The picture below is of Arielle Monaco that works for The Country Vintners import company based in Ashland Virginia, home of Randolph-Macon College where I graduated with a English Bachelor Of The Arts degree back in 1976. Those were four grand years of artistic expression for me as I am an artist and a wine-enabler and a story-teller.
Arielle represents the red wines that Brad makes that we carry at Cleveland Park Wines & Spirits. Cheers and please read on ...
It was great to have Brad stop in like this so serendipitously yesterday around 3 PM od so. He always wears that bright, broad, brimming smile of his and he had with him his two " new " releases from his winery BRADFORD REED ( a family name he explains ) : the Chardonnay and the Riesling that I will write more about shortly. I'm at home now on Sunday, September 13th, 2009 at 1:38 PM and do not have the wines he left in front of me to refer to.
In general my reactions to both wines were that they were both so approachable, so pleasing and smooth : forward, fruit-driven with no bite or edge and very airy almost as if they were nothing more than bright Virginia sunshine filtered through both the Chardonnay and the Riesling grapes. I liked this : they were not heavy and yet they still had well-defined flavors and I could see enjoying either of them pretty much with or without a meal. Though both dry they were not tart or tangy or sharp.
Brad mentioned more than once the good acidity to the Riesling and I countered that I thought the wines should be chilled a bit more to draw out or reveal that acidity. I was tasting the mellowness of both and not so much the acidity at the temperatures they were served to Arielle, Jim, Mike and me.
Don't you just love the smile and the warmth - the almost innocent, youthful glee that Brad seems to have never lost - he's lucky - this is a real gift. I'm sorry that you were blinking in the second picture Brad but it's still a good picture of you.
Brad also quickly responded to my comment about the temperature of his two wines being to warm. He said that he wanted to reveal all the wines pros and cons to us and that at this temperature none of either could hide and not be detected. Bravo Brad. I fully agree with this sentiment and am glad have to have tried both in all their lovely, unvarnished pure state.
Thanks for tasting Brad. We will carry them soon as they are both lovely and refreshing. We love - I love carrying Virginia wines at Cleveland Park Wines & Spirits. I'm sick and tired of giving all the business to California because it is the " easy " thing to do. I'm proud to live in Virginia and to let the wines speak for themselves. In many cases I prefer them to California wines because in my humble opinion having tasted and sold wines from around the world for more than thirty years I think that they often reflect better balance of all the components of a wine and not just one or two of them.
It's really hard to make wine in Virginia and yet the quality just gets better and better even with all the natural obstacles that they face each and every day. Brad has spoken of this to me at least twice and I would love to hear more about this Brad,
Brad, I'm glad that you accepted my offer yesterday to come to Cleveland Park Wines & Spirits ( 3423 Connecticut Avenue N.W. Washington D.C. 20008 Tel : 202-363-4265 www.clevelandparkwine.com sales@clevelandparkwine.com ) to taste wines on Wednesday, November 18th, 2009 ( 5:30-8:30 PM ) at our BIG THEME " Holiday Specials " Wine-Tasting. Brad will pour these two whites as well as his Melot and his Bordeaux blend red.
Saty-tuned for more ... TONY
No comments:
Post a Comment