Here above are the three Atlantis wines that I tasted with customers on Saturday, December 5th, 2009 in the store from noon through 6 PM or so. It was a great tasting, really.
I took this picture looking at the store through the bottle of Atlantis deep, dark, dry and flavorful rose that was and is quite rich and thickly-textured with lots of bright fruit flavors to please and soothe the most ragged and jaded and worn of nerves. It's quite the everyone-pleaser ; even those that say that they do not like roses - especially those come to think of it!
This is a picture of my car that was partially covered in the snow of the day. It was thick and wet and I thought it would be a great picture to end the day with. Below is the picture of my windshield in white. Nice.
It was 9:35 PM as I left the store and ready to start my much-anticipated 2-day weekend without having to sell as wine : simply enjoy one or two in the next two days with my wife and perhaps a neighbor or two.
It's nice to have a picture of the UPTOWN movie house at night as later I have one in the daylight of the morning as I start my Saturday in Cleveland Park, Washington D.C. northwest ...
These pictures are shown here from last to first : a bit unorthodox but voila, c'est bien comme ca ici ... Hope you do not mind that I started from the end here and go back to where I first started my day?
Cleveland Park Wines and Spirits looks pretty good here doesn't it through the green light/glass of the white Santorini ATLANTIS bottle? I kind od like this glow.color hue. So luminous and pleasing, just like the wine and the wisdom/history/character inside the bottle itself.
Above we have once again the look of the Cleveland Park Wines and Spirits through the glow/aura/patina/shine and show of the dry rose Santorini dry wine as we/ all come closer to finding ATLANTIS. Is Atlantis close or far? Can I find it? bring it home with me?
Above we have two revelers on their way to a holiday party wearing their Santa Claus hats of red and white and big smiles. I just had to include this here. I spotted them at the register as it was almost closing times. If I had had my wits about me I would have invited them back for a taste of the excellent ATLANTIS white or rose? I was just not thinking properly. This might have just made their evening as close to perfect as possible? When I see them next I will have to open a fresh bottle to share with them as I tell them this story and show them their pictures.
As much as I love these Santa Claus hats on two of our favorite customers I was first drawn immediately to the young lady's smile and earrings of shiny red : orbs that reflect the light and dazzle the eye and that remind me so much of the holidays and red ornaments for the tree inside as well as those outside at this time of the year...
Five Greek wines : three from ATLANTIS : oh what magic and fun and merriment, warmth and charm, dance and music and taste supreme of course ! All we need now is the beach and Zorba teaching the Englishman poet in the movie ZORBA THE GREEK how to dance at the end of the movie when their work mission has ended in disaster and yet Zorba refuses to let this wee little fact dampen the mood and the joy of the day and the strength and the strong bond of theirs that has grown and blossomed all through the movie ...
I loved that scene : that was great acting and great cinema ; and it was filmed in black and white and yet all it's charm and colors as these ATLANTIS wines shone supreme with utter and complete affirmation of life and everything positive and essential woven within ...
Above are all the five bottles that I tasted this Saturday at Cleveland Park Wines and Spirits.
Below is another picture of the couple in their Santa Claus hats that i just had to have here showing another brilliant pair of smiles as well as more of the hat for the full effect.
The store below sure does look good filtered through ATLANTIS rose.
Our ATLANTIS world above completely covered in rose and below in green, antique white and shades of gold and yellows ... what else could anyone want ?
I like this picture so much of the three ATLANTIS wines together that I include it here once again above.
And below I have another shot of the five Greek wines ( one from Crete ) that I poured all throughout the afternoon. What fun it's all been!
Above is the afternoon and evening part of this Saturday, December 5th, 2009 and below is the morning part with the complete story of today's events and much more about the wines, too. Enjoy.
This was quite the wonderful, serendipitous weekend at Cleveland Park Wines & Spirits ( 3423 Connecticut Avenue N.W. Washington DC. 20008 Tel: 202-363-4265 sales@clevelandparkwine.com www.clevelandparkwine.com ) Friday and Saturday December 4th and 5th, 2009. It all lust worked out like it usually does but there was a lot of last-minute readjusting going on. In this case it was all for the better and all inspired by our daughter's going to first Athens this Tuesday and then onto the island of Santorini afterward.
