONY ) Quinn

Manuel Rojas ,Family Member Of IN SITU Chilean Wines Of Aconcagua Valley & Lunch @ PALENA W/DIMITRI In July 2011

2011-08-20T10:22:00.000-07:00

Lunch with Manuel Rojas a family member of IN SITU and ALMA wines of Chile was a real treat for me a few weeks ago back in July 2011 I believe. Our local rep from Nice Legs that sells us the IN SITU wines, Dimitri Curbet was there with us, too. We had a grand meal and the wines showed beautifully, too. I always love going to Palena to dine and this was my second lunch in their new cafe operation. What a treat for me every time that I dine at Palena.

Pictured here above is Manuel Rojas that I have known for years and already blogged about here at Chatwine. Check that out, too. Normally Manuel takes me to Sorriso across the street but they are not open for lunch anymore.

There were four wines for us to try and I bought a case of each. The one that spoiled me though and took my heart, belly, and guts was the Grand Reserva 2007 Cabernet Sauvignon IN SITU. It was so smooth and elegant and can be enjoyed all by itself. Silky and smooth as anything possibly can ever be. What a surprise and great treat for me. This was without a doubt the best wine I have ever had from you Manuel. Thanks you for that and for this great lunch, too - and all the others as well in the past.

As I said before in the other blog in a former life Manuel you were in two Anthony Quinn movies and that caught my attention immediately! Wow, I'm impressed, really I am.

Manuel and I are now working on our Big-Theme Chilean Wine-Tasting to be held in our store Cleveland Park Wines & Spirits ( 3423 Connecticut Avenue N.W. Washington D.C. 20008 Tel: 202-363-4265 sales@clevelandparkwine.com, www.clevelandparkwine.com, anthony.quinn@clevelandparkwine.com Tel: 202-363-4265 also now on Facebook at : Cleveland Park Wines & Spirits and on Twitter at : cpwinespirits ) on Wednesday, September 14th, 2011. We are involving the Chilean Embassy as well. That's from 5:30-8:30PM and there is no charge for the event. Invite family and friends. Everyone is welcome.

We are all friends of the National Zoo here just a couple of blocks away. I saw this walking back to the store after lunch and I just had to snap a picture or two of it. Love the colors : love the spirit.

Manuel, you will be our Special Guest at our Big-Theme Chilean Wine-Tasting on Wednesday, September 14th, 2011. I can hardly wait! What fun that will be. The ALMA wines will be here in the first week of September as well as more IN SITU. Thanks again Manuel and Dimitri. Cheers, TONY

I will probably continue this blog when I have more time. I have more things to say about these other three wines tasted at Palena. They were all excellent, and all deserve mention. Cheers.

Classic Danny Haas, Don't You Love It?!? I Do : Cheers Danny/ Thanks For The Loire Valley Tasting In July 2011

2011-08-19T13:47:00.000-07:00

It was great to have Danny Haas of Vineyard brands as our Special Guest at our July Big-Theme Wine-Tasting of Loire valley French wines which included some Chenin Blancs, some Muscadet or Mellon du Bourgogne and some Sauvignon Blanc as well as Chardonnay, too. I put Danny up-front at our tasting table and it was a really great event in part because of his efforts at tasting his wines with our customers on this Wednesday evening in July, 2011. I will have to look up the exact day and include that info here later.

I like these pictures that I took of Danny in quick succession. They cam out pretty good and they show also the wines that he was tasting. Blow up the pictures so that you can see the names like DELAPORT on the Sancerre that was pretty amazing. The Pouilly-Fume gave it a run for it's money, however as both Sauvignon Blancs showed really well on this Wednesday evening.

In Vouvray Chenin Blancs we had two producers being poured and different levels of sweetness from sec to demi-sec and moelleux, too. It was a real tasting experience for our customers and all the wines sold as they found those palates in this Wednesday evening that were their fans.

I will write more but for the moment I will post this " as is " to share these photos with you of Danny and the Vineyard Brand Loire valley French wines. Cheers and " merci " Danny and be sure and give the Old Crow my best. Cheers et a bientot.

I must say Danny that the news of Laurence Faller took me by surprise. I'm still thinking about it. TONY

Elite Selections Portfolio Of Wines In Their Wine Labels! I'm Working On This Collage For Laurent & Cindy As A " Thank You - Merci " To Them Both...

2011-08-18T13:19:00.001-07:00

While Working With Mike Martin @ Cleveland Park Wines & Spirits 2000-2010 ...

I have been working on this collage for Laurent Givry and Cindy now for quite some time. They just recently got married and so I want to congratulate them on that. I have not seen Cindy in quite some time but Laurent has been to Cleveland Park several times in the recent six months or so and tasted me on a number of his current selections of both French, Spanish and Argentinian wines.

Being an artist this collage I have done over the last couple of years I believe and it is getting close to being finished. I do not work on it all the time and that is why it has taken me some time to get it to this stage. I like to do it with the labels and the artwork off of the wine boxes themselves : those that hold the twelve or six bottles of wine inside them. I remember sometimes to get the labels and artwork off of them , and other times I simply forget. That's the way it goes as I am not always mindful at the right place and time that I am working on this color that is both front and back. It will eventually have to be framed with glass on either side and probably hung up some place from the ceiling so that people can walk around it and look at both sides to see the piece as a whole. A bit of a challenge but I believe well-worth it in the end.

I only use the labels of wine and the art off the boxes of wine that Laurent and Cindy sell me from their import company called Elite Selections. I am primarily using French and Spanish labels and artwork so far. I still have some remaining space to fill so at this point I still label the piece above as a work-in-progress.

I hope to have it finished by the end of this year 2011. I should be able to do this. I will get more labels and more artwork from the wine boxes over the next four months as it is now Sunday, August 28th, 2011 ( actually just now 29th at 12:16AM ). It's time for bed and so I will finish this now and post it " as-is ". I am sure I will add to it as I go along.

Time to post this now as it is Thursday, January 5th, 2012 ( it's freezing cold outside - or almost - 35 degrees perhaps?! ) and the New Year and I am really excited about it and what it will hold. Here are lots of French and Spanish labels and the torn pieces from the foil on the bottles as well as the paper I tore from the boxes themselves. I think I have captured some real energy and emotion and color , texture and pattern here on both sides of the canvas board that I used to make this.

