Happy Thanksgiving everyone! It's pretty cold here, bright but quite cold in Annandale, Virginia as I sit and type this brief blog. I'm enjoying blogging each and every day and later will be enjoying a wonderful Thanksgiving meal with family and friends. I've already spoken with some of my family as has my wife that we will not be able to see unfortunately. It was great to hear their strong voices ringing through the invisible telephone lines and to catch some of their strong spirits/personalities, too.
I have already planned a number of wines for Thanksgiving and have a case chilling already and will drink what suits depending on the circumstances of each and every moment. That's fun : be ready pretty much for anything and go from there. We have some toasting to do so I'm pretty sure that we will enjoy some Prosecco for that. I've even got some of the sparkling Madame DUPONT Normandy apple cider which I refer to as the Rolls Royce of French Normandy apple ciders : absolutely creamy and no bite at all! Amazing, really. I've also got some 2003 Samur Champigny from DOMAINE Du TARGE 100% Cabernet Franc that I am toying with as a substitute for Pinot Noir. Then there are some excellent samples of whites to try from Monument Imports and a bottle of Banyuls sweet French red 1997 or Hors D'Age : I've got to go check the bottle to see which. We may have that with our pumpkin pie or pecan pie or just all by itself later. More about all this later.
We also have a wonderful dinner planned for everyone that may want to celebrate and also be tired of turkey at ETRUSCO restaurant on December 3rd, 2008. The cost is $95 everything included : a amuse-bouche to start - a four-course meal and finishing with dessert! Six wines including a 2007 young, lively Veneto Corvino-based Valpolicella, a Friuli Merlot from Max's Di LENARDO, a single-vineyard Prosecco sparkling from ADAMI, a lovely red Malvasia ( SULIN ) Piemontese dessert red, an intriguing indigenous white 2007 " La Rustai " ORSOLANI Erbaluce, etcetera! WOW! Impressive! The menu is grand, too. Go to : www.clevelandparkwine.com for the full menu. Call Mike Martin or Tony Quinn (me) at Cleveland Park Wines & Spirits ( 202-363-4265 ) to reserve a seat at this phenomenal opportunity to celebrate this passing year and the one to come. There will be something for everyone this enchanted evening.
Here are some pictures I took at the 10th-year anniversary celebration of Michael Downey Selections which is hosting this wonderful evening with us at Cleveland Park Wines and Spirits and owner Vince ( formerly VINCENZO restaurant ) at ETRUSCO, 3-Star restaurant just off of Dupont Circle, N.W. Washington D.C.
Cheers and Happy Thanksgiving again - today, Thursday, November 27th, 2008 at 12:32 PM.
I just finished watching the Macy's parade and hearing Andy William sing and look and sound so great! Wow, impressive ...
In some of these pictures besides seeing many of those that make up the Michael Downey team you also will see the bottle of the Erbaluce Piemontese indigenous white and it being poured, too. It's always been one of my favorites!
Nice to see Dave McKintyre pouring himself a glass of the Erbaluce. Good choice! I also see a bottle of the D&N Andrea Fossi Primitivo 2007 dry red from Puglia sitting there on the bar counter waiting for someone to pour it!
Also on the bar counter is a bottle of red Tannat blend from Uruguay that Michael Downey Selections sells, too. Tannat is the grape with the highest levels of resveratrol, too. It's also quite tasty and robust just like it's original versions in Madiran, southwest France. I applaud them for that as well as the wines from Uruguay can be excellent. We sell a whole selection of them at Cleveland Park Wines & Spirits.
Michael Downey and I worked together for years at the Mayflower Wines & Spirits back in the mid eighties. He today is survived by his wife Peggy, son Brennan and daughter Shannon. The quality of their Italian portfolio is the very best : artisinal and small-family-owned productions that represent perfectly the climates, soils and spirits of the areas from which the are from. Impressive and unique and keeping alive both the diversity of areas and all those indigenous grapes, too. Kudos to them all from this one humble wine-educator out there. Join us, you wont' be sorry. Call ASAP to : 202-363-4265.
Drink up, eat up and relax, enjoy and be merry and full of good will and good cheer. TONY
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