As you read this and look at this picture you must be wondering what is going on between the story and them? I don't blame you , not one bit. Let me explain. It all started yesterday as I rolled out of bed and my wife that had been up for awhile already explained to me that it would start to snow later in the early evening. I mumbled that I heard of this possibility first from one of our customers at Cleveland Park Wines & Spirits yesterday and that I had blown off the comment thinking it was pretty much of a stretch to be getting snow our way so soon?
In these pictures that I took yesterday as I approached the store I immediately ran into Pietro's son ( of th Sorriso northern Italian Friuli/Veneto restaurant a block away ) that I yelled out to smiling : " Hello Mr. Gelato! " as I knew that he had gone to Bologna recently to learn how to make gelato. He paused and we spoke quickly as he took his hat off and let me see it as it was from the school that he attended there. I snapped three or four pictures in quick succession as I was in the spirit of the snow as he was blown around us as we chatted. It was good to see him and wish say that we were happy to have him back with us. I like the restaurant for all it's camaraderie, good food, wine and cheer and in such a relaxed and warm, inviting setting.
I always like to take pictures of the store and our street Connecticut Avenue N.W. Washington D.C. and so I continued to snap away. I liked the picture of the lady in her red coat as she walked down the street as well as the young lady that passed us going the other way as well as the tall young lady shopping inside our store. They are all represented here along with the beaulois nouveau 2009 poster in the POMMERY/ HEIDSIECK-MONOPOLE Champagne window of our store announcing the 2009 vintage arriving of Gamay beaujolais " Nouveau " ( we have sold well the MANOIR DU CARRA, the BOUCHARD AINE & FILS, the LABOURE-ROI and of course the GEORGES DUBOEUF which we have to sell because everyone knows it. 2009 is supposed to be a fabulous vintage for beaujolais and the Gamay grape. Seems to be true as there was so much fresh, ripe, red cherry-berry qualities in all of the above - a bit less in the GEORGES DUBOEUF which seemed more tannic and harsh and like black cherry-berry fruit ). Anyway, it's quite good this year and we still have some left.
Of course we also have lots of POMMERY ( around $45-48 a bottle ) and CHARLES-HEIDSIECK N.V. brut champagne( around $38 a bottle ) to sell for New Year's eve. We tasted both at our Big Theme Bubbly/Champagne Tasting on Wed. December 3rd, 2009 ( 5:30-8:30 PM ) and our window was just changed this Friday. In the pictures you can see both the 2009 beaujolais nouveau poster saying : Le Beaujolais Nouveau Est Arrive ! " as well as the HEIDSIECK-MONOPOLE bottle. All really nice ...
I will add the pictures of the ATLANTIS bottles of wine that we tasted along with the LAFKIOTIS Nemea red 2006 ( ON SALE for $10.99 ) and the LYRARAKIS Crete red ( made from the indigenous grape variety called Kotsifalli ), $13.49. It was not as elegant or smooth as the Nemea 2006 dry red that reminded me of a medium-to-light-bodied classic food wine blend of a Pinot Noir with a Grenache grape. People liked it quite a bit, especially at $10.99 ON SALE. The LYRARAKIS was also well-received but it was also the most closed-up and needing of food or more time ( or both ). I will have need more time in the bottle to age. I do not know enough about this Crete grape variety.
That's the fun part of this business : there's always something more to learn about. Our passion can never be exhausted as long as we let ourselves be free and receptive to most everything possible.
The Santorini ARGYROS " ATLANTIS " wines cost " $14.49 for the 2008 white, $17.49 for the red 2006 and the dry 2007 rose was ON SALE for $10.99.
The " Atlantis " wines are made by the owners Yannis and son Matphaio ( Mathew ) Argyros. I think that Mathew's sister might also help some?
I tasted those above yesterday on Saturday from noon on until I basically poured them all through the entire afternoon and into the evening. I was " talking Greek & Crete " all day long.
On Friday I started the whole thing with the same LAFKIOTIS Nemea Agiorgitiko red 2006 and the white Crete, $13.49. It's been a glorious weekend of Greek and Crete wines and I was often met with the statement : " I didn't know that they made wine in Greece? " To the lady that said this first to me I simply replied that it was in Greece where it all started and poured her a taste as I said this.
