I've known Holly Kapica now for a number of years. I believe that she first came to Cleveland Park Wines & Spirits ( 3423 Connecticut Avenue, N.W. Washington D.C. 2008 , sales@clevelandparkwine.com www.clevelandparkwine.com Tel : (202) 363-4265 perhaps six or so years ago. Back then she woeked with Emily Maische and wore the hats of California's famous wineries: RAVENSWOOD, ESTANCIA and FRANSISCAN.Holly was cheerful, bright and really lively. It shows even today in these recent photos taken perhaps a month or so ago at Cleveland Park ( maybe early-mid October? ). Back then she brought me the wines to taste and we bought because we knew they would sell, especially the RAVENSWOOD wines. She brought me colorful t-shirts from Ravenswood ( bright cream yellow and white and baby blue was it?!? ) and I wore them at home and on our annual vacations to the Outer Banks of North Carolina. I promoted " juevos " and RAVENSWOOD all over !
Later I caught-up with Holly and she was now wearing the YALUMBA and OXFORD LANDING and other Aussie's hats and so we got started with those programs and Holly coming to the store at least twice to do in-store wine-tastings and they were always big successes. Thanks Holly for your time then and now.
Holly as I mentioned in a recent previous blog even came to the store to see her friend Peter Bentley the National sales rep for TALTARNI vineyards in Victoria, South Australia.
I always give Holly a big hug now every time that she comes to Cleveland Park. It's always fun to see her and we taste and talk , catch-up and have a fruitful time together. She's serious about her business and works well with us.
On the last two visits she first brought the PETER LEHMAN wines of Barossa, Australia. She came with her Washington Wholesales rep Lindsay. We tasted through the line of the PETER LEHMAN wines and we will buy some for the store and have them in the first week of December : the white Semillon ( so rich and flavorful ), the Clancy's( such intensity and finesse warpped up all in one ) and others, too.
The second time Holly came on her own and she had the HESS California wines. I was pleased to try those as well and we recently bought three of them though I liked more. There's only so much we can do at any one time and this time we decided to work with the 2007 Sauvignon Blanc ( $13.99 - I really enjoyed it ) , the 2006 Cabernet Sauvignon ( $17.99 ) and the 2006 Chardonnay ( $13.99 ). They are all three floor-stacked and have been selling well. I put a row of the 2007 Sauvignon Blanc, $13.99 in the wine cold-box. All three are selling well and we are happy to have them back in the store.
Holly will undoubtedly come to do an in-store wine-tasting of her wines sometime soon and that will be a treat for us as well as for all of our customers.
I have resisted for along time really pushing the PETER LEHMAN wines that were taken away from our good friend and importer of Aussie wines Robert Whale ( who back in 1985 or so - only five thousand cases of Aussie wines were sold that year - helped to make Aussie wines what they are today in sales in the U.S. Thanks Robert, sorry for your loss ) .
We work with Robert Whale always and will continue to do that. But that is another story for later.
Holly ( Mid-Atlantic Regional Sales Manager hkapica@hesscollection.com )) tells me that the HESS COLLECTION ( 4411 Redwood Road P.O. Box 4140 Napa, California 94558 Tel: (707) 255 1144 x359 Fax: (707) 253 1682 www.hesscollection.com ) has a really good web page that she thinks I will like a lot. I've got to check it out after I post this new blog!
Other wines in this family-owned fine wines portfolio are : ARTEZIN ( I liked that a whole lot! ), COLOMI, GLEN CARLOU ( I met the young South African winemaker when Bill Shenas brought him to me years ago. That was a great visit. I like those wines as well. You brought me soon-after Bill a thick, warm brown long-sleeved shirt with HESS ' logo on it that I still wear and enjoy in these cold days. Wore it just last week at work when the temperatures dropped dramatically. Thanks Bill ) .
Funny how it all starts to come back to you/ me in this case! I remember when my rep John Danials from Wine Source distributors used to push the HESS wines on Mike Martin and me. We'd buy them, too because people would always come in asking for them. It's been a strong national brand for many years now.
I think that it comforts some of our new customers coming to us for the first time to see nationally-recognized brands like HESS as we carry so many small vineyards from around the world that no one has ever heard of. We need wines like these for their quality and their recognition with our customers.
Thank you Holly, Bill and John for your past and present efforts.
It's now just four days away from Thanksgiving 2008! I'm typing these final words of this blog on Sunday night at home when the rest of my family is asleep. Tomorrow is a school-day and a work-day. It's 12:04 AM on Monday night"Tuesday morning November 23rd/24th, 2008. I've got to get some sleep myself before I get up early tomorrow to walk our dog before heading back to work to sell more wines including HESS Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay and Cabernet Sauvignon. Cheers and Happy Holidays and Happy Thanksgiving to everyone. And thank you always for your support, good-will and patronage.
Enjoy these pictures taken over the Holly's last two visits to our store here in the nation's capitol. As you can see I love playing with the reflections and the distortions you get when you photograph through the glass. It creates the wine's own world and includes it in it's purest/ most open and naked fashion. It's not hiding and hopefully new insights are gained as result. Blow some of them up so that they are larger on your screen and I think you will enjoy some of the things you might miss otherwise.
I just added some more pictures on this the eve of Thanksgiving here in the store at 11:35 AM as people begin to rush in for their last-minute Thanksgiving needs. Gotta go!
Cheers, TONY
Cheers, TONY
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