Jennifer Of Monument Tastes RAY'S STATION Cabernet Sauvignon, FREEMARK ABBEY Merlot, LOS ALISOS Santa Barbara 2007 Syrah @ Cleveland Park Wines 9/10

I enjoyed these wines, the tasting was another good one with Jennifer of Monument Fