This was another nice visit for me with Jody Jackman of Winebow Imports that brought Howard Imberg that represents both the BRADFORD MOUNTAIN wines of Dry Creek and the C. DONATIELLO ( named after the owner Christopher Donatiello ) wines of the Russian River Valley - both wineries in California.
This is always a great chance for me to try many of the wines of California that I am still largely unfamiliar with ; much to my loss and disadvantage having now been in the Washington D.C. retail and wholesale business for the last thirty years.
With Howard I got a chance to sample the BRADFORD MOUNTAIN " Grist Vineyard " 2005 Syrah as well as the 2005 Zinfandel. I am at home now here in northern Virginia on Sunday, March 14th, 2010 and so will have to consult my notes there for more information on all of these wines.
Howard also poured for me some of the C. DONATIELLO Chardonnay and Pinot Noir 2006 from California's Russian River Valley. The Chardonnay was from the 2007 vintage.
I remember commenting to Howard a whole lot of the C. DONATIELLO label as it really caught my artistic eye. He was a really good sport and I remember having a good time tasting these wines with both Jody and Howard.
Somehow I downloaded these images and forgot to write my story at the times as this visit to Cleveland Park Wines & Spirits ( 3423 Connecticut Avenue N.W. Washington D.C. 20008 Tel: 202-363-4265 sales@clevelandparkwine.com www.clevelandparkwine.com ) took place in 2009 and here it is now already Sunday March 14th, 2010! This is bad and I am sorry for this.
I will talk to Jody some about this this coming week as I finish adding my notes to the blog. As you can see in these my artistic bent came out fully and I had fun tasting the wines as well as exercising my artistic eye along with my palate : two birds here ... I like to multitask all the time. It seems to be an integral part of what I do these days as there is never enough time or energy to complete things in a timely fashion for me. I'm always doing things in small snippets of time and then adding them together to finally form a cohesive whole of sorts?
Here one of our customers Jerry walked into the store while Howard and Jody were tasting me on their selections. I invited Jerry to taste along with me as he has come from a European palate and background and has recently embraced all-things/wines American and trying to lend his support and money to keeping the American wine business healthy and alive. Thanks Jerry. He puts his money where his mouth is, too much to his credit.
As you may clearly see here I am having way too much fun here taking pictures around tasting these wines. And to think that I am well-paid to do this? I love it, really I do!
I remember not wanting to post this blog until Jody Jackman saw these last two pictures of herself to be sure that she would not object if I posted them? Turns out that she had no problem with them and that it was one above that I will shortly remove that she did not want posted. I will ask my friend Justin to get it off this site as it is not the easiest thing to do and he has not taught me how to do it, yet.
I like these last two pictures of Jody. Look at the color of these reds : the Pinot Noir from this C. DONATIELLO really shows it's different hues against Jody's white blouse. It's interesting, too how this Reidel wine-tasting glass distorts Jody's face and gives her a frown' grimace in the top picture and a cheek-lift( cleft-cheek? ) appearance in this last picture?
I still like them as an art expression and I think the images are interesting and make one question the compositions. What are they looking at here? What is the image about? It's almost like watching a commercial on t.v.? Into half of the commercial you might still be wondering what is it about? Is it about sales/about art/about social commentary : what's it really all about?
I will finish this week and post it now. So far it's almost more of an art blog and I will change that as I add more information this week. So stay-tuned and thanks for cutting me some slack here as I get this blog finally posted.
Thanks Howard for stopping by and bringing the BRADFORD MOUNTAIN Dry Creek wines Dry Creek 2005 and the " Grist " Syrah 2005 ) as well as the C. DONATIELLO Russian River wines ( Chardonnay 2007 - all stainless steel with malolactic fermentation , and the 2006 Pinot Noir ). Both are from California and I am pleased to have finally gotten a chance to try them. Thanks Jody.
Cheers, TONY
P.S. It's now Tuesday evening her at home in northern Virginia at 11:29 Pm and earlier this afternoon around 1 PM Jody Jackman brought Christopher Donatiello the owner of the C. DONATIELLO Winery and I must say that across the board I was very impressed with the balance and the finesse and the fruit of each grape ( whether it was Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, Cabernet Sauvignon ) was still very much the focus and the " center stage " of each wine. They were always refined and elegant expressions of both soil, climate and grape and vine. " Bravo! " I said to owner Christopher at least twice during the tasting. I loved both their " value " Cabernet Sauvignon and Chardonnay that we will be able to sell for just $10.99 a bottle. I also really liked the C. DONATIELLO Pinot Noir 2006 I believe for all of it's restraint and sound and clarity and taste : almost like a great musical instrument it was.
I will write more later as I am now at home and do not have my notes in front of me. A presto! TONY
No comments:
Post a Comment