Things went so smoothly this Tuesday early evening on March 9th, 2010 as I we at Cleveland Park Wines & Spirits ( 3423 Connecticut Avenue N.W. Washington D.C. 20008, Tel:202-363-4265 sales@clevelandparkwine.com, www.clevelandparkwine.com). It had already been a full day with writing and posting the store e-mail and having checked wines in for tomorrow's " Big Theme " Washington State wine-tasting of 33-34 wines and five reps pouring with two more assistants.
This picture above looks just like the part : everything in place with an owner/wine-maker Jean-Marc Espinasse and our local French rep Charles from William's Corner Imports. Customers tasting and both Frenchmen explaining and adding to their enjoyment with facts about the wines themselves ( one " new " dry Grenache rose and two red Rhone blends of Grenache and ) and perhaps a story or anecdote. This was all very normal for us. We always receive wine-makers and owners to taste their wines with our customers. That's just what we do : plain and simple because we do not sell points and review and sell instead the opportunity to connect with the people behind the wines themselves and the purchasing of their wines afterward because you come away with more having both tasted the wine and met the actual people involved in their creation.
But I am straying from my original mystery : what was different about this particular tasting? I was there with my handy Canon camera taking this picture of Jean-Marc from above to try and capture all of him and here I have him talking to a customer and seeming really relaxed and " chez nous/ at home " in Cleveland Park. I like that, really I do.
But let me retract a bit here. There were already people here for the wine-tasting. Some had received my store email that had been posted around 3:30 PM this afternoon. I had already mentioned the tasting and dinner afterward with Jean-Marc at DINO at the corner of our block twice now. This time, however I finally had a copy of the menu and was able to post it as I had the past Saturday night when leaving the store run into owner Dean of DINO restaurant. We spoke quickly, he invited me to the dinner and told me he had still another ten or so seats available for the dinner. That's always nice as I like to advertise dinners like this , especially great-value wines like this one which included the two reds of Jean-Marc ( the Dentelles 2008, $18.49 and the Mistral 2007, $21.99 ) and an appetizer/amuse-bouche, two courses and a dessert of Tiramisu for $50 a person all-inclusive. That's a deal in my book.
It was busy when Charles and Jean-Marc showed up at the store just before 5 PM. I was busy getting some wine for a customer I believe and there were customers arriving for the tasting as well as just to buy something already and so my hands were full and Charles saw everything set up at our tasting table and the two of them arranged quickly themselves and their affairs around the table and they were off pouring and speaking about Jean-Marc's "new " dry Grenache-based rose that he had brought as a sample for people to taste even though there was none of it yet for sale. Was this the mystere and the solution to it : Jean-Marc had a sample of the rose that he brought all the way from France himself? Do other wine-makers and owners not do this? No, they do indeed so this could not be what was exactly different.
And as busy as it was I was pondering this " new state of affairs " and marvelling as well and not really focusing on it ( enjoying it, whatever this " it " was thoroughly ) but much too busy to analyze just yet the situation.
It was certainly running smoothly and it was fun, there was energy in the air, lots of conversation and lots of people milling about and gathering in groups as they tasted Jean-Marc's three wines.
And then there was the couple that had come all the way from Sydney, Australia with their mother I believe to meet Jean-Marc because their daughter had worked with Jean-Marc!?! Wow, this was pretty amazing, really. Maybe this was the mystery and I had finally solved it?
I am going to post this now and continue it later today. In the meantime read it and enjoy the pictures and stay-tuned for more on this " mystere "/ 2-hour wine-tasting at Cleveland Park Wines & Spirits and later dinner at DINO. Cheers et a plus tard mes amis ... TONY
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