and she called me at Cleveland Park Wines & Spirits ( 3423 Connecticut Avenue N.W. D.C. 20008 Tel : 202-363-4265 sales@clevelandparkwine.com www.clevelandparkwine.com ) to set up an appointment to come by the store and introduce herself. She's now living in northern Virginia like myself and saw that her dad had visited Mike Martin and I earlier in 2009 on his visit with our Bacchus rep and old friend Sal Furfari.
In the picture above with Liz O'Brien ( managing partner ) of INDIGENOUS Selections ( Italian in this case : LA SPINETTA and CIACCI PICCOLOMINI ) , Arielle Monaco ( our rep from the Country Vintner portfolio, Ashland, Virginia ), Kate and me, we had just finished this tasting of the Italian wines. I had asked Kate if she would like to join us? She said it was not too early and accepted immediately. Kate was reaching for her bottle of GOTHAM to include in this picture. In the second photo that I have downloaded onto the other blog about Liz and Arielle ( LA SPINETTA and CIACCI PICCOLOMINI ) you will be able to see the picture with the bottle firmly in Kate's hands, cradled. Nice .
Kate told me that she now was living locally and I suggested that she should sign up for an in-store/wine-tasting with our customers. We tried but the dates did not mesh last year and so we have one now planned when her father will return and together they will come and do a tasting. We've already got the date but I do not have my calendar handy as I am home so I will include that tomorrow. You should all plan on coming - wherever you may be. This will be fun and I think that we will pour an assortment that includes all three of their wine labels : GOTHAM, PUPPETEER and STALKING HORSE. This includes all the reasonable price points, too and so I think everyone will walk away happy with a signed bottle or two from both Kate and her father. What could possibly be any better?
This will also help to keep the Australian wine market healthy as with the continued drought and the larger companies like Fosters diluting the market with so many inexpensive and not especially remarkable wines most people have been unwilling to pay more for the really fine quality that is exhibited from GOTHAM ( Langhorne Creek & McLaren Vale ), PUPPETEER, STALKING HORSE, and others that we have used now for it seems like a lifetime : CORIOLE ( Victoria is it? ), HAY SHED HILL ( Margaret River ), LONGVIEW ( Adelaide Hills ), GIBSON and their LOOSE END ( Barossa ), WEST CAPE HOWE and their ZEEPAARD ( Denmark, western Australia ), PICARDY ( Pemberton, western Australia ), PIKES ( Clare Valley ), HUGH HAMILTON and their JIM JIM ( McLaren Valley ), RAFFERTY'S RULES, TALIJANCICH ( marvelous stickies from Swan Valley ) ; and so many more. The quality and the value are very high on these and they are worth every penny as they are available on many price levels to keep everyone happy.
So let's continue to show our support for Australian wines of this caliber so as to keep them strong and growing and viable and necessary alternatives when we want to move beyond the inexpensive LINDEMANS. ROSEMOUNTS, JACOB'S CREEKS and PENFOLDS of the Aussie world into smaller, estate-grown, family-run wines and wineries where the dream is still alive, the wines are excellent and balanced and it's not just about units, numbers, boxes and cases of wine sold over the best quality that each and every micro-climate and soil can and should be producing from Australia.
Sounds like I'm prejudices : have an ax to grind? I guess I simply like supporting the small family-run businesses where there still is very much a dream alive for the David's of the world and where the Goliath's of the world are not the FOSTERS beer companies in charge of making wines and wine-decisions.
I also like to try and keep as much of the personality and integrity ( including indigenous grape varieties where applicable ) of the various areas alive and thriving so that our palates may distinguish them from the others and enjoy them as a change and as an individual expression. Yes, I'm an artist - yes, I'm a dreamer. But darn it, I'm willing to work hard to support my beliefs either way.
That's why I support all of the above wineries listed in the beginning as well as the one large winery affair, YELLOW TAIL. The reason for including YELLOW TAIL is that years ago I told the American sales rep ( a young brunette lady ) for YELLOW TAIL that I would be happy to support her brand more actively if she was to have someone from the winery come and do an in-store/wine-tasting at our store.