I still call it a " work in progress - transition and perhaps this year I will finally complete it. Who knows? I like doing this kind of work and should start some more soon as a certain order and peace has returned finally to my life here in northern Virginia. Hope everyone is well and with this piece I wish to thank Laurent and Cindy for their work with Michael Martin and me in the past at Cleveland Park Wines & Spirits ( 3423 Connecticut Avenue N.W. Washington D.C. 20008 Tel : 202-363-4265 anthony.quinn@clevelandparkwines.com , also now on Facebook at : Cleveland Park Wines & Spirits and on Twitter at : cpwinespirits ) up until about two years ago when Mike headed to Rochester, New York. What a wonderful ten years that was working together, Mike , Laurent and many others and mysels accomplished quite a body of work together that I can genuinely say that I am quite proud of. Cheers to Cindy, Laurent, Mike and Lisa and all the others that contributed along the way like Aurelio Cabestrero that unfortunately I rarely see these days. How things have changed over the years! Who would have ever guessed. Anyway, here's to those first ten years together working hard and reaping so many rewards together : too many to even try and attempt to mention here. Know that there were many : as well as many owners and wine-makers, too. ALL things that I love being an active and productive daily artist as I am cheers. Sante, cheers et merci and thanks to all, Anthony ( TONY ) Quinn

P.S. I have to make arrangements now to get it to them somehow? That can be one of my many projects this year of 2012. I like that.

Jeremy Sutton Works Well The Fran Kysela Portfolio / Says " Adieu " At Cleveland Park Wines & Spirits / Tastes CORTENOVA,PAUL THOMAS,VALMINOR,SIEGEL

2011-08-06T18:10:00.000-07:00

& CLOS DE VIGNEAU Loire Valley, French off-dry Chenin Blanc 2009 ... the headline should read.

Jeremy Sutton has been promoted at Kysela Pere Et Fils Imports and that's great for him and a bit of a loss for us. We are, however very happy for you Jeremy as you have either just had a baby son born into your lives or you are just about to. I cannot remember exactly as many of these in-store wine samplings happens every Wednesday and Thursday and they all start to run into one another unfortunately.

On this occasion you had a series of wines open for Eon and me to try : 1) the CORTENOVA Italian Sangiovese red, the 2) VITAS dry red , the 3) VALMINORE 2010 dry Spanish Albarino white from Tias Baixas, the 4) Paul Thomas dry red French Cotes Du Rhone 2009 and the 5) Clos Du Vigneau Loire Valley Vouvray 2009 100% slightly off-dry Chenin Blanc. Many winners here , and all really great values, too. Many that we sell and have sold now for many years. The two " new " ones are the CORTENOVA dry red Italian Sangiovese and the VITAS. I think that the only one that we have never used before is the VITAS? I will have to look more into that Jeremy with Mark our new sales person that you brought to the store recently. Thanks for all your great service over the years. We all wish you well. I also know that I will call you from time to time just to say " hello ". I told you that already and you said that you were cool with that. Good.

Jeremy checks the wines before he serves them to me to be sure that they are sound and not corked.

He pours me some of the VALMINOR dry white Albarino that we have sold hundreds of cases over the years at Cleveland Park Wines & Spirits ( 3423 Connecticut Avenue N.W. Washington D.C. 20008 Tel:202-363-4265 anthony.quinn@clevelandparkwines.com , also now on Facebook at : Cleveland Park Wines & Spirits and on Twitter at : cpwinespirits ). It's been a favorite of our customers for years because of the high quality and the great value. Jeremy you even brought us the owner a year or so ago to meet. It was the first time and we had already been selling the VALMINOR for years successfully. Thanks Jeremy.

This must have been August or late July of this year 2011 as I was showing Jeremy some of my sketches that I had made with blue ink at the Outer banks when I took a week off from work. That was a real treat and I should have taken two week's off. I've paid the price for not doing so this year and fortunately the year is almost over as today it's Sunday night here at home in northern Virginia on December 4th, 2011.

Jeremy is pouring above some of the MONMOUSSEAU off-dry Loire Valley Vouvray from the 2009 vintage, the " Clos De Vigneau ". I have met the owner twice from this property and I believe that he has done an in-store wine-tasting at least once for us. Was that all the way back in 2002 or 2003 : I believe so?

This is a picture of the Uptown movie house across the street from Cleveland Park Wines & Spirits. It shows the movie that was playing at the time and that helps to fix the date better for most of us. We do not live in a vacuum : wine also does not live in a vacuum : everything is tied together as it should be : everything has it place and time and function and joy. Oh yeah.

Here's the color of the Vouvray " Clos De Vigneau " 2009 white in the picture above and over the description of it that Jeremy had for me. Thanks for that Jeremy : that really helps to bring it all together and to give me a place to add my own notes. So much easier to remember later.

This " new " label above on the CORTENOVA Italian wines are so much brighter and colorful and they really do jump out at you and grab your attention. One might almost buy them alone for their strong and energized colors and the fun design/patterns too?!? That's the idea I believe.

I like these last few pictures of Jeremy and the color of the red wine. Judging from the one above it must be the Sangiovese CORTENOVA Italian red in my glass?

Here you are behind your glass of wine Jeremy : a bit fun and mysterious : I like it, I like it a lot being an artist and wanting to think outside the box and " add to the equation " as I like to put it and not simply duplicate it.

In these next pictures I am swirling the CORTENOVA Italian lighter colored Sangiovese in my Riedel glass with Jeremy behind it. I like how his image and face come through with the strong ceiling lights above sometimes better and more clearly than others. I am trying to capture the beautiful color of this Sangiovese. It sure is beautiful, it sure does draw my eye and my attention to it, especially when the light shines through it.

I like that grin on your face above Jeremy. You know me, you know my routine : you are ready for me. You also appreciate the experience and for that I thank you personally.

Glorious riot of red hues that swirl around and dance with the light above in my Riedel Austrian wine-tasting glass!

Ole!

