Jasmine Hirsch Of Hirsch VINEYARDS ,Cazadero, CA. W/ Jody Jackman Tasting Current Releases : 2 Chards, 3 Pinot Noirs 5/19/2010 Wed. @ Cleveland Park

I'm an artist and view my blogs with an artist's approach and eye in mind : and that means that any of the pictures I take and the text that I write is not what one would normally expect. If this is the case then in my humble artist's opinion I have succeeded and that pleases me enormously as I want to " add " to the equation of what already exists in information and photos already available to us via Internet or other means.

I also like the word " chat " as to me that means I can chat and ramble and veer from an y path at any time, I may reminisce, I may tell anecdotes or resurrect old stories and fragments of memories, etcetera. I want your patience and indulgence both as I take you along my pictures and thoughts and fragments of ideas/feeling/sensations that I string together loosely or quite concretely, depending on my mood/humor and feelings of any given moment.

I very much liked meeting you Jasmine and I was taken by you and the moment and your demeanor and air that both charmed and beguiled the artist in me as you mostly spoke to Chris Barker as he and I tasted at first. That was okay : I was busy with the phone and orders and customers and taking these pictures that I hoped would capture for me and others some of you and your youth and enthusiasm, charm, poise, choice of clothes, colors , etcetera : it' actually so much fun but quite a daunting task, too. But one that at this moment in time I embraced wholeheartedly as I wove it into the fabric of my life here at this time @ Cleveland Park Wines & Spirits ( 3423 Connecticut Avenue N.W. Washington D.C. 20008 Tel: 202-363-4265 sales@clevelandparkwine.com www.clevelandparkwine.com Tel: 202-363-4265 ) where I have managed the wine department for the last ten years now.



Jasmine's family ( HIRSCH VINEYARDS, Cazadero, Sonoma Coast, CA. Tel: 707-847-3600 / Fax : 707-847-3171 , 95421 info@hirschvineyards.com ) makes fine wines : no question about that. I liked what I tasted and felt and tasted the care and the effort and the balance and the relationship of the components here that the Hirsch family along with their winemaker have achieved. Of the five wines two really impressed me and one completely charmed and wooed and impressed me and made me accept it into my sensory world of tastes with open arms and wish that I had more to enjoy with my family at a later time and place o with both Jasmine and Jody Jackson somewhere like down the street at Ardeo restaurant without the complications of having to run a store while tasting. That was the first Chardonnay that I tasted which I am guessing is the 2007 ( perhaps the 2006? ) that they were basically out of now for sale. I will ask Jody tomorrow when we speak and then include that information at the very end of this blog as I intend to ease you all and post it in a short while when I have finished typing and checking for errors/spelling mistakes, etc.

My only question in so many wines is : are they worth the money that one has to pay for them? I am hard on this matter, no matter from where they come in the world. I judge them equally on balance, character, grape and indigenous and true to area as well as on money value for me? Each of us comes to these decisions on their own as we all have different means. priorities and as I also think that the time ans the place / occasion to enjoy these wines counts, too n making a final evaluation.

Lucky for those making wine as so many now are ( and doing a fine job in many cases as is clear here with HIRSCH wines ) that there is always someone that will enjoy their product if only they can be matched/paired together by sales/ marketing, evaluating one's palate and the other variables ( as both a customer and their wine sales people can ). It's complicated and yet quite simple really. Having said this I must also add that we do live in an ever-increasing world of choices and prices and clever marketing and packaging and less variety.




I liked these wines : especially the first Sonoma Coast Chardonnay and the less-expensive Pinot Noir, The Bonhan-Dillon Sonoma Coast 2008 I believe? Jody : where are you when I am typing these blogs and need your help! ). I told this all to Jasmine. I had fun tasting with her. Thanks Jasmine for the tasting and all the stories and information about you and your family and the area that you grow grapes and now produce and sell your own wines. Your family has changed and evolved and produced really excellent wines : my favorite being the first and the older of the two vintages of the Chardonnay. They were only one year apart but what a difference in taste and character, richness and density and complexity on the tongue and palate. The first was on the profound level that really makes me stop, think, pause, reflect, perhaps take a seat and definitely want to take another taste.




I cheated just a little while ago and went to the HIRSCH VINEYARDS' web page to see clearly the names and the vintages that they list now as I have not yet mounted my pictures that I surely took of the bottles with the vintages and names, etc. on them. Not having those photos handy makes it hard for me to be as accurate as I can in these blog entries as many people are simply interested in that and perhaps not much more? I don't want to say as I am not sure and would hate to be wrong or too judgemental. Every time that I am and judge too quickly I am sorry that I did. It's good to have a good, immediate gut reaction but let it be tempered and changed/rearranged if need be by further insights.

I read some an was most struck by the owner's comment that he supposedly says ad nauseum : I will add my five bits to this ( to use my father's expression ) and add " I only know what I know " to " you don't know what you don't know ". I liked that very much and it spoke to me. I also liked what I read about Marie Hirsch and her being a designer, jewelry maker and artist. I think that I would like to meet both very much. Perhaps someday in the future I will, too : on verra n'est ce pas vrai?!?

As I now look at these pictures of Jasmine I wonder how Marie influenced Jasmine : the flowing red and white scarf ( are those sand dollars ? ) and the striped white and blue blouse? Colorful, contrasting, sharp and controlled and bold and yet soft and magical and peaceful and warm : patriotic and yet also earth and sky and all under a shimmering/flowing/cascading waterfall of brunette/golden hair. Works for me.




