It's always a pleasure to have Brad here in the store. He's witty, irreverent, spur-of-the-moment-bit-hippy? in his demeanor. He catches me off guard, he makes me think. He's bluntly honest about the Virginia wines and how difficult it is to make wines in Virginia. It's brutal - everything is virtually against you - all the time, you sweat bullets each and every day according to Brad! Wow, sounds like nobody in their right mind would want or care to make wines in Virginia. Why bother , according to Michael Ballard who did once at RAPPAHANOCK Vineyards before selling it and buying the old CONGRESS SPRINGS winery in the Santa Cruz Mountains, CA. which he renamed after his two young daughters Savannah and Chanelle. He admires those that do but is happy to have less stress making wines in California now where Nature and other factors conspire less to make it so difficult to make wines in Virginia! I must say that I agree with Michael : I admire those that persevere and make wines in Virginia. I'm glad to have them so close as it's nice to support local efforts and strive to go green and greener still and even MORE GREEN!
Brad smiles about it all. he's paid his dues in lumps and he's survived to make really fine, classic-style wines at BLENHEIM. I need to buy some more : Brad call me and let's talk turkey! It's almost time. I need some of your Cabernet Franc for one and some of your dry Chardonnay, too.
The first time I met Brad he calls on his cell phone and when I answer he says : " Dude! Sorry, I'll be a bit late " or something like that or perhaps that he needed me to chill his whites. I cannot remember anymore. It's been two years since we first met when Christine Iezzi of Country Vintners delivered Brad to Cleveland Park Wines & Spirits.
Christine has a big help in bringing Virginia and it's excellent wines and winemakers/ owners to me and to the store. More on all that later when I have time to include those stories. I actually met Christine many years ago back in the early 90's when she and I both judged blind the " new " Virginia releases at the Jefferson Hotel with others like Bob and Fred Luskin, Tom Hanna, Mary Watson, Pierre Estoupey ( spelling? ), Tom Rodriguez and many more. Those were fun tastings sitting around the round tables as flight after flight of Virginia wines would appear.
Anyway, I remember distinctly the " Dude! " The other day I'm reading one of the " Zits " cartoons in the Washington Post newspaper. My wife and I have a teenage son and we love Jeremy the teenage son in " Zits ". One of the last cartoon strips Brad of " Zits " had the word '" dude " used pretty much in ever cartoon frame and you must see it! It made me think of you Brad! Cheers to you and your zest for life dude! By the way, in the " Zits " comic strip I have seen a couple of them where the parents are enjoying a glass of wine and I love that!
Brad will be back here this coming Wednesday, November 12th, 2008 for our monthly " Big-Theme " American Holiday wine-tasting with four other local ( Virginia, Maryland ) winemakers / owners to taste his new BRADFORD REED " King's " Merlot 2006 ( $27.99 ) that he made with grapes that he purchased from BLENHEIM VINEYARD ( Charlottesville, VA. ). He used to be the winemaker and past-owner at BLENHEIM and has just left I believe recently to make his own wines under the label BRADFORD REED WINES. There will be very shortly a " Meritage " 2006 released in a week or two, just a bit too-late to sell on Wednesday but Brad will bring a bottle or two of it to taste customers on and pre-sell for the holidays. Join us this Nov. 12th, 2008 here at Cleveland Park Wines & Spirits ( 3423 Conn. Ave. NW, Washington D.C. 2008 202-363-4265, sales@clevelandparkwine.com www.clevelandparkwine.com and ask for Mike Martin or me ( Anthony- Tony-Quinn if you need assistance or want to order any of Brad's wines in time for the holidays ) if you have time.
Here are some pictures I took of Brad here at Cleveland Park Wines & Spirits back in 2006 on one of his first visits to our store here in Washington D.C. I will add to this, flesh it out more as I have time but I want to post it now in time for our " Big)theme event coming up that Brad will be an important part of. Thanks for joining us Brad. You are always welcome anytime here at Cleveland Park Wines and Spirits in our nation's capitol! Cheers, TONY
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