I have not been able to go to all these tastings but I have enjoyed two of them so far. I used to work with Michael Downey twenty-five years or so ago at the Mayflower Wines and Spirits that was located on M. Streets N.W. Washington D.C. at the corner of New Hampshire Avenue. It was a small specialty store that specialized in Italian wines and that is where I first cut my teeth on them. Sidney Moore and Michael Downey ran the store together ( they hired me when Mo Parzoe said they should talk to me. I was then managing the store Colonial Liquors a block away at the time ). I remember sitting down with Michael as he interviewed me.
It was many years later when Michael started his own import company and he worked with some of the people and their wines that he had helped introduce both to the Washington D.C. metropolitan area as well as to the United States. Sidney's parents Aaron and Helen Millman lived in Florence at the time ( Aaron was on the Chianti consortsio at the time ) and he would travel through Italy and find wines to send back in containers to Sidney and Michael to sell through the store. I loved this more immediate connection to these Italian wines and their owners/families. I got to know and love some of the children of these families. Andrea Fossi ( of FOSSI chianti came to learn English and about America. We sold Andrea's chiantis going all the way back to 1958. We had pretty much every vintage. I remember the great 1959 vintage as well as the 1060 and the 1961( my two brothers were born in these two last vintages. I believe that I still have a bottle of the 1961 ). In the picture with Andrea and me he is holding a bottle of his excellent VANTI ROSSO great everyday Italian red table wine quaffer, perfect for these hotter times of summer. We currently have several different bottlings of Andrea's wines in the store. I also got to know Alesandro Furlan of the FRANCO FURLAN winery( Friuli, Italy ) as well as Elizabeta of the VIETTI Piemonte winery. They all came to my house at least once and we all worked together in real harmony and fun at the Mayflower Wines and Spirits. I loved those early days here in Washington D.C. The Mayflower Wines and Spirits was a wonderful place for me to work and to grow and learn. I met many stimulating people while there and that has really fostered my love for Italian as well as for French wines.
In these photos from the Downey portfolio tasting I have a picture of Andrea and me. He's holding a bottle in his hands. We're both smiling and he's on my right and has frizzy white hair that's everywhere. He was nice enough to come and see me on his last visit this May 2008 and I have a recent blog about enjoying his current 2006 Chianti at home in my back yard one evening with my wife. Be sure and look it up.
I met lots of " new " wine makers/ owners here at the tasting from Veneto and Naples and Piemonte. I already knew Max DiLenardo and have some wonderful pictures here of him. Max has come to the store at least three times now. We love Max's Tocai called TOC now as well as his excellent Sauvignon Blanc, Pinot Grigio, Father's Eye( named after a Eric Clapton song ), his Merlot, his Cabernet, his dessert wine - pretty much all his wines ! Because memory fades and I don't have my notes with me now I cannot remember the names of all these people and their wines. Let it suffice to say that I have carried wines from them all and will be receiving a fresh shipment in another week at Cleveland Park Wines and Spirits, so stay-tuned.
There are also pictures of the French wine maker from the Oltrepo Pavese region of Italy included here. He simply loves Italian wines. He did not follow an Italian girl there to Oltrepo Pavese or meet one there and decide to stay. He makes some amazing reds and whites. My favorite of his is his red Bonarda. He's been in the store and tasted with our customers and I will track down the sheet that he filled in my catalogue and include both his name, the date of the tasting and more about his excellent wines.
There is also a picture of a man pouring the Naples wines, both reds and whites including the famous sparkling dry red Gragnano that they serve up at the TWO AMYS restaurant on Macomb Street. He came with his wife to taste wines in our store a year later, or was it two? I don't remember. My memory has holes and that's why I get people to sign my books. That's also why I take multitudes of pictures. The problem is that I want to get these older tastings/events posted and I'm home with my pictures here in the computer and my books/catalogues are at work. Oh well, I can always post follow-ups with the details to follow. Here are my general recollections. We have carried the full range of dry whites from the Grecco di Tufo, the Fallanghina, the Coda de Volpe, the red Alglianico and I'm missing another dry white?! The Fiano, that's the one I'm missing! They are all such delicious wines, distinct and wonderful each in their own, dry complex , satisfying ways! The fact that impressed me so much about this couple from Naples was that the husband spent a really long time walking around the store photographing all the shelves, Italian, American, etcetera. His wife would pour the wines and describe them, he'd join us for awhile and then go off and photograph some more. I will have to include an entire blog to this later.