Interesting composition above. I like it ... I snap and I click and I trust that I will get some interesting pictures with my camera. I always do. What a gift it is to have such fine digital cameras to work with today. Makes it so much easier and very exciting as you have to simply trust in your instinct, try and envision as much as possible, " go for it! " and of course hope for the best, too. I do all the time. This attitude has served me really well now for years : I think since 2005 when I started to first take some digital shots.

The CORTENOVA Sangiovese was good. Thanks Jeremy. I will ask Mark how much it costs and perhaps add it back to our selection of wines at Cleveland Park Wines & Spirits here in Northwest Washington D.C. in our nation's capitol. And as I said I will be calling you from time to time just to check in. Good luck with your new son and with your new responsibilities at Kysela Pere Et Fils Et Fille with Fran Kysela and the rest of the team. Cheers and thanks again for everything and look forward to keeping in touch. Anthony ( TONY ) Quinn

Danielle About To Have Her Baby! 2011 / Came By Thurs. Sept. 29th, 2011 W Her Baby Boy Today!

2011-08-06T16:21:00.001-07:00

Hey everyone, this is a fluff piece! Danielle sells me wines at Cleveland Park Wines & Spirits through Dionysos Imports the company that she works for in Virginia selling a small but really fine selection of French and Greek and Portuguese wines sprinkled with some other fine wines from Spain and some other countries as well. Top-quality from some small producers : just the kind of wine that I like to represent as I have also bought two Turkish wines from Danielle as well and they have both sold. Imagine that?!? I love it! Thanks Danielle.

We are so pleased to have you back in the store and both you and your son in his stroller looked grand earlier this day. Thanks for stopping by. I will comment more on these pictures and what you tasted with us on this your last or second-to-last visit before you had your baby son. We communicated some over the phone but mostly through email.

I'm glad that you came and that you took inventory of what we have sold out of as I know that soon between the ports and the Greek wines as well as the some of the Italian that I failed to mention earlier that we will be giving you an order really soon.

I know that you will be seeing us next with some red burgundies to taste as we definitely need some red burgundies back in the store seeing that we have sold most everything that we own.

Take care and thanks again and know that we are all so very thrilled for the three of you - not to mention all your family. See you soon. TONY

The way these pictures play out here one after the other it's almost as if here in them we are already toasting your new baby son?!? I like this idea. The next time that you come we will toast him in earnest : that's a promise. Bring along some family and friends and let's all toast together, smile and laugh and celebrate the joy of a new life.

This last picture is symbolic that you are - that we are all so ready for you to have your baby now and to get on with your life of three. What a great moment that will be / what a great moment it was seeing two of the three of you today! Cheers! Bravo and may you sleep soundly through the nights.

P.S. From what you told me your baby boy is a dream come true : easy, happy, sleeps and lots of joy and comfort and a stroke of furtune, too. You are blessed, really you are. And a bit lucky, too. Nothing wrog with that.

New Wines! 2011 What Stories These Boxes Can / Do Tell? Any Thoughts? These Wine Cases Have Stored Many Great Bottles For Me Over The Years / I'm Very

2011-08-03T15:57:00.001-07:00

Thankful For That ! the headline should finish

I love these old boxes of mine : they tell so many stories. So many stories that have been silent for so very long. I'll have to return here and spend some more time thinking about them all. But just the pictures alone speak volumes so enjoy them as they are and I will at some point write about them and flesh them out so to speak, just like the wine fleshes out on the palate and reveals so many joys and pleasures both unexpected and sometime very much anticipated. Cheers and enjoy this Sunday, August 7th, 2011 wherever you are. My wife and I are off for a morning swim now. A la prochaine, a presto, hasta luego, bye bye for now, TONY

What thoughts have you all if any? Please share them in the comment section at the end of this blog entry.

Wine Ohhh Wine Ohhhh Wine! STICKS Pinot Noir 2007, Yarra Valley, Australia Enjoyed & Outer Banks N.C. Posted On Saturday, July 23rd, 2011 : Cheers!

2011-07-23T17:44:00.001-07:00

Simple and easy : a meal preparation as the sun leaves us and the moon comes into focus. All the while conversation and a light show while we enjoy, among other things a bottle of the STICKS 2007 Yarra Valley Pinot Noir at the Outer Banks in North Carolina was it 2009/2010? I think it was 2009 but now I am not sure.

This was another wonderful week in August with my family with lots of wine and food and conversation and books and beautiful scenery and sky effects. I did all my art as usual which included lots of photos as well. What more could anyone ask for ?!>

Being an artist I find this all irresistible and I hope you enjoy these images. Cheers, TONY

P.S. I may write more here but these pictures pretty much speak for themselves.

Wines To Talk About On Fri. July 22nd, 2011: FUZELO Portuguese Dry White ( 11.5% Alc, Slight Sparkle ) Vinho Verde Is Perfect & Back In Stock!

2011-07-22T13:26:00.001-07:00

It's great to have this FUZELO Portuguese Vinho Verde dry slightly-sparkling low alcohol ( 11.5% alcohol by volume ) back in stock once again at Cleveland Park Wines & Spirits ( 3423 Connecticut Avenue N.W. Washington D.C. 20008, Tel:202-363-4265 sales@clevlelandparkwine.com www.clevelandparkwine.com anthony.quinn@clevelandparkwine.com, also on Facebook at : Cleveland Park Wines & Spirits and now on Twitter, too at : cpwinespirits ) at only $8.99 a bottle. What a great deal! Lots of flavor and sparkle, too and no bite or tartness at all. Easy-sipping.

This bottle was enjoyed at Wolf Trap a couple of years ago ( maybe 2009 or 2010? ) on Memorial Day weekend before the President's Band started to play and while we were enjoying our picnic meal out on the lawn. This was a prefect pick then.