I said that we supported those behind the wines and not the abstract scores and points and all the hype drummed-up to sell a bottle or case of wine. I told her that we often had owners and wine-makers at Cleveland Park Wines & Spirits ( 3423 Connecticut Avenue N.W. Washington D.C. 20008, Tel : 202-363-4265 sales@clevelandparkwine.com www.clevelandparkwine.com ) tasting their current releases with our customers ; signing their bottles as gifts and as mementos of the tasting, exchanging cards, arranging visits for our customers to their wineries, etc.
This young brunette lady ( I hope to find her card someday and include her name here - she deserves to be mentioned by name ) listened and said that she said she would see what she could do. Well damned if she did not a year or so later call and arrange for one of the three owners John ( he and his brother and uncle is it? ) to come and taste for an hour and a half ( check my blog on that visit her on chatwine.blogspot.com with pictures and the story. We tasted the Reserve line of wines ). It was noon and yet a fair number of people showed up anyway and got to meet John that was nice, soft-spoken, not stuffy or pretentious ( though he could be with his YELLOW TAIL world success at the time ).
JOHN signed bottles, posed for pictures and was a true gentleman. And so as he has stood in our store and tasted his wines he is now considered part of the Cleveland Park family of wines and owners and wine-makers even though his production is enormous.
But hey I am straying for this blog is specifically about Kate Clugston and her visit to taste me on several of her current wines available from Bacchus Imports : two dry whites from the PUPPETEER line ( a unoaked Chardonnay and a Bordeaux-like blend of Semillon and Sauvignon Blanc ); and two dry reds from GOTHAM : the 2008 McLaren Vale Shiraz and the 2008 Langhorn Creek Cabernet Sauvignon ( both selling for around $15 ). I liked very much what I tasted and look forward to trying some of those that Kate told me about like the sparkling PUPPETEER ( we always have room for another good as well as value-oriented sparkling wine ) as our customers can never seem to get enough of them.
As you can see from the pictures above and below that I take some artsy photos to capture the mood and the various elements of any of these wine-tasting moments of mine, inside or outside the store. I hope you like them.
In the picture above Kate lines up the various business cards that she had made with pictures taken by her father of the vineyard and land. They came out quite well and at the end of the tasting I asked Kate to pick one for me and she did. Thanks.
But now onto the wine. Kate poured me the first which was the dry white blend of the Semillon and the Sauvignon Blanc : a 2008 PUPPETEER ( $10.99 ). It was fairly-pronounced with the extra Semillon with a bright creamy citrus, dusty-dry quality with accents of herbs that I thought would improve with another six to twelve months of bottle-age? I asked Kate her opinion and she was not sure of that. It definitely for me was more of a food wine. It was my least-favorite of the four but for the money and in the context of a meal and with a fun, capricious and colorful label I think it is just fine. Perhaps with some Tex-mex or chipotle appetizers to complement the Semillon flavors?
Next Kate poured for me some of the 2008 PUPPETEER un-wooded Chardonnay. I liked this much better : it was much less-demanding of me and my palate and was just a pleasure to sip all on it's own. Medium-to-light-bodied, bright, fresh, lively and at $10.99 an excellent buy, too. Kate described it as : " beautiful, that peachy apricot. I love it! " I agree. I could see myself outside of the Byblo Cafe across our street on Connecticut Avenue ( if they had an alcohol license, they don't! so this is all imaginary ) N.W. when the weather warms with a glass of this un-wooded Chardonnay with people stopping to chat and want to take a better look at the PUPPETEER label that is so colorful and fun all by itself. Kate said that it offered a step-up in many visual ways to the YELLOW TAIL label. I think she said that she worked on designing it with her sister? Is that correct Kate?
Anyway, Kate is in theater and acting and I even think she mentioned stage-design? People here have already contacted her and so she is busy doing that as well as locally promoting her family's wines. I connected pretty much immediately with her when we met at the end of 2009. Hearing her speak about all the theater, the labels, the designs, the different colors of each of the PUPPETEER grape varieties to distinguish them from the other, her family's involvement in all steps of these wines ; and to have her respond to my comments and the pictures that I was taking as I tasted : well, all this made the connection for me even stronger. I liked that.
