Holly Brought us six of the current releases from the famous and fabulous PETER LEHMANN in the Barossa Valley, South Australia portfolio of the HESS CA. Collection.
We have represented ever since years ago Robert Whale brought us a half bottle of the ' Sticky " Semillon that quickly became back in the 80's a " must have " in any fine wine store here in the United States!
I am sorry that Robert lost the line and I must say that my enthusiasm and or eagerness to buy them from someone else pretty much killed the deal for me for many years afterward.
Robert actually brought Peter himself here years ago. It must have been in 2001 or so : I can't quite remember now and will have to consult my guest book that all owners and wine-makers kindly sign for me when they visit and I take their pictures.
I am really sorry to see that I have not posted this blog yet as it is an entire year since Holly's visit with these marvelous, distinctive and impressive wines from the Barossa Valley where I also love selling Rob Gibson's wines and now those of Daryl Groom as well. And of course I cannot forget Lindsay of the STANLEY-LAMBERT collaboration ( he and Jim made some really solid, value-oriented wines like the dry Semillon and the Thoroughbred Cabernet Sauvignon that we have enjoyed selling now for several years - especially the reds that had some nice bottle-age to them ) in the Barossa as I also like very much what he is doing. Of course there are also others that I should mention as well.
There's wonderful history tied up in all of this as well as connections and relationships and people that either make or pay for the wines themselves to be made : as well as those that export or import them here to our shores in the United States.
I believe in supporting and acknowledging all of this history because it is often why the wines themselves or the conversation is started in the first place. Someone always comes before and their contributions must be acknowledged as they helped to pave the way as Robery Whale did when he started this all up with one other Aussie way back in 1985 was it when that year the United States only bought less than ten thousand cases for the whole year from Australia! WOW : how things have changed since then and now things with the terrible drought have changed things all over again. That and the big companies like the Foster's Brewing Company buying up so many of the large wine organizations like PENFOLDS and LINDEMANS and ROSEMOUNT. Where are they now? I don't hear much about them anymore and rarely get requests for them.
I am eager as one small store to try and keep alive all the small wineries and growers like GIBSON and LOOSE END and GROOM and many more. They need our help to stay alive in these difficult times ( as does PETER LEHMANN ) and I want to be there in the front of the line lending my help!
Holly, come by and see me and I will give you an order for January of 2010 to bring some of these wines back to Cleveland Park as we are currently out. We did love that new Semillon white wine blend that we just recently sold out of " layers is it or something like that? It doesn't quite make up for that wonderfully evocative/provocative exposed nipple on the lady on the old Semillon bottles ( nothing ever will ) but is sure was nice and smooth and bright and delightful to enjoy all by itself or with a meal ...
In one of these pictures with Holly and me I see David Enright behind us , our rep for Grapolli imports ( mainly Italian wines ) that is from Perth Western Australia. Interesting touch ...
Now , getting back to Holly Kopica and the PETER LEHMANN wines that she brought : 1) 2005 Semillon, 2) 2005 Cabernet Shiraz, 3) 2005 Shiraz, 4) Clancy's 2005 red blend of 37% Shiraz, 36% Cabernet Sauvignon and 27% Merlot , 5) 2004 " Eight Songs " Shiraz and the 6) top of the line red simply called " Peter Lehmann ". I liked " the lot " of them and will have to see now what is currently available as it is a year later.
The wines are well-made/focus/defined nicely/balanced and displaying a certain high level of finesse and character across the board. We will continue at Cleveland Park to buy the ones that fit-in with whatever else we already have and that represent the best value at the time. I cannot fault these wines. HESS Selection/Collection has enabled Peter and his staff to continue producing really thought-provoking wines from Barossa. The money has made it so that he can continue doing what he does best : focus all his energy and attention and creativity on making some of the best wines that he can in the Barossa. I applaud this effort of his and am glad that HESS has helped him to keep his vision alive.
Having said all of this I still am torn. Let me explain further. Oh, I forgot to mention the big newspaper article that British writer Jancis Robinson wrote on Australia perhaps eight months ago? I've got to look at it as I believe I still have a copy at Cleveland Park Wines & Spirits. I don't want to comment further on this article until I look at both the headline and read it again. Stay-tuned for that.
However, I am torn because Robert Whale is still out there with his Robert Whale Selections selling Aussie and Tasmanian and Kiwi wines and he, too needs my help promoting his wines and keeping his cold-climate dreams and wines " alive and well in the U.S. market. Being a small store I have only so much room and so much money to buy the wines that we stock and sell. I have known Robert much longer than either Peter Lehmann or Holly and so my allegiance is first to Robert and second to PETER LEHMANN if you don't add in the GIBSON and the LOOSE END wines. Yikes, it's all a lot to consider. I have to try and balance it all and keep a good representation of these wines as stay true to my oldest contacts and relationships.
We are all getting some " bottle age " on us now and the world is changing so fast that it's hard to keep up, really. I like to say that I am growing younger with age ( with the proviso that I stop at 22 years-of-age, of course. I certainly feel young.
I certainly still feel empowered and passionate about all that I am doing on a small stage in Washington D.C. at Cleveland Park Wines & Spirits. It's humbling and heart-felt and an old-style/old work ethic of doing things I say with modesty and no offense to anyone else - with knowing those that I have grown up with, respecting them and trying to include them and their wines as often as I can in a sign of both appreciation and recognition for what they have already done and what they once meant to this grand wine world of ours. It may now be spinning out of control and totally skewered towards abstract and superficial values of money first with number of points scored and number of boxes or cases sold secondly. The " dream and the vision " seem less about small ones that were born, nurtured and loved and paid for with a few peoples' hard sweat and blood and toil and now more with vast companies making decisions from offices and cities far-removed from the place of inspiration and the lands that produce the wines. Sad, deeply disturbing, sad, sad, sad. What are we letting ourselves become for the absolute pursuit of money?
I have never met the owner of HESS Collection. I hear from Holly that he is a bit of a visionary? Holly makes it sound as if I would like meeting him : that we have some things in common? He has never responded to my previous blogs here at : chatwine.blogspot.com. I think I even emailed him and got no response. That might have tipped the scale a bit in his favor if I had. Maybe he never got it? Who knows anything anymore in this cyberspace world of ours of our own creating?
So Robert Whale and Rob Gibson, you still for me win and represent the " lion's share " of my thoughts and energies and money. I choose to spend more of my money on you both. Peter, I am sorry for this. It is nothing against you. You dis come to the store so in a broad sense you are a part of the larger Cleveland Park family that is so important to me. I will not forget you or your fine work and contributions. But I will not be able to as much for you because of everything I have already said here.
So Robert and Rob you had better get a hold of Arielle Monaco our rep at the Country Vintners in Ashland, Virginia ( home of my alma mater Randolph-Macon College where I majored in English literature ) and tell her that I need to order more of your wines ASAP before including some of these excellent PETER LEHMANN selections from the Barossa Valley.
Imagine that, someone that is still principled and not doing it all just for the money? Must be mad/ lost his mind, wouldn't you venture? Fou, loco, insane, sangle ...
... and lovin' it. I have never felt more vital or alive or artistically-inspired/fired and " with mission " to keep alive all so much of the glorious wine world that still survives if only barely. I'm here for them and I say that I and they will not " go gently into that good-night " ... and " will not stop for death " t even though as Emily Dickinson says " it kindly stopped for me ". I will be damned if I stop for it : I/ we have way too much to get right and straighten-out of this huge jumble and mess that has become the corrupted wine world largely - blindly/sadly ... dastardly.
I'm surprised that all of this has poured out of me just now. But as we near the year 2010 ( it's Monday, December 13th, 2009 now here at home in northern Virginia at 8:49 PM ) I am trying to organize. galvanize/steel myself for the battles, wars and skirmishes that I see up ahead awaiting me and that I must deal with eventually or simply bail and sell my soul - both not being options for me now or ever.
Cheers, I'm feeling so much better now having laid my cards on the table so to speak. How about a glass of the Clancy or the GIBSON Shiraz or some LOOSE END sparkling red to celebrate all that is and has been great in this vast and magical and wondrous wine world of ours? TONY
It was great to see Holly once again who now works for the HESS Collection of wines which now owns and promotes the PETER LEHMAN Barossa, South Australian wine portfolio. We have represented them over the years and did a big business with them when they were represented by the Robert Whale Selections portfolio. They are excellent and showed really well this last Wednesday and we will get an order of them here at the start of November in another couple of weeks.
By the way, in all of this Holly has done an excellent job in keeping me mindful of PETER LEHMANN and the fact that I should always have some on our shelves because of Peter and his hard work and the excellence overall of his selection of wines produced. Thanks Holly ...
Happy New Year to one and to all ...
Here are some of the photos that I took of the bottles, the wines in a Riedel glass and of Holly and me. As you can clearly see I like experimenting with the pictures that I take. Being an artist this is definitely part of my artistic expression through words and the images/ photos that I take to capture a bit of the story/ the history/the various elements that all tie into the blogs that I write. I hope you enjoy them.Cheers, TONY
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