It's still a perfect fit for today on Friday, July 22nd, 2011 here in our Cleveland Park neighborhood on this swelteringly hot day here in Washington D.C. Northwest in our nation's capitol. Cheers to you all and come on by and get a bottle of FUZELO from us. It's the perfect white for this type of weather, especially if you want to be outside and enjoying some wine. TONY

Meeting Patrick Campbell Of LAUREL GLEN VINEYARD, Sonoma, CA. Today, Sept.7th, '11 @ Charlie Palmer's D.C. /L.G. REDS @ Outer Banks Beach, N.C.'10

2011-07-20T16:16:00.000-07:00

This was a great treat for me today to be able to attend the vertical wine-tasting ( 1981-2006 ) of the LAUREL GLEN California Sonoma County Cabernet Sauvignon's with wine-maker/then owner Patrick Campbell at Charlie Palmer's ( 101 Constitution Avenue N.W. Washington D.C. 20001 ) and owner now, Bettina Sichel. I was invited by Robert Cavanaugh of Adventure Wine LLC ( http://www.adventurewine.com/ ) to attend and I thank you Robert for introducing me to the group and complementing me in front of the whole gathering for my store email.

( Being a painter and artist/poet/writer now for most of my life I always take my art supplies to the beach when I go with my family to the Outer Banks of North Carolina annually and usually in August and draw and sketch and paint. This was no exception as you can see from the photo above. I treated the pages of the sketch pad above as if it were a book and one was leafing through it. The left and the right of the open book is really one image cut in two by the metal spirals. It gives me more space to create a fuller image and I love that ).

As you can see these pictures of the REDS made by Patrick Campbell ( and still owned by him ) is what I took to enjoy with me at the beach in the Outer Banks of North Carolina last year, 2010 in August and I will comment on them, too as well as on this luncheon earlier today. The most important part of today of course was the vertical wine-tasting of the LAUREL GLEN VINEYARD'S Sonoma County Cabernet Sauvignons from 1981-2006. The years tasted in fact were : 1981. 1985, 1986, 1989, 1991 ( 1st Flight ) ; 1992, 1993 Reserve, 1994, 1996, 1998 ( 2nd Flight ), and 1999 Reserve, 2001, 2002, 2005 and 2006 ( 3rd Flight ). By the way some of the bottles were poured from magnums and some from the 760ml size bottles. You will see all of this once I include the pictures that I took from this event : there were many!

( I love taking these artsy photos at the beach and I love looking both through a wine glass or a wine bottle as it adds a whole " new " dimension to an image like this one above. Sometimes the results are quite dramatic : sometimes like this one above it's just another nice touch to the resulting photo ).

It was an amazing tasting : an experience of a lifetime and I want to comment fully on it here in this blog. I have lots to say. I loved the wines and I have some notes on pretty much all of them. It was a grand opportunity and it was exciting to be included and invited to sit next to Patrick and get to talk with him and hear all that he had to say while I photographed and videoed him, drew quick portrait sketches of him ( six in all I believe ) : and of course sampled all these wonderful wines of his. I had my favorites and I had a lot of work to do trying to get everything in. It was well-worth my efforts and I am the one that was amply rewarded for my active participation in this two-hour period from noon-2 PM at Charlie Palmer's on this dreary, wet, really poured cats and dogs luncheon period of Wednesday, August 7th, 2011.

Stay-tuned for more but in the meantime enjoy these pictures of the beach. I will comment on all of it as soon as I get a chance. Patrick, thanks for this great vertical tasting of your LAUREL GLEN VINEYARD Sonoma County Cabernet Sauvignon's. It ranks as one of the greatest wine-tasting experiences that I have ever had/enjoyed. What a great pleasure and honor to have been seated next to you. I had a blast. Cheers, TONY

Like I said it was pouring cats and dogs when I arrived around noon at Charlie Palmer's. The rain was so severe that I waited and it never abated so I wrapped a plastic clear bag around me and made for a dash across the street after feeding my hungry meter many quarters and getting just shy of two hours of meter time before finally running out. What a rip-off it has all become. Two-bits ( a quarter ) does not buy very much anymore is the conclusion I quickly arrived at. But I had to run through puddles and jump over them , too.

( The picture above is of my beach house at the Outer Banks in Salvo or Avon I believe? It will be odd to see these as I describe my vertical LAUREL GLEN VINEYARD ( 1981-2006 ) Cabernet Sauvignon two-hour wine-tasting. I will talk about the beach experience later on after this tasting/ luncheon at Charlie Palmer's ).

It was worth it : believe me, it was worth everything to get to Charlie Palmer's Steak House restaurant. Looked like everyone pretty much was already there : four round tables with many guests and I saw Robert Cavanaugh at the table with all the bottles of LAUREL GLEN lined up to my right side. Impressive : like I said - fifths and magnums from 1981-2006.

He took me right over a bit to the right to one of the round tables with two seats empty and a standing Patrick Campbell. He introduced me immediately to the crowd and announced my name and asked if everyone there was getting my store emails - that they were really excellent? Thanks again Robert for that plug, I do appreciate it more than you know.

Then Robert introduced me to Patrick Campbell and we said " hello " and Robert asked me where I wanted to sit? There is never any doubt where I want to sit : it is always next to the owner or the wine-maker. I am not shy and I love this chance to talk with them and get to know a little more about them even though it is such a short period of time. it's still invaluable to me and so I sat next to him. I hope that that was alright? No one said anything so I guess that it was. That was my great fortune and my great reward for having had to fight boldly and bravely the elements outside!

The First Flight of LAUREL GLEN VINEYARD Cabernet Sauvignon was already poured ( 1981, 1985, 1986, 1989 and 1991 ). I met Bettina Sichel a bit later. She's the new owner of LAUREL GLEN VINEYARD. I heard her speak first. Everyone was tasting and sampling the wines and at some point Bettina got up and asked everyone how the tasting was going? She asked for comments? She asked about the 1981? And she asked Patrick Campbell to comment on the wines. It was a bit rushed, very energetic and lively as we had a whole lot of ground to cover in a very short period of time.