Kate especially liked this picture of herself above and commented on the strong bold white lines of the ceiling lights above served to frame her face and make the image more interesting. I also think that they almost suggest her face being painted here as if in a tribal celebration or a fun party like Mardi Gras or Halloween?
I agreed completely with Kate : the strong ceiling lights add contrast and definition and energy to her thoughtful contemplation ( and the ring piercing her left eyebrow acts like a star landed there permanently or just resting before continuing to circle around and continue it's orbit ) of this GOTHAM dry red which may have been the 2008 McLaren Vale Shiraz which she told me was her favorite of the two. Mine was the 2008 GOTHAM Langhorn Creek Cabernet Sauvignon. We discussed this as I explained my preference.
Kate poured me first the GOTHAM 2008 Langhorne Creek Cabernet Sauvignon and I immediately warmed to it. Medium-bodied, bright, fresh, lively, almost fully ripe, balanced with a nice spectrum of flavors that are centered and yet with good accents permit for the highs and the lows that I really enjoy in a wine. In this case there is a great fleshy quality to all of the Cabernet Sauvignon fruit and I can pretty much luxuriate in it and bathe all of my senses, too starting of course with the sight in th glass above. The bouquet was as well very enticing and I could jump, crawl, be pulled into, be escorted down the red carpet as I was here into all these wonderful and pleasing liquid accents of alcohol, spices, dried fruits, burst and toasty creamed-dreamed garnets and rubies and red colorations. Is that a word even : colorations?!? I'll go with it : it fits what I am trying to express.
In a wine I like to be invited into or at least able to be a complete part of it using all of my senses where possible. That is to say that as an image I like to literally fit myself into this body of wine liquid : I know that this is simply an image, but humor me here. I like to get inside the wine almost physically with all my senses and all my limbs. I like to be able to be an active participant with it : stretch my arms out , pound my feet, wiggle my toes, lean my head way back, jump, cry, moan, run, cheer, shout - whatever. And for all of this I like lots of room with a solid core for safety when I want it and lots of other space around this central core for me to try and explore.
I don't want to be able to attain my goal of exploring everything ; I always want there to be just a bit more, just another taste or another sensation - just around the corner, the river bend. Like Pocahontas as she sings that wistful/soulful/life-affirming song in Disney's animated version of the classic American fairy-tale. Corny perhaps but so true.
The GOTHAM 2008 Langhorn Creek wine gives me enough glimpses and promises of " just around the river bend ." I like and enjoy that. It does not challenge me enough perhaps but it makes for a really nice time spent with family and friends and perhaps neighbors or new acquaintances?
The GOTHAM 2008 McLaren Vale Shiraz was simply too enjoyable, too nice, too pleasing, too agreeable, too much of everything. I mean, where was I in the equation? What part did/do I play? There simply is not enough for me here to keep my interest or involvement. They make it too easy for . I want more : I want to be challenged and made to stand on my own two feet. I don't want to be simply led and fed around wined around by a delightful wine as this certainly is.
Having now said all of this of course I must add that this GOTHAM 2008 McLaren Vale Shiraz will sell like hotcakes at around $15 a bottle. I mean for most people what's not to like and to love here?!? This is a monumental success for most palates, just not mine. That's the way it is though. That's what's wonderful and maddeningly delightful about this whole delicious ocean of wine that is currently available to us alive today. It's amazing and thrilling and with so many choices there's simply no way to know it all or get and be bored with any of it. You just have to push yourselves from time to keep on tasting and discovering if you do think you may be getting tired or bored of one taste or grape variety or area of wine production. As people like me in the wine business/ wine retail trade and we/ I will be more than happy to make many suggestions for you as to continue your discoveries and serendipitous wine-epiphanies and surprises-revelations.
