We are always thrilled to sell organic wines at Cleveland Park Wines & Spirits ( 3423 Connecticut Avenue N.W. Washington D.C. 20008 sales@clevelandparkwine.com www.clevelandparkwine.com Tel: 202-363-4265 ). We have already bought and sold the NATUA wines now for a year or more. We are currently out but will have more back in the store on October 1st, 2009.
EMILIANA has a nice color brochure with their stories and descriptions and pictures. On the back of the brochure it says : " Our Certifications " : 1) Eco-balance : " Emiliana's appliance of sustainable agriculture is certified by ISO 14 001. We were the first Chilean vineyard to adopt this certification, and seventh worldwide. ... " 2) Organics : " Wine produced with 100% grapes grown free from chemical products, certified by IMO Switzerland ... " 3) Biodynamics " " Grapes grown in accordance with biodynamic standards are certified by Demeter Germany. Impressive all of this, as well as the taste and the flavors of these wines.
All the wines that I tasted were sound and balanced and flavorful up to a point. They are not multi-dimensional in the broad sense though they have enough taste and balance to satisfy many. I also think that they are better suited to be enjoyed with a meal.
The NATURA wines are all very well priced at $10 and $11 a bottle - the price depends on how much we are willing to buy for our store at the time. We will buy five or more cases at a time to offer the better price of course.
Today everyone is counting their money carefully and being extra careful as they spend it. We are here to try and help them naturally with good, sound, balanced wine that is also healthier for you as a result of not using herbicides and pesticides. They have natural ways of dealing with these pests of the vines, roots and grapes with laby bugs,geese ( they eat lots of harmful bugs to the vines and grapes all by themselves ) as well as perhaps llamas? They look like llamas in the pictures, all different colors. What do they do / what do they eat? Or are they there more for show? I doubt that but I am sure once that someone reads this from EMILIANA that it will all be explained to me soon.
The white Chardonnay and the Sauvignon Blanc all come from the Casa Blanca valley where the best white grapes are grown.
I also tasted the reds made from Cabernet Sauvignon and from the Carmenere grape ( both are made in Chile's Valle Central ) . As I have said : I liked all four of these wines and appreciated them for their balance and distinct flavors.
I have more to include here of course but want to get these pictures out now as they speak volumes for themselves/ by themselves. I will add more details, too : and more of the stories as I remember them. It was a thoroughly enlightening tasting and visit this week. That's why I took so many pictures ( a lot of them are not included because of time and space ). I like documenting these moments which I think of as special and my connection to the wines and those principles that are behind them, believe in them and can speak eloquently about them and how to possibly enjoy them - with what foods, at what times and places, etcetera.
I did discover in our conversation that EMILIANA also owns or is a part of CONO SUR wines which we have sold for a longer time ( five or so years ) at Cleveland Park Wines & Spirits. Danny Haas and Olivier Lotterie introduced them to us originally of Vineyard Brands with our local Bacchus rep Sal Furfari.
The NATURA wines were brought to Mike Martin and me ( Tony Quinn ) by our Republic/National/old Forman Brothers rep. Steve Cosimano more recently as I have already mentioned.
We have next door to us in Cleveland Park the YES Organic store that sells everything organic except for wines. It's nice that we sell the wines and that they sell everything else : it's a good match and I believe we share many customers because of this. I told this to Gary one of the YES Organics owners the other day and that seemed to please him as it does me.
At Cleveland Park Wines & Spirits we are all about the community and about serving our customers as best we can.
Cheers and enjoy these photos. TONY
Oh I almost forgot to mention that in the picture on the front of the brochure above there are colorful wildflowers that are growing between the vines to attract the bugs to them and away from the vines, grapes and roots. These bugs are collected and studied to determine what is there and what they have to be aware of to get the best grapes possible.
I liked that story. I originally heard it many years ago from John Williams the owner of FROGS LEAP winery in Napa, California that said they used the flowers to attract the phyloxera bugs away from the roots with the tastier wild flowers. Great thinking here. FROGS LEAP is also producing organic or at least fighting-organic wines in California.
Stay-tuned for more ...
Christian just responded to my email and says he really likes this blog but that I got one piece of information incorrect. CONO SUR and EMILIANA are run as separate businesses even though the same family owns both. Sorry for the error.
Enjoy these photos and words, TONY
1 comment:
If you plan on visiting to Chile, here's the perfect place where you could stay which is affordable and comfortable.
Hostels in La Serena
Post a Comment