The response was really strong to both days of tasting and I sold quite a number of bottles depending on what people wanted or needed. That pleased me enormously; really it did.
Funny, I started the tasting with one of my oldest friends John that told me that he had been to Santorini and loved it. We tasted all three together before he left. I am sure that he will buy some on his return visit when he is not in such a hurry.
Sotiris Bafitis that first introduced the ARGYROS " ATLANTIS " wines to Mike Martin and me at Cleveland Park Wines told me earlier this week that not only had the owner been to our store but that he remembers me. I will have to see if I have any pictures of him as it would be nice for me now to put a face together with a wine as it is very important. There cannot be one without the other as far as I am concerned and it is this connection and point that is the essential point and not the number of points that I wine is given by any one individual or group of individuals that matters most.
Sotiris is helping me with my daughter's visit and for that I am eternally grateful as he knows Athens and Santorini and I know neither except through their wines. I wish that I were going there, too. I will have to wait until later to experience all of this myself first-hand.
In the meantime I am enjoying it all nicely with the wines and this past weekend's wine-tasting where all the wines really shown beautifully.
Of the reds I have to say that the ARGYROS " ATLANTIS " red ( $17.49 ) was the winner : though both the other two reds sold well, too. They needed some food whereas the ATLANTIS that tasted like a fabulous Veneto Valpolicella or lesser Amarone needed no food at all. I only had one person not like it and that surprisingly was my dear friend Denise that was celebrating her birthday yesterday and needed some wine to celebrate later. The ARGYROS " Atlantis " red 2006 is made from the Mandalari and the Mavrotragano indigenous grape varieties of Greece.
Funny, this reminded me of an earlier story that she was a part of as it involved the ATLANTIS 2007 dry rose which she loved. By the way, yesterday she also loved the dry white ATLANTIS. Is that a Moscofilero white?! No, I just spoke with Sotoris a few minutes ago and it is made with the Assyritiko grape variety.
Anyway, Denise bought two bottles of the dry 2007 ATLANTIS rose as I told her I had perhaps a bit more than a case left.
The story that about this rose and Denise also included my wife. Denise had already tasted and bought the 2007 rose and had just invited my wife to go see the legendary singer Tony Bennett with her. The concert was at Wolf Trap here in northern Virginia and my wife asked me what wine she should take to the concert? It was still fresh in my mind how much Denise liked the ATLANTIS 2007 dry Santorini rose and so I told my wife this and purchased a bottle to bring home with me before the concert. So a bottle of the 2007 ATLANTIS dry rose was thoroughly enjoyed by the two of them out on the lawn at Wolf Trap before the concert started and they both also enjoyed the clear and vibrant voice of Tony Bennett The crooner of old/timeless ballads. This is a really nice story and I am glad that I remembered to include it here.
The white was wonderfully fresh and full and bright and silky on the palate. The rose was much like this white except a bit thicker and deeper. These wines are all charmers in their own ways and once people try them they buy at least one of the three if not more.
I will have to add the pictures still and perhaps a bit more detail, names, grape varieties, etcetera. In the meantime I want to post this blog now for all to enjoy. Cheers. There's still snow outside on our deck out back as I type this now.
Drink both Crete and Greek wines : they are very impressive.
Oh, I forgot to mention the one comment on the 2008 LYRAKAKIS Crete " Vilana " white ( that's the name of the indigenous grape variety, $13.49 ) wine that still rings in my ear. He exclaimed loudly when he saw the bottle. He could not believe that he was seeing a wine from Crete?!? He was so happy as he said he never saw them here? Too bad, huh? I told him I had it open and he immediately tried it and then brought a friend over to try it, too. He also bought it and I know that he will return for more as well as some of the red LYRAKAKIS " Kotsifalli " ( again the name of the red indigenous grape ", $13.49.
Cheers and here's to Greece and to Crete : we are happy to have their wines always represented at Cleveland Park Wines & Spirits; even the Mavrodaphne and the Retsina wines : they all sell and we are always happy to order more. The little INO semi-sweet red ( a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon and Grenache ), $11.99 sells like hot cakes as a lot of our customers like these off-dry wines as they are just beginning their journeys down the paths and the rows of vines and grapes and later bottles of wines in the stores that simply must and should include both Greek and Crete wines!
TONY
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