The headline should finish reading " Naomi and Franceen Tasted ". Sorry Franceen, I ran out of room. But I caught it in time.
We hosted our first Annual " Big-Theme " wine-tasting of Pinot Noirs from around the world in late 2006 and invited both Naomi Barber ( New Zealand )and Franceen Rosensweig ( Italian Pinot Noirs ) of Neil Empson imports to come pour their selections. That would add some really fun and exciting wines to the tasting of around 45-50 wines in each price bracket from $10- $50.
I received a call from Naomi saying that both Neil and his wife would probably be stopping by to say " hello - caio " and lend their support to this Wednesday evening event of ours. That really added some extra flavor and spice to the event and they would then be our " special " guests at this event. I was looking forward to this, especially now.
At our monthly " Big-Theme " tastings we normally attract quite a crowd. I was thinking/hoping that the theme of Pinot Noir would draw an even larger crowd. I did not have to worry, it did indeed. The store was stuffed to the gills with regular customers and their friends on the search to find more of the elusive/hard to tame/hard to frame/ difficult pinot noirs! And we did indeed have them from around the world on this evening.
Naomi pored the SEVEN TERRACES 2005 Marlborough Pinot Noir ( around $22 ), the PEGASUS BAY Waipara Valley 2002 Pinot Noir ( around $40 ), the ESCARPMENT Martinsborough Pinot Noir 2002 ( around $45 ) and the MAIN DIVIDE 2002 ( around $30 ). The prices are approximate because I am now on the 2004 vintage for these wines. And as I said already we poured the PEGASUS BAY Central Otago Pinot Noir ( around $40 for the 2002 ) as well. It was quite the showing!
Our other " special " guest this evening was Robert Whale of his own Aussie/Kiwi company called Robert Whale cold-climate selections. It was great to have Robert pouring some Tasmanian TAMAR RIDGE Pinot Noir along with the PLANTAGENET Pinot Noir from western Australia. Thanks for being a part of this tasting Robert. You are always a welcome addition to our store, anytime.
It was great to have Neil and his wife mingle with all our customers this evening. I discovered more about Neil's wife's artistic " bent ". I loved each year receiving her calendars with original etchings of hers. Thanks. I also learned that she designed the drawings on the LAGARIA labels and I had her sign a number of those bottles as I had Neil sign a number of his fancy Barolo/Barbaresco labels, too.
Neil has made his career ( he and his wife live in Milan ) selling Italian wines. He can be credited for single-handedly helping with a small group of others for bringing the fabulous selection of Italian wines that we now enjoy here in this country. Thank you Neil for really helping us all here in the States for beginning to truly love and enjoy the incredible wealth of Italian wines made from Sardinia to Sicily to Puglia to Campania, Abruzzo, Umbria, Tuscany, Veneto, Emilia Romagna, Friuli, Alto Adige, Trentino, Lombardy and of course Piemonte. Wow, incredible, impressive.
However, having said all this I bet that most people do not know that Neil Empson was born in New Zealand! Yes, it's true. So, finally after all these years of working to bring Italian wines to the U.S. market he is now doing the same for New Zealand's small-batch/top-flight-notch wines. We pretty much sell them all, too. As I said in a recent blog about Naomi Barber that she pretty much kept her part of the bargain and has for three-four years now kept these excellent New Zealand wines from Empson imports alive and healthy at Cleveland Park Wines & Spirits ( 3423 Connecticut Avenue N.W. Washington D.C. 2008 Tel : 202-363-4265 sales@clevelandparkwine.com www.clevelandparkwine.com ). Thanks Naomi.
And none of this would have been possible if Franceen Rosensweig ( now Khang ) had not brought Naomi with he on one of her calls to our store right here in the nation's capitol. Thanks Franceen.
So here are some of the pictures that I took this evening. You can see how crowded the store is : packed, hard to move around and yet there are lots of smiling and rapt expressions as people relax, enjoy, learn and try and sample yet another " new and exciting " Pinot Noir from somewhere around this marvelous world of ours!
I will add more names of wines, etcetera as I have time. In the meantime I want you all to enjoy this pictures I took.
Cheers and Happy Holidays 2008 and a grand New Year 2009 to us all. We need it after such a trying 2008. TONY
Our other " special " guest this evening was Robert Whale of his own Aussie/Kiwi company called Robert Whale cold-climate selections. It was great to have Robert pouring some Tasmanian TAMAR RIDGE Pinot Noir along with the PLANTAGENET Pinot Noir from western Australia. Thanks for being a part of this tasting Robert. You are always a welcome addition to our store, anytime.
It was great to have Neil and his wife mingle with all our customers this evening. I discovered more about Neil's wife's artistic " bent ". I loved each year receiving her calendars with original etchings of hers. Thanks. I also learned that she designed the drawings on the LAGARIA labels and I had her sign a number of those bottles as I had Neil sign a number of his fancy Barolo/Barbaresco labels, too.
Neil has made his career ( he and his wife live in Milan ) selling Italian wines. He can be credited for single-handedly helping with a small group of others for bringing the fabulous selection of Italian wines that we now enjoy here in this country. Thank you Neil for really helping us all here in the States for beginning to truly love and enjoy the incredible wealth of Italian wines made from Sardinia to Sicily to Puglia to Campania, Abruzzo, Umbria, Tuscany, Veneto, Emilia Romagna, Friuli, Alto Adige, Trentino, Lombardy and of course Piemonte. Wow, incredible, impressive.
However, having said all this I bet that most people do not know that Neil Empson was born in New Zealand! Yes, it's true. So, finally after all these years of working to bring Italian wines to the U.S. market he is now doing the same for New Zealand's small-batch/top-flight-notch wines. We pretty much sell them all, too. As I said in a recent blog about Naomi Barber that she pretty much kept her part of the bargain and has for three-four years now kept these excellent New Zealand wines from Empson imports alive and healthy at Cleveland Park Wines & Spirits ( 3423 Connecticut Avenue N.W. Washington D.C. 2008 Tel : 202-363-4265 sales@clevelandparkwine.com www.clevelandparkwine.com ). Thanks Naomi.
And none of this would have been possible if Franceen Rosensweig ( now Khang ) had not brought Naomi with he on one of her calls to our store right here in the nation's capitol. Thanks Franceen.
So here are some of the pictures that I took this evening. You can see how crowded the store is : packed, hard to move around and yet there are lots of smiling and rapt expressions as people relax, enjoy, learn and try and sample yet another " new and exciting " Pinot Noir from somewhere around this marvelous world of ours!
I will add more names of wines, etcetera as I have time. In the meantime I want you all to enjoy this pictures I took.
Cheers and Happy Holidays 2008 and a grand New Year 2009 to us all. We need it after such a trying 2008. TONY
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