I was showing Patrick the two empty bottles of wine that I had brought with me to show him that his daughter Arya had signed. I had a bottle of the LAUREL GLEN 2001 Sonoma Coast Cabernet Sauvignon ( Arya had written years ago at Cleveland Park Wines & Spirits , 3423 Connecticut Avenue N.W. Washington D.C. 20008 Tel : 202-363-4265 sales@clevelandparkwine.com, anthony.quinn@clevelandparkwine.com, http://www.clevelandparkwine.com/, also now on Facebook at : Cleveland Park Wines & Spirits and on Twitter at : cpwinespirits , : " Mm Mm Good Love( used the heart sign ) Arya " - Patrick added at the end of the vertical wine-tasting : " What a year ( 2001 ) Cheers! " and signed it Patrick Campbell ". There was also an empty bottle of the !ZA ZIN 2004 Old Vine Zinfandel, Lodi, Alc. By Volume 15% LAUREL GLEN VINEYARD and Arya had signed : " What's not to like about Cleveland Pk? Love( used again the heart sign for the word love ) Arya . Patrick later signed it : " You Ar Za Man! Best " and signed it Patrick. Nice souvenirs for me to hang onto and to share with others.

I was also busily snapping away my pictures of this event and saying hello to people at our table and also telling Patrick about how John Pollis was such a big fan of his. He smiled immediately when he heard this and asked me where John was? We spoke of National and the old Forman Brothers, of Patrick's daughter Arya, of his good family friends that live two blocks away from our store on Ross Street N.W. That's where Patrick stayed on Tuesday night. They are good friends to the store and customers. It was quick and fun all of this conversation around tasting his wines and explaining and showing him my photos that I was taking.

I told Patrick that I would send him copies and he was pleased with that as he also had his camera with him and was also taking pictures when time permitted. He even took a picture of Robert Cavanaugh with my Panasonic camera and complemented me on the camera and asked Robert to turn the bottle around of the LAUREL GLEN that he was pouring so that it would show up in the picture. All good fun, all quite a lot to absorb as it was all happening so rapidly around us. Patrick spoke of his wines and we all listened and there were actually quite a few comments and questions, too from the gathered/ seated crowd.

Bettina was quite intent to find out on each flight what vintages were each person's favorite? She kept asking over and over again and asked for a show of hands each time? I was just trying to taste through the first flight as this all started to happen. I was catching up quickly and really just trying to make my own mental notes and arrive at some conclusions as to how these first five wines were smelling, tasting and opening up? It was a daunting task and one that I embraced wholeheartedly - the whole moment : I was trying to absorb and wrap myself completely up in it. No easy task but so fulfilling and rewarding being the artist that I am.

I liked all of the wines that I was tasting in this first flight. My favorite was probably the 1986. I wrote of it : " Nice flesh, nice silk, most drinkable ( of the first three ) now for me... rich, flavorful, really great guts, thicker ". My first and immediate impression of the 1981 was : " Too lean, too tart, too much need of food ". I did amend this as I went along and returned to it later. It softened, blossomed and was really quite charming ten-fifteen minutes later. The 1985 I wrote initially : " Bigger, richer ( than the 1981 ), still more closed than the 1981 ". For the 1989 I wrote at first taste : " Thinner than 1986, not as complex lush/plush - still tons of acidity, spice, earth- terroir needs food ". I did like it. It along with the others was classic and reminded me more of the wines of Europe. Remember the alcohol levels of these wines was only 12.5% alcohol. We all discussed this as a group later. I think that they were all quite amazing and that with food they would have all been/were excellent. By the way I did like the 1991 vintage but somehow I forgot to make any notes on it. Oh well. If any of you read this that were there please include your notes on the 1991 in the c' comment " section at the end of this blog. Thanks.

We did all order our food choices between a meat or a fish dish and I ordered the meat and Patrick ordered the fish. I asked him later why he had ordered the fish? His response was that he was leaving the next day for Argentina. I understood immediately. The food, however did not come out until just around 1:45PM and this wine-tasting/luncheon was scheduled to end at 2PM. Actually, I appreciated this as the event to me was really to taste these excellent wines and to focus on them. The fact later that my steak was fabulous as was my salad before and the tender asparagus and creamy and light mashed potatoes with my steak : well, that was all gravy to me. Much-appreciated and need gravy by that time : but gravy nonetheless. Bravo to everyone involved. This was a world-class event and one that I will not forget soon. That's why I am busy typing away here quickly trying to remember everything and preserve it all before I forget. Too important, at least to me. Hope you all get something from it as well.

When talking about the First Flight of these five LAUREL GLEN WINES Patrick asked us what was the common thread of them all? It was the acidity. He said : " Look at the riper levels of acidity. I would venture to guess that the 1981 has the most acidity of any? " He then quickly added : " Do you have any idea how it got it ? " No one had the right answer and he simply stated : " Acid in a bag ". That's how everyone did it back then. he claimed that it was not a good practice and Patrick said that by 1985 that it had stopped. I don't know if he meant that for all wineries or simply his? Could you clarify this for us Patrick?

I will continue shortly with the Second Flight of wines from 1992, 1993, 1994, 1996 and 1998.

Nolan Hale Of Mondo Vino / Nolan Tastes Current Vintages Of McMANIS Family Vineyards CA Wines @ Cleveland Park Wines / Happy 4th Of July'11! Charles

2011-06-29T15:57:00.000-07:00

& Nolan Visit Again This Week, June 29th, 2011 With More Bounty! this headline should finish.

THIS IS ONE OF MY ART-ORIENTED BLOG ENTRIES HERE THAT on viewing it a bit earlier today I am quite proud of. I had to post the pictures here of Nolan Hale our local rep for Mondo Vino Imports earlier while still at work and I am really pleased with the overall image and atmosphere that it gives one. I was very pleased with the flow of the pictures as I mounted one after the other as I think they tell a nice vignette of these few brief minutes that I enjoyed sometimes early this year or was it late last year 2010? It's hard to remember now. We tried a number of the McMANIS Family Vineyards CA. California wines from the Sauvignon Blanc and the Chardonnay to the Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Syrah, Petite Sirah and Zinfandel. I remember thinking how amazingly easy and delicious the Petit Sirah and now I know why it is so popular with so many of our customers. I also believe that we tried the Pint Noir as well? I will write more about this here as it was a wonderful window into this McMANIS Vineyard's wines. Thanks Nolan.

As the pictures here show this was a fun wine-tasting of the McMANIS California wines. I remember being impressed with the range and understanding more about why the Petit Sirah is so successful : it's delicious. For me it's clearly the most appealing wine that they make. I would drink all of them depending on what I was serving as the meal and who was gathered with me? That's a major factor as well.

