This was a fun tasting because it gave Chris and me a chance to re-taste some old friends and discover some new ones. Mike came with a few selections on this visit of all California wines in May, 2010 to Cleveland Park Wines & Spirits ( 3423 Connecticut Avenue N.W. Washington D.C. 20008 Tel:202-363-4265 www.clevelandparkwine.com sales@clevelandparkwine.com ).
As you can see from the picture above that we tasted two wines of GRAVITY HILLS : 1) " the Sherpa " 2006 Central Coast Zinfandel and 20 " the Vertigo " white 2009 blend of Central Coast Chenin Blanc and Riesling. I had tasted and sold already awhile back some of the GRAVITY HILLS wines that I originally bought from Jean Gagliolo and then made by the owners of CHATEAU POTELLE. Are these still your wines? I have had both father and daughter of CHATEAU POTELLE here in the store on various occasions promoting their wines. Recently I have not seen either as it was always fun to have them come and taste us and then later even with our customers We even did a wonderful dinner at the Park Hyatt four or five years ago that was both well-attended and where the wines sold well, too.
IT was fun to try both of these GRAVITY HILLS wines and I will ask Mike to bring any of the others in the series as we did not use either of these before. What are they making now? I remember both the Zinfandel and the Syrah very well : they both sold really well for us.
I love taking my artsy photos of those that come and taste and share their wines with us here in Cleveland Park N.W. Washington D.C. our nation's capitol. This was no exception.
The picture below is totally artsy and will appeal to all you artists out there I hope. I like it being an artist myself. I think that it adds another element o the wine-people-behind-it, too feel. Do you agree? It's almost all washed out this white wine inside my Reidel wine-tasting glass : the ceiling lights above flood it and the clear glass and ll of it becomes a warm blaze of wine and light and reflections off the Reidel wine glass - lovely.
We also tasted the CALISTOGA CELLARS 2006 Napa Zinfandel as well as the HOME GROWN Family Harvest Red dry blend of Petit Sirah, Syrah and Barbera I believe? I will have to look at the label. We have sold it now for more than a year a $10.99 a bottle and it has been a really big hit for us and many of our customers.
We also tasted the GRYPHUS 2009 Sauvignon Blanc and bought it immediately for an in-store wine-tasting with Mike on either a Friday or a Saturday. It sold well then and one of our customers that are friends of our favorite Kryshna came to get their LOOSE END sparkling Barossa red blend of Merlot/Syrah and Grenache is it ( ? ) for their wedding and tasted and liked the GRYPHUS and so bought a case f it, too for their upcoming D.C. wedding.
The HOME GROWN dry red blend that we sell still for $10.99 also comes with an interesting store. It used to be represented by Touton Selections and our rep Steve that I have known forever brought it to my attention. I did not like it at all at the time. As a matter of fact I would not sell it myself off the bottle that I sampled that day. Thinking for the store's best interests I asked Steve to taste Mike Martin on it and see what he said? Turns out the bottle that Mike tasted he loved and we bought it immediately and sold it really well. Mike would occasionally say that he did not understand that I did not like it? Who knows, it might have been a bad bottle that I tasted? If it was I am surprised however that Steve did not pick up on this? Anyway, that's how HOME GROWN got started at Cleveland Park Wines & Spirits. I know it is patting myself on the back when I say this but this once I will say it anyway : I thought outside of the box and it worked.
Having said all of this and told the story to Mike and to Chris I did try it this time and found it to be a completely different wine from that that I had originally tried and not liked at all. This bottle was softer and not as heavy or with as much bulk and cardboard and columns of flavor that my tongue could not penetrate. This bottle seemed to have less weight and alcohol and was simply more mild and with more red berry flavors. It was pleasing if not exciting. Of course I do have to remember it's price here : it's not an expensive bottle of wine. And it still sells quite well.
This is a great opportunity to taste some wines quickly and see what they are all about. People come with them to our store and we get a chance to see what they offer and if we want to sell them or not? In some cases the answer is " yes " and in others it is " no ". That's okay. We give everyone a shot and then it's simply a questin of when we can afford to buy them and whether we need them immediately or not? Decisions, decisions, it's all good wine fun. Cheers, TONY
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