I also like taking pictures that may inspire one through image and color and composition to go in search of these wines. Come to Cleveland Park to buy some and enjoy with family and friends.

I will talk to Jody to see what is available now when we speak tomorrow? We will get some for the store starting with " The Bonhan-Dillon " Sonoma Coast 2008 Pinot Noir. If the Chardonnay that I liked is available then we will buy some of that as well.




The other two Pinot Noirs were both the 2007 and 2006 " San Andreas " Vineyard wines which I also enjoyed. Like the second Chardonnay I felt that all three wines were elegant, refined, polished and very appealing. I would enjoy them more I believe in the context of a nice meal where the wine and the food help each other to shine and perform even more together than they do on their own. That's probably where I would be singing even more their praises : if I had enjoyed them with a good meal down at the end of our block at Ardeo : or even better yet a block away at Palena restaurant.

Being of the Cleveland Park neighborhood I like t support it and keep the business ere where possible. Besides : both these restaurants d a really great job.

I say all of this because the way these three wines tasted here in the store I felt that they stayed a bit too much for me in the middle palate of flavors and tastes ( at least at their current development and as they were showing then ) and that they did not achieve such " highs and lows " as I found in evidence with the first HIRSCH Sonoma Coast Chardonnay ( I do think it was the 2007 vintage ) and the 2008 HIRSCH " The Bonhan-Dillon " Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir. These two reminded me of the Burgundy that I love!




I am at home typing this now at 4:18 PM here in northern Virginia on Sunday, June 6th, 2010 just after a thunderstorm which I believe has removed some of the heat and the humidity from the air. I've got a meal to fix now for my family and so I will check this and proof it now and post it, too. I will add the finishing touches tomorrow after speaking with Jody.




In the meantime enjoy these many pictures that I took of Jasmine and please do go in search of one of her excellent HIRSCH VINEYARDS' wines for dinner tonight or sometime soon.





I like very much this picture that I got of Jasmine through my Reidel wine-tasting glass here above " so serene and thought-provoking. Where was she at this exact moment-in-time in her thoughts?

One of the pieces of information that Jasmine shared with us was that in the 2007 vintage one would really have had to have tried to mess-up to not have made a good bottle of wine.




Jasmine liked to speak with her hands here many times. I especially like this picture above where she trows herself into her expression ...




There are definitely more sides to Jasmine than readily meets the eye as in this picture above of peace and serenity : and the one below of action and purpose and confidence. There's a lovely vulnerability with the one above, too.





I like your smile Jasmine : thanks for smiling here in this picture above for me.






I have enjoyed here juxtaposing these pictures that I took of you Jasmine at two different times. I think that it works nicely. BY the way I have more pictures and will probably add a couple more to finish this blog off.




I like how the Reidel wine-tasting glass above captures the ceiling lights above and mirrors them : and the way the blue and white in Jasmine's shirt get warped and charged. I also like very much how the rim of the Reidel glass distorts and molds thing here and presents them in a " new " fashion/light. There's a whole lot going on in this picture above that at first seems so serene. I like Jasmine's smile in this one, too.




Finally : a picture wit the bottles of wine : but where are the vintages on them?!? Argh!

I do like the cat looking in at the baby in the tiny cradle here. That speaks to me, too.




In this picture above Jasmine pours for me and smiles and Chris Barker looks down at the color of the wine in his glass.




Jody Jackman was here placing her last-minute orders for tomorrow's delivery ( it was May 19th, 2010 as we tasted in mid afternoon ) and I come out of the office having just spoken on the phone. I was ready to taste when Jasmine asked me if I was ready to taste the next wine? I answered mischievously that : " No, I did not want to try any more wine. " This surprised her and I said it just to see what response I would get? Why? What! Surprise, consternation : I could see all this pass quickly over her facial features and knit her eye brows. Sorry Jasmine, I was being just a bit too playful : of course I wanted to taste the last t Pinot Noirs. I would not have missed that now for the world. Please accept my apologies for this. And thanks for letting me taste, really. I enjoyed the whole experience so much.




I had you sign my poster and my guest book and when you were doing this I got some great pictures of you doing all of this in the space of five minutes or so. I liked those pictures so much that I posted them at my other blog called : chatart.blogspot.com. I may have also written some poems based on our tasting and meeting and those I would have posted at : chatpoetry.blogspot.com. You may want to check both sites out at your convenience.




My signature is to take picture of the owners and wine-makers through the Reidel wine-tasting glasses with their wines in the glass at the time : also with the wine bottles and label, too when possible as this unites into one picture frame the relationship and the participants/players. I like this : a bit of history fr all the ages that is captured at a particular moment in time. I am a bit, too of a historian - an art historian perhaps, but a historian

non-the-less.



This picture above is quite bold and brass and complex, too. Look at the rings like planet rings of the bottom of the glass with the Pinot Noir inside? Look also at the bands of warped ceiling lights that rise from the white stripes of Jasmine's blouse and cut and pierce and define and provide contrast to everything in the picture? Too bad in a way that Jasmine's eyes are hidden by the light : but it's neat to see ow the light is siphoned on down the frame of the Reidel glass and almost becomes fine lines like those white lines left in the blue sky from the exhaust of an airplane as the wind and diminish and soon will disappear completely?!?

You are holding the cork in your hands above I believe Jasmine?






Thanks again Jasmine and Jody : what a tasting : what wines - what pleasure. Five really fine wines and two beautiful young ladies : what more could I possibly ask for? Not much ...

Cheers and stay-tuned to final pictures and notes tomorrow or later this week.