This was a wonderful Saturday moment for us all fortunate enough to have been at Cleveland Park Wines & Spirits ( 3423 Connecticut Avenue N.W. Washington D.C. 20008 Tel:202-363-4265 , sales@clevelandparkwine.com, www.clevelandparkwine.com ) to meet four owner/wine-makers from France tasting their current releases. They were all part of Laurent Givry's Elite Imports group and in town for the annual portfolio wine-tasting the next Monday out in Lorton, Virginia. We did not have all of the French owners/wine-makers come to our store as there are many. Instead we had four come : one from the Loire Valley, one from the champagne district, one from Bordeaux and one from Burgundy.
In this blog I will focus on the excellent wines of Joel Duffau and his wife Cendrine. It was nice to have them both back in the store. They came two years ago with this same group and we had a lot of fun then, too. I think it was the first time that Laurent Givry had decided to have some of them come and do an in-store wine-tasting and so we had some French and some Spanish producers come to Cleveland Park. I clogged about that two years ago and so they are some of my very first blogs here on chatwine. You might want to check those out as well. There will of course be more blogs that I will include here from this Saturday wine-tasting from 3-7 PM. The next will be on Bernard Bouvier from Burgundy. It was Bernard's first visit here and his wines really did show well.
Here we have Cendrine in the foreground and Joel in the background with Lisa Giufre tasting the wine along with some of our customers. Lisa works for Laurent Givry at Elite Imports and is our sales person. She really did help make this a fabulous event and I appreciated all her help as it requires lots of hands and people willing to act and move quickly to keep things moving along smoothly and to maximum effect. Thanks Lisa. What wine were you sampling here : or was it some water that you were drinking? I like this picture.
In this picture above we have both Jean pouring in the background as well as Bernard Bouvier pouringin the foreground. People stopped to taste and to learn and to enjoy. It was great to see the transformation as people realized just how much of a treat this all was becoming for them as they walked between the four areas of France and tried first the champagne ( Jean-Remy pouring CHARLES ORBAN from Troissy, brut regular n.v. and dry rose n.v. - really impressive, dry and reasonably-priced at $47-$50 ) and the dry Sancerre wines poured by Christian Lauverjat of LAUVERJAT ( white Sauignon Blanc, $21.49 : rose and red Pinot Noir - the Pinot Noir blew me away for it's elegance and subtle nuances of Pinot Noir flavors - and the dry white continues to sell like hot-cakes and the dry rose is great with smoked salmon and other smoked meats ) : and then getting to the back here with Bernard ( Burgundy ) and Jean and Cendrine Duffau ( Bordeaux ).
It's nice when we can offer such a rounded tasting from any area but when you think this was four of the major ares of France then you begin to understand some of my enthusiasm. I was very pleased with the event as I believe everyone that visited and tasted was also. I do wish that more people had been able to attend as it is a whole lot of work to arrange and so you want as many people to take advantage of it as possible.
All the wines showed well : many in the classic, traditional manner with perhaps a few of them straddling the " new " and the " old " to make a " neold " I suppose. They were balanced and fresh and sometimes quite complex and still needing time in the bottle to age more and others showing perfectly within minutes of being opened and poured.
For example from Joe and Cendrine I loved the freshness and brightness and immediacy in taste of the dry white 2009 CHATEAU LES ARROMANS Entre-Deux-Mers bordeaux. For around $12 it rocked for me and started everything just right following through with the 2009 dry rose ( $12.49, it's quite flavorful and tasty made from 100% Merlot ) and white " Cuvee French Kiss " ( also $12.49 a bottle : it's more muted and less bright in flavors, more a food white ) : and moving to the " Prestige " Chateau Les Arromans, the Chateau La Mothe Du Barry Cuvee Design 2007, $17.99 - and finishing with the 2006 " Le Barry ", $27.99 from Chateau La Mothe Du Barry. It also could use some more time in my opinion. That's what makes it all so much fun - so much variety, so many wine-food combinations and not rushing to drink wines before their time.
Above in this photo you have both Cendrine and Joel Daffau with two really happy customers.
I need not have worried because we sold a whole lot this Saturday and Lisa Giufre tells me that the owners/wine-makers were all thrilled with this tasting and talked a whole lot about it afterward. I'm glad that they thought it was a good event : it's important that everyone is happy during these events as it is a whole lot of work for them, too especially when you consider that this was with jet-lag after their flight from France here a day ago. Add to this that it was during a real time of stress and uncertainty because of the volcano eruption in Iceland a week or two prior that continued off-and-on. And yet they made it and all went off smoothly.
As I said I think already Marc Pasquet of Chateau Mondesir-Gazin was unable to get here in time because of all of this and so at the last minute we included Bernard Bouvier instead of Domaine Bouvier that was indeed in town and available to taste with our customers.
I loved having Bernard here as he makes excellent wines from Burgundy and had a white Marsannay open ( really complex and amazing ); and the Cote De Nuits-Villages 2007 ( $41.49 ) that still needs time to age some more. You may drink it with a meal now but for me it is clear that it still needs time to age some more as it will open in the middle so much more and show so many more levels and nuances of it's true character. Bernard tasted two other burgundies as well that I will mention in his blog that will be downloaded next after this one.
We have so many young potential customers here more and more these days and it sure is inspiring and nice to see/ witness. Proud mom and baby wait in line to pay for her purchase.
I do want to say that I still want Marc Pasquet back to taste here with our customers the next time that he comes to Washington D.C. We can taste the current vintage of the Chateau Mondesir ( we just tasted with Lisa's help here the 2007, $17.49 ) as well as the current vintage of Chateau Gontey Saint-Emilion Grand Cru ( we tasted the 2004 with Lisa's help, $42.99 ) .
Here's a nice picture above with both Bernard Bouvier and Cendrine Duffau. What was he telling me about Cendrine as I snapped this picture?
Above are Cendrine and Joel's wines chilling and ready to be served to the next customer that comes along ...
I have to take some of my signature pictures through my Reidel wine-tasting glass. Here I have taken one of Cendrine.
Doesn't this picture above make you want a glass of the Chateau Les Arromans 2009 ( $12.49 ) dry white Entre-Deux-Mers bordeaux? It does me. And I am off here at home now on Monday, May 24th, 2010 at 3:58 PM having just watched some of the " Dr. Phil Family " show and that sure was heavy and disconcerting to say the least. I think that with that and the fact that I am off here at home making dinner for my family later that a glass of one or more of Cendrine and Joel Duffau's wines would be much-appreciated.
More of my signature pictures through the Reidel wine-tasting glasses. Do you like them?
Revenez-nous voir Cendrine, Joel, Bernard, Christian et Jean-Remy : vous etes toujours bienvenue au magasin. Merci pour cette degustation magnifique chez nous. TONY
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