We will of course sell all of these wines at Cleveland Park Wines & Spirits. We are currently out of both GOTHAM wines ( we also sold the delightful Merlot ) and will have them all back in two days on Wednesday, March 3rd, 2010. You should all plan on coming by to get a bottle of them as we are also running our two-day ( Wed-Thurs 3rd-4th ) 20% Off Wine Sale on 12 or more bottles of non-sparkling wines. This will include of course all of these PUPPETEER and GOTHAM wines as well as the wonderful Italian inventory reductions from Neil Empson Imports of VILLA LA SELVA, FELCAIA and PODERI COLLA Tuscan and Piemontese reds ; and New Zealand Pinot Noirs and dry Rieslings from PEGASUS BAY, VOSS, ESCARPMENT and PEREGRINE I believe. Call ( 202-363-4265 or email us at : sales@clevelandparkwine.com ) or come by to take part in all this wine and Cleveland Park and 20% SALE madness!
I love this picture of Kate swirling her wine above using a Reidel glass and framed through my Reidel glass that again captures the striking white ceiling lights above her to add contrast and better definition to her features, the color of the wine in my glass and her colors in her scarf and bright cadmium green blouse. The colors that she is wearing do mimmick those of the outfit and colors of the puppeteer in the dry white blend of Semillon and Sauvignon Blanc PUPPETEER ( 2008, $10.99 ) in the first pictures above. Was this planned Kate? I bet it was though I may be wrong.
Speaking of the PUPPETEER wines I look forward to trying soon the two reds of the Shiraz and the Merlot.
I should have taken more notes but I was too busy having a good time with Kate and bouncing ideas off of her as I snapped my CANON digital pictures like these.
Using a real wine glass really does make it easier to both evaluate and appreciate the wine being sampled, tasted or simply drunk. I loved capturing the two glasses together with the GOTHAM reds inside : as well as Kate's focused enjoyment as if she was almost off alone by herself here.
I love this picture that I got of you above Kate. Do you like it? I think it captures a lot of your energy and focus and enthusiasm as well as poise - all in one. Nice .
Looking at the picture above Iit makes me want to try the STALKING HORSE wines once again that were a big success when Kate's father poured them last year for those lucky few of our customers that just happened to be in the store at the right time.
I'm always as with the picture above trying to get a great shot of the wine label, the glass, the color of the wine, the wine glass and the hands ; as well as interesting compositions, too of all the above mentioned. How did I do here?
I really enjoyed seeing Kate swirl her wines here and so I have posted three or so pictures just for fun, just for motion, just for a swirl of red wine color going around and around and around trying madly and valiantly to breathe some before it's final plunge ... what a grand sacrifice : what a noble enterprise.
Look at the divine pleasure in Kate's face in this picture above after having enjoyed some of that wine above : gotta love it.
In this picture above I was shooting up again into the lights above on our celing trying to again capture the intense color of these GOTHAM 2008 South Australia reds from wither the Shiraz or the Cabernet Sauvignon grapes.
Thanks Kate for the tasting and I look forward to selling your wines and seeing more of you in our store tasting with our customers and getting them all excited about your wines as well as fine Aussie wines in general.
I took this photo below when Kate was tasting the several Italian reds from Piemonte and Tuscany. I loved the pose and was happy to get it.
Wow, this was sure fun. Wish I had a glass now for my lunch or dinner tonight as I look up out our windows in our basement at home into the brightness of this Monday afternoon at 12:08 PM as I finish typing and take a break. I love doing these but it's a labor of love and takes time and thought and I must admit I'm tired and looking forward to my break before writing both the two next blogs on both Liz O'Brien of INDIGENOUS Selections as well as of owner Marie Albrecht of Alsace's Orschwihr LUCIEN ALBRECHT still and sparkling French wines. I also have to make dinner and many other things before my head will finally be allowed to hit the pillow tonight. So much to do, so little time so we must use it well and enjoy life fully ...
For more technical information about Kate and her family's three wines : GOTHAM / PUPPETEER and STALKING HORSE go to : Kate Clugston, Wineinc USA, Gotham, Stalking Horse, Puppeteer 917-208-3569 // kate@wineinc.com.au Twitter : @gothamwines Facebook : Wineinc USA.
Stay-tuned for much more on Kate, her father and these wines of GOTHAM, PUPPETEER and STALKING HORSE. Cheers, TONY
PS : Go to : chatpoetry.blogspot.com to read the 4 Morning Poems that I wrote on Friday, February 26th, 2010 about Kate and these wines of her family's.
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