There's also a picture of a young boy and his father to his right. They have a table filled with reds from Piemonte, Italy. I think the father's name is Mauro. He came a year later I believe to the store ( 2006 ) with his good friend Giorgio, also a Piemonte wine-maker. We hosted a tasting with them in the store and sold lots of both of their wines. Between the two of them they cover a good expanse of what's best in Piemonte including the sweet dessert wines made from the red Malvasia. Giogio makes a really good white Gavi and excellent Dolcetto ( he's ready to announce to anyone that it's the best red wine in the whole world! ). I asked Mauro why this statement did not bother him. He's the quieter one of the two, taller, a bit more reserved than Giorgio. He's also brown-haired while Giorgio is more white blond with piercing blue eyes that drill immediately to your core! It was fun to observe the two in our store during their three hour tasting with customers. However, Giorgio was not at this 2005 Michael Downey portfolio tasting. Mauro told me with a twinkle in his eyes that he did not mind because his was the second best red wine made in the world. Go Mauro. Great attitude if you ask me.
Two things to mention in the photo of Mauro with his son are : to the left side of them seated is Jim Arsenault ( owner of The Vineyard wine store, VA ) who just passed away recently and who added so much to the wine world here in our area helping to really launch California wines through Mac Arthur Beverages back in the '80's. He will be missed. Also, behind them is the accordionist/musician friend of both Shannon and Giulaume who came and played with passion and soul and I remember thanking him. His music added to this event. The food was also excellent there in the center of this hall space where we were all happily gathered on this beautiful Monday in Virginia.
I learned a year later why Giorgio was not at the tasting : he's really afraid of flying! It took Mauro years to convince him to come and I asked Giorgio about it : he still hated flying! But he did come and together they both conquered in our store. Anyway, I met Mauro and his son and tasted through his wines. I had already sold some of them. They have labels with local sports games feature ( people playing them ) on them - line drawings, distinct. The wines like Giorgio's are all balanced and excellent food wines. They both strike me as traditional and designed to complement foods.
Also featured is a picture of Michael Downey's daughter's ( Shannon Downey ) French photographer( documentary filmmaker )husband Giulaume outside at the entrance with a camera around his neck bathed in full sunlight. I love when Giulaume comes to the store. We always speak French and give each other a hard time in fun.
And last but not least is pictured an American ( California ) wine maker in the Hawaiian print shirt smiling holding one of his bottles. I liked I think the Zinfandel the best of all. He had quite a range and at the time I think we just brought in the Zinfandel seeing as there were so many Italian wines that we simply had to have! He had two vineyards that he was poring, we bought the PHILIP STALEY. I'll have to ask Brennan for an update on the other.
There's also a picture of Peg Downey ( Michael's wife ) next to Shannon both smiling at me as I snapped away before leaving for home. The tastings are always on Mondays ( my day-off ) and so I was able to taste leisurely and really get a sense and feel for the wines, people and the event. This one was well-attended by a lot of the local wine trade including both retail and restaurant people. I always end up talking for awhile to people I haven't seen for a long time, friendly, professional with always something new to experience.
I know I have probably omitted something. I'll include it after I download the pictures. Enjoy them and come to our store at 3423 Connecticut Avenue, N.W. D.C. to buy some of these excellent Michael Downey Selections. You can call us at 202-363-4265 and go to our web page at www.clevelandparkwine.com.
I forgot to mention that Michael passed away several years ago and his wife Peggy carried on the business with their two children Shannon and Brennan Downey. I don't know why there are no pictures of Brennan but he was there working hard, too. They also have Bill that works with them that is passionate about Italian wines and largely responsible helping them get Max DiLenardo on board.
Like I said I forgot to mention things that became apparent when I looked at the pictures again. One is that I forgot to mention the Veneto producer pouring his excellent wines including the bubbly in the photo as well as the ever-popular Gambellara white that never stays long on our shelves. We've worked with other wines as well and will have to do another Michael Downey month in our store soon! This is only the beginning of my mentioning all these fine wines and the people behind them. In parting let's echo all the t-shirts and their motto : Get Down With Downey Wines !
Cheers, TONY
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