I'm sorry Oded that this has taken me so long to post! I started by downloading these pictures the very next day, Saturday April 25th, 2009 and somehow dropped the ball completely after that. It may be because I did not have your business card in front of me with your last name and other information that I usually like to include here on these blog entries in case others want to contact you for more information.
I always write the bits that interest me and they are usually more in the form of stories and vignettes and less about more technical notes and evaluations of the wines. So many others already do that so well and I want more of a visual and artsy blog that delves into the people behind the wines that either make them or pay for them to be made ; or both. There is a vision somewhere often to be revealed : a dream, a set of circumstances all leading up to this moment, an epiphany or catalytic event that resulted in you being there in California at the right time and perhaps by chance meeting the right people to start a venture like this? A venture where you can be as happy as possible and combine your new love of wine with your already existing passion to surf?
From what I remember you originally came from Israel and you were going around the world surfing and discovering things as you went along? You did not end up in South Africa surfing but you did end up in Europe? Is this all correct so far? Anyway, I am getting ahead of myself here.
It's already Monday early evening at 5:18 PM here at my home in northern Virginia and I am trying to finish up my posts that I started on chatwine.blogspot.com and realize that I had downloaded all these pictures of your visit with Tom and Jody Jackman of Winebow Imports that was back on Friday, April 24th, 2009. How is it possible that I had forgotten to finish this? What could have come up that would have distracted me? Perhaps some great waves in California and southern Brazil, South Africa, Spain, Portugal and Australia : not to forget New Zealand and Tasmania and anywhere else there might be great waves?!?
I'm glad that I take these pictures of the wines, the bottles and the labels and hopefully also the pricing as I have difficulty remembering so much as there is always a whole lot to digest and then regurgitate later for further nourishment and knowledge/contentment of body and soul and also needing that to quench one's own thirst, too for a good bottle of wine? I'm thankful to have this photo above as it tells me that Oded sampled the LONGBOARD Vineyard's 2007 Russian River Sauvignon Blanc ( $22.99 ), the 2007 Russian River Dakine Merlot ( $24.99 ) and the 2005 Russian River Valley Syrah ( $25.99 ).
All three wines were very well received and we sold them pretty much equally well during these three hours from noon to 3 PM. It was an off-period of time in our store at Cleveland Park Wines & Spirits ( 3423 Connecticut Avenue N.W. Washington D.C. 20008 Tel : 202-363-4265 sales@clevelandparkwine.com www.clevelandparkwine.com ) and yet we had a number of our customers stop by and taste and buy and that's all good. Oded signed a number of bottles and we had a very fun, energized and animated time with Oded and Tom at the store. You can see by the smiles that we were enjoying ourselves.
I was busy snapping pictures right and left and especially some looking at Oded and our customers through the Reidel wine-tasting glass that I like to use to taste and also to get these pictures as the bright ceiling lights of the store and the glass distort and morph and sometimes enlarge or make smaller the images and people and it's fun to see them side-by-side.
As I said the wines really showed well during this time and I think I was most pleased with the Sauvignon Blanc as it was showing so well all by itself. The reds could have used some tapas or something to bring them out just a bit more as they were all quite flavorful, especially the Syrah 2005. If memory serves me well I would first pick the Sauvignon Blanc 2007, then the Merlot 2007 and then the Syrah 2005 as my favorites as I am always looking most for the wines that show the very best when I am tasting them.
I realized a long time ago that our customers are generally buying the bottles to drink the day they purchase them or within the week of purchase. As a result I want to show and sell them wines that will not only drink well now but also hopefully shine and bring them back with big smiles for more.
The wines come from Winebow Imports and Jody Jackman brought me Tom from LONGBOARD Vineyards that is their national sales rep. I have already blogged about that visit here at chatwine.blogspot.com. You should use the search engine to find that earlier piece if you are interested.
I think that the 2007 Sauvignon Blanc ( $22.99 ) from LONGBOARD Vineyards was our first at Cleveland Park Wines & Spirits of the three? I also think that Jody included it in one of her Friday evening ( 5-8 PM ) in-store, wine-tastings for our customers.
I am sorry to say that we are currently out of all three LONGBOARD Vineyard wines at Cleveland Park and that we will have to address this sad state of affairs Jody tomorrow as they have sold very well for us. Help to remind me to order some so that we may finish the year off in our nation's capitol with some LONGBOARD Vineyard wines.
Oded, how are they showing now and what vintages are available for me to purchase from Winebow Imports now? Tom, any thoughts? Please contact me and let's start a new open dialogue once again.
I loved your broad, brimming smile Oded and your stories. What are the surfer words and greetings that you use constantly? Let me know and I will include them here. I have since forgotten them I am ashamed to admit.
How are things this year? How was the harvest/fermentation and how is the wine faring from 2009? As you can see I have so many questions for you.
Please let me know when you will be back in Washington D.C. next and we can organize another tasting with you : hopefully later so that we can have more of our customers stop by to meet and taste with you.
Thanks again for this tasting and a Happy New Year and holidays for your families Oded and Tom. This was a great moment that we shared and I hope that the pictures reveal some of this.
Cheers and until the next time. TONY
It's pretty cool how all the different grape varieties of LONGBOARD Vineyard wines have different color stripes running up and down the length of the surfboard ...
I also love your gray t-shirt with the longboard surf board on it with red stripes.
I love these pictures of you Oded and what the Reidel wine-tasting glass does to your features enlarging and making them smaller - depending : distorting, too ...
I love this reflection in the Reidel wine-tasting glass above.
Look at the brilliant color of ruby satin red in the glass in this last picture posted with the ceiling light of the store making it so clear and warm and welcoming/dazzling?!? I love it, really I do!
Looking forward to trying some LONGBOARD Vineyard wines really soon as we need some badly before 2009 comes to an end ...
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