One of our customers loves the Cabernet Sauvignon and so we always have to have that as well with the Petite Sirah. We also sprinkle in sometimes the Pinot Noir and the Chardonnay. We will see about buying some of the other flavors this Wednesday when Nolan comes to Cleveland Park Wines & Spirits ( 3423 Connecticut Avenue N.W. Washington D.C. 20008 Tel:202-363-4265 sales@clevelandparkwine.com , http://www.clevelandparkwine.com/, anthony.quinn@clevelandparkwine.com also now on Facebook@clevelandparkwine.com and on Twitter at : cpwinespirits ).

Nolan and his boss Charles were by this past week and we tasted some of the Mondo Vino portfolio selection of wines and discussed business present and past and future with them. They have some nice wines that we have been using quite well for the last few years and the list keeps growing. As long as there are people like Charles and Nolan that continue to give us consistent good service and that I can connect with as I do with both of them , then Mondo Vino will continue to do well in our Washington D.C. N.W. neighborhood at Cleveland Park Wines & Spirits. Thanks Nolan and Charles. I do miss Jeanne Moillard as Charles you and I discussed. Oh well, those are good memories and good times in the past. Jeanne now sells the LALLIER champagne and we will have that, too by the end of the year.

Happy 4th of July 2011 and think about coming by the store tomorrow ( open until 4 PM ) and buying some of the McManis wines to celebrate the 4th with family and friends. Hope this finds you all well. TONY

Being an artist I love taking all these artsy photos as I do here. I hope you enjoy them as much as I enjoyed taking them. I may comment more here so stay-tuned.

So many of these pictures I should be commenting on from an artist's point-of-view and look above at the picture above of the lovely red color of this wine. Is it the Syrah? I think so. Gorgeous sun-ceiling light-infused colors. Spell-binding, don't you agree?!? Cheers, TONY

Always Something New! David Pinzolo Old Friend Now Of Winebow Imports, Looking Back On Many Great Years : How Are You? Cheers To You!

2011-06-29T15:49:00.001-07:00

Hey David, what's that in your hands? Looks like silky bright bubbly to me ...

Thanks David for all the good times, the good wines, the meals and the conversations, the " being included " by you... the being understood by you ... the smiles, the help in Italy ... the many Italian - glorious wines over all these many years. We have each gained some fabulous " bottle age " and I have recently really enjoyed your Italian wine selections from Winebow Imports.

More wine is coming this next week from Winebow including more of the Falesco Vitiano Sangiovese Umbrian red that I love to sell : as well as Miriam's " new " Tuscan red Chianti Colli Senesi dry red that I cannot wait to sell! Wow, I tasted it there two years ago when I visited with my daughter and we stayed their and Guido her father and Sara her assistant really treated the both of us like royalty. What a great time that was for us both.

Always something grand in store for you and me David. Thanks again and Happy 4th of July 2011 to you and to your family today on the 4th! Thanks for that great pizza above as well. Doesn't it still look glorious in all it's reds and oranges and golden tans from tomatoes and cheeses ... and the delicate browns of the sausages, too?!? Prego e a presto, Caio David, TONY

Been Reading This Week Of June 19th-25th, 2011 Laura Catena's Book VINO ARGENTINA & Raising As Many Questions As Answers / Cheers

2011-06-26T17:49:00.000-07:00

Alfredo Bartholomaus gave me this copy of the Laura Catena book called VINO ARGENTINO back on September 15th, 2010. It was one of the last times that he came to Cleveland Park Wines & Spirits? It's been awhile since then and I cannot remember so I will just say that's a possibility? Alfredo passes through periodically, sometimes announced and sometimes a complete surprise. We go way back we do. It's always a treat to see him as he always has someone or something interesting for me. Thanks amigo for that. I have met more interesting people this way and have often blogged about them here at : chatwine or chat art or even chatpoetry as I often see these visits on many levels being a curious artist as I am.

He may have had Ernesto Catena with him that last time ; he's Laura Catena's brother. I am not sure of the time line as they often for me blur and so often connect, one with the other and so on. I really do see life as lots of interesting tangents. That's one of the very few math expressions that I have ever taken to heart and I am glad for it as it describes a whole lot of what I like to refer to as both planned and unplanned contacts between things. I love serendipitous contacts, too as they are such a complete and quick become immensely welcome ones, too!

Anyway, it may also have been when Laura and Nicolas Catena came back to Washington D.C. to introduce the most recent vintage of the Zapata Catena? That may have been when this book started to circulate and I was invited to the event and was unnable to attend becasue of the choice I had to make on that particular occasion? It was whether to go to the CATENA event in Washington D.C. to go meet my son's eleventh grade high school teachers? No contest : meet his " new " teachers. It happened at the opening red carpet Uptown movie house movie opening with Ashton Kutcher( spelling? ) and Demi Moore? Meet my son's " new " tenth grade teachers , of course. I would have loved to have met Demi being a bit of a fan of hers all the way back to that silly romantic film called : " About Last Night ".

Laura is about the only one that I have not really ever spoken to except to say " hello " briefly to her while dancing with my wife at the Argentinia Embassy back on October 3rd, 2002 when her father Nicolas was there and they both were introducing the 1999 vintage of the CATENA ZAPATA. Boy was that a fun evening with such great wine and food and entertainment and what a setting, too! Loved it! I have the signed bottle by both of the empty 1999 here by my side now as I type this of the CATENA ZAPATA to remind me as it is dated in Nicolas' own hand-writing. I do love it as well as the 1997 CATENA ZAPATA bottle here, too enjoyed for the unveiling of this wine by just a very small hand full of Washington's wine community ( retailers and restaurateurs ) at the then Gabriel restaurant with chef Gregory Hill in the old Barcelo Hotel spot there almost at the intersection of P Street and Dupont Circle, N.W. What a lovely, intimate dinner and wine-food-pairing that was. I sat next to wine-maker Jose Galante and his wife Beatrice and they both signed my empty bottle of the CATENA ZAPATA 1997.

I have pictures of that dinner that I made copies for and gave to Alfredo and Alex. Funny, on that occasion I had to rush out and buy a disposable camera for just this purpose because I had a gut feeling that it would be well-worth recording and helping to preserve such a personal and warm and grand moment in time for us lucky few.

Boy how I do ramble and tell stories : sorry! I do think it all does help to preserve some of the history and some of the moment that is otherwise all but lost and forgotten so quickly as if it never happened. Our wine history is lush and rich and verdant and well-worth preserving as it, too is a marvel and tells us how things have come to be where they are now.

It's also how Argentina has drawn attention to itself and to it's wines, food, culture and beauty. The world would not be as interested or as informed without all these occasions that have drawn our world attention to them We can all thank the Catena family as well as people like Alfredo Bartholomaus and Nora Favelukes ( herself from Argentina ) that way back when so many years ago she brought Nicolas Catena into contact with Alfredo and together the three of them with Alex' help later forged the beginnings of the Argentina and the Argentina wine world that be barely knew anything of back then and that have grown to love and to follow so closely these days with both our eyes and our palates and all our senses, really.

Back then it was Alfredo hitting the D.C. pavement and sidewalks and stores with wines like VALDIVIESO, COUSINO-MACUL, SAINT MORILLON and VALENTIN BIANCHI of San Rafael, Mendoza, Argentina. Thanks Alfredo : we hardly knew these way back when but we sure do know them now because of all the work that you did by yourself first and then later with the help of Nora Favelukes.

So I scanned the index for the names of Alfredo Bartholomaus, Nora Favelukes and VALENTIN BIANCHI and I was really aghast at not finding any of the three. How?!? Was this a mistake?!? Anyway, it caught me off guard and I must say I was myself deeply disappointed not to find mention of any of the three. Oh well, I'm just one person with just one opinion and point-of-view. I understand this. But I continued on as I wanted to see what this book called VINO ARGENTINO written by Laura Catena was all about?

When Alfredo gave me the book I must say that I was not very excited about it because I have received various books along these last few years on Argentina ( including recently the cookbook by Millman - it was my favorite of all of them, signed by him, too ) and I have not been that impressed, really. I still guard with pride, though and show it to everyone that comes the poetry and painting book that the Catena's gave me ( and signed as I asked them to ) when I visited Argentina the only time ever with Nora Favelukes and perhaps twelve or so other really lucky people in 1995. When Ernesto saw the book recently in the store and signed it for me his eyes lit up with surprise and he said that he had not seen the book in a really long time.

Thanks Nora for giving 120% plus of your time. love, energy and effort to make this perhaps the greatest wine trip I have ever been on?!? All the Catena family were gracious and wonderful on this trip including wine-makers like Jose and Pedro ( that took special care of us when we were there - gracias a todos ). SO : my expectations were low when I found my copy of VINO ARGENTINO and I must say that it has been overall quite a success with me and raised my awareness of many things and pleased me more than not.

I do have some comments on how I would like the next edition to be so as to add more immediate enjoyment for those reading Laura's wonderful words about the people, the land, the food, the way of life, the rich history, etcetera. She really makes this come beautifully alive. Being an artist I really respond well to her words and want to read more of them than she has included. I'd also like to have all the pictures captioned. And most of all, I'd like to have the three maps at the back included in a smaller size on each of the pages where she goes into detail with words describing these roads, areas and specific regions. That would be amazing, really. Make it more immediately visual and use the maps to help guide us that perhaps do not know the land quite as well as she does? That's easily fixed I hope?

Lines like these really made the book for me : " In Lujon de Cuyo, Mendoza , the Ruta 40 is lined with a who's who of ... Even on a warm summer day, you will be cool while riding under the gigantic poplar trees that line each dirt road in the area. There are no sidewalks, so you may find yourself sharing the street with children walking to school, buses, harvest trucks, stray cats and dogs, and families walking or biking to work. Old adobe houses with cracked walls, pretty wildflower gardens, and clothes hanging on outdoor lines share the landscape with beautifully restored wineries. " ( page 89 : " Who's Who of Winemaking in Perdial ). Because without these people there alongside the " who's who " and their wineries none of this could be accomplished. They are the bread and the water of the earth there and essential to the vine's success : a symbiotic relationship where one needs the other to survive and thrive ).

I became an admirer of Laura and this book with sentences like these because it made me forget the commercial side of the wine business and focus on the land and it's people and make me want to return to see more of this type of thing. Fortunately there are quite a few impressive sentences like this to keep me reading to discover more of the soul and the heart and the strength of the Argentinian people that continue to survive and smile even with so much political upheaval and unrest. According to Laura that is why so many spend there money because they have no idea exactly what tomorrow will bring and if their money is worth anything or not?!?

It's nice for me as I read Laura's book and read more about the country and it's people and those that come and fall in love with both for me to pause and remember times like the Festival of Life and Harvest that we arrived at with Nora Favelukes and attended that night way back on Sunday, March 5th, 1995. There we all were our small group with one of the Catena family there besides us with her daughter and her daughter's best girlfriend? What fun, how personal, up-and-close and intimate. I had arrived. There I was witnessing an incredible spectacle both on the lit-up stage in front of me with dancers in costumes, music and colors and lights and there also, right besides me two cute little Argentinian girls enjoying each other's company and smiling , talking and laughing. I had it : two wonderful slices of Argentinian life there side-by-side that helped give me a sense of Argentina then just as now reading Laura's lines about the dirt road with no sidewalks ... nice.

I will have to include more names here but both my gift poetry and painting book ( as well as all my photos ) are at work and I am writing this now at home. It's what I call a work-in-progress. Almost everything I do is and I like it this way.

So Laura thanks for this book and what I have learned from it. I've met your father and your mother and your brother now as well as many other members of your family. That's very special to me, really. I have also met, thanks to Alfredo Alejandro Vigil ( had lunch with him at Nam Viet in Washington D.C. and blogged about it already at : chatwine.blogspot.com ) and Alejandro Sejanovich ( had a wine-tasting in the store with Alejandro when he visited years ago ) ; and a fabulous dinner with him, too with John Peters and Rick DeLauder and Kumar and more in Washington D.C. ). I have seen again Jose Galante and his wife here in Washington D.C. after having met them in Mendoza.

