Mariola Varona Bayolo ( export manager ) of MARTIN CODAX, Albarino whites from Spain was here earlier today, Wednesday, April 15th, 2009. It was great to meet here. But Maria does not just have white wines I was pleased to discover today. The store was filled with salespeople as Wednesday is when we see them to taste " new " wines and place our orders. I knew that Mariola would be coming today and it was supposed to be earlier. It worked out better this way, later in the afternoon when I was free to see people. I was helping a customer and I saw her looking at the Spanish wines and I asked : " Are you Senora Codax ? " She smiled and responded in the positive. Thus, amid a whirl of activity and other sales people and customers I met and tasted with Mariola and invited Gaby to taste with us, too. Gaby is one of our favorite customers.
I was also working on putting together some orders for delivery when everyone showed up at the same time : it was a regular/real fete/ party here! And it all worked out nicely. Mariola met three of our regular customers and they all bought her MARTIN CODAX white Albarino. She signed some bottles in Spanish and told each person what she had written. It was serendipitous fun and fluid business at it's best : at least for me, the way I see things. I think Mariola agreed and was also pleased. It's great when everyone is happy / everyone benefits from the interactions that are unplanned like these.
I liked very much tasting the red Rioja called " Ergo " , 2006 ( will sell for under $15 a bottle and arrives today ). It's a mostly Tempranillo with less than 2% Graciano I believe. It's medium-bodied, full, smooth and rich on the palate filling it nicely and pretty much completely. Everything is in balance and the extra flavors of spice and terroir do not overpower the fruit here. You can sip it on it's own and also enjoy it with many a meal.
Mariola asked me pretty much immediately if I would not like a job selling her wines? In Spain I believe she said, too : this brought a big smile to my face and had me stop and reflect for just an instant. Wouldn't that be nice : working, living in Spain and selling MARTIN CODAX excellent dry reds and whites? I think I could get into the quite nicely. Thanks for the offer, I take it as a complement Mariola.
We will have the Albarino back here today as well along with the " new " Rioja red. It will be fun to sell it along with the white. I gave the bottle of red for Gaby to take home and enjoy because she had liked it so much here as she sipped it while talking, laughing and smiling broadly with Mariola. You can see the pictures here of them together.
Come by the store today and also to our Happy Hour at Lavandou tonight from 5-7:30 PM with five tapas appetizers and two wines ( a dry rose and a dry white ) from ST. ANDRE DE FIGUIERE , Cotes du Provence wines that we also love selling here. The cost is $15 per person and Lavandou is just down the block from us here in Cleveland Park our nation's capitol.
For mor technical information go to : Bodegas Martin Codax, S.A.U._Burgans 91_36633 Vilarino Cambados_Ponteverda_Spain Tel: 986-52 60 40 mvarona@martincodax.com. www.martincodax.com.
Mariola wrote in our guest book : " Ha sido un verdedero placer conocer a mi amigo Anthony Quinn " El artiste " en su magnifica tienda Cleveland Park. Nunca olvidare este experiencie. Espero verte pronto en Cambados. " Un abrazo, Mariola Varona Bayolo. THanks Mariola, I feel the same about you. We make a good team. Come back any time, you are always welcome. Hasta luego, e gracias Mariola ...
Here are the pictures. enjoy. I took some of the more creative-licence pics that I like : through the glass clearly or darkly, depending on the color of the wine in the glass. The glass also distorts the images somewhat and you never know exactly what way it will go. The very first picture of her has the bright flash and her image is all washed-out as we were both taking pictures of the other at the same time. She saw me with a camera and smiled, and reached for her in her purse. It all happened so quickly and was over as soon as it started. I included it because Mariola did shine brightly and this flash of light just reflects that beautiful, energized, appealing smile of hers that you see later in the pictures that follow.
TONY
No comments:
Post a Comment