I have not seen Pedro Marchevesky since my trip in 1995 and I really enjoyed my conversation with him as we took a bus ride south on a bumpy road I think? We whisked along quickly and sat side-by-side on one of the seats and we talked about wine experiences. I learned quite a bit from Pedro on this trip. At that point I never did meet Susana Balbo. It was much later when I had lunch with a small group and sat besides her at the Fogo De Chao restaurant at 13th Streets and Pennsylvania I believe N.W.? She later came to the store and when she saw my pictures of Pedro she exclaimed : " My how young he looks ! " I loved that, really I did.

Anyway, Pedro talked a whole lot about discovering how to manage the tannins and the phenols in wine and in the vineyards to produce more rounded and appealing and less sharp and astringent and harsh wines. He outlined then in pretty great detail many things that he was working on with everyone on the wine-making / as well as vineyard team to realize these softer tannins and make them work for their wines. He also went into great detail how much he learned from visiting the Robert Mondavi winery and working there. He loved the open communication and the sharing of information freely with everyone so that everyone could benefit and make better wine. He gave a whole lot of credit to Robert Mondavi for creating and nurturing such an open and free and comfortable exchange of ideas / opinions/ research, etcetera. I loved listening to him talk about this. It made me smile and feel so good and it made me want to dive head-first into more wine and sharing it with people like my customers in Washington D.C. I still feel this way. Gracias muchas Pedro!

Perhaps my favorite picture in the book is on page 119 of the vines and the canopy that they make as they join the two rows at the top. It spoke to me immediately in a gut sort of way and it inspires me in a really artistic fashion, too. I'd like to paint a series standing right where the photographer did to snap this picture. I'd go there during the year and draw it/paint it/sketch it/collage it over a period of time as it went from no blooms and leaves and grapes to a whole canopy filled to exploding ( blocking out the view in the distance ) and creating more shade and contrasts as the sun is blocked more and more and more. Too bad there's not a picture like that for contrast right beside this one. It would bring to home so clearly the point that you talk about here in your book and protecting the grapes from too much sunlight.

This picture makes me think of some of the very last oil paintings of the great French artist Claude Monet that he did of the Japanese bridge at Giverny in the French countryside. he painted it over and over again in so many intense colors, layer-upon-layer-upon-layer just like these trellises vines would attain with time during each year's growing season.

My second favorite picture is that on pages 52-53 of the dirt road shaded so completely by the poplar trees are these? The title is " Chapter III Mendoza City : Gateway To The Wine Country. I just love all of this lush canopy of leaves. It's pretty impressive and sure must provide some much-needed cover from the intense heat or the rain or any other natural elements?

I also loved learning about what Ursula and Donald Hess have done for the people of Colome ( that we sell, the white Torontes is on our shelves now and I want to try it all over again after reading your words ). This is what you wrote : " Prior to their arrival, the four-hundred-person Colome community - living in shantytown-like huts scattered around the mountains-had been riven by malnutrition and alcoholism and faced an uncertain future. The people lived in dire poverty and had extremely limited access to food, medical care, and education. For the Hesses, providing this community with a place of work and refuge has been their proudest achievement." Well, I will always have a place on my shelves in Cleveland Park N.W. Washington D.C. for these COLOME wines : the white Torrontes and the red Malbec.

I wish that you would have talked a bit more about the Malbec of France and Cahors. They are quite often excellent though different and that is why the grape was originally carried carefully and with love and attention all the way to South America. They deserve more attention for their very fine Cahors wines that in many ways were the inspiration for your wines in Argentina. In my humble opinion it's always best to give credit where credit is due : and I believe that you could have stressed this a bit more as I am quite sure there are plenty people out there today championing the Cahors red wines and quite willing to be quoted or paraphrased here in your quite interesting book that covers a wide range of subjects and not just wine.

For this I give you great credit and will end this blog on an upbeat/positive note. Wine is only one of the valuable ingredients in life and should only take it's rightful place their and add to the whole, wonderful equation that we call life. The food, the people, the place and setting ( indoors-outdoors ), the time of the year and the weather are all a part of life and wine takes it's place alongside all of these. I like that you incorporate them all and give them all a chance to shine along with everything else.

I look forward to returning to see more of Argentina someday. I have always sold the wines of Argentina and told my wonderful stories there that your family was very instrumental in making happen for me. I am sorry that in Buenos Aires I never did see your father and mother on our last evening there before returning home. Nora Favelukes was nice enough to excuse me that night to be with my two artist friends ( both from Argentina, both living in Bueonos Aires ) that I had befriended in Paris, France back in the late 1970's : Cristina Piceda and Maria Vallecillo ( she lived then at : Santa Fe 3996-6( 77) 1425 Buenos Aires, Argentina Tel # 71-2041 ).

There we were all reunited in a popular Argentina restaurant in the heart of Bueonos Aires : one American artist man and two lovely, beautiful Argentinian artist ladies ( Cristina worked in sculpture and Maria in collage and paper mountings ) speaking French a mile-a-minute with lots of sounds and merriment all around us coming from Argentinians and Americans and English and Spanish trying valiantly to drown out our passionate and forceful French! What an evening! I will never forget it. However, I am sorry not to have seen your father and mother on that evening as I am sure it, too would have been grand.

In closing I would like to say that someday I will post the pictures of when your father first came to the United States and Washington D.C. and Nora called and asked me if I would be willing to meet with her and your father for lunch? She wanted Nicolas Catena to hear from me about the wine business in Washington D.C. and to give him any helpful hints or suggestions for starting his wine-business here? I readily accepted and we went to Bilbo Baggins cafe for lunch in Old Towne. Alexandria, Virginia and the three of us ate sandwiches and had a wonderful conversation about life and wine and all the rest. I have two pictures of us there in the restuarant and I need to include them here at chatwine.blogspot.com sometime really soon.

Cheers and in the meantime I will continue reading your book Laura and gleening the pages for other bits and pieces of news and insights that make up the lovely tapestry that we call life. Gracias e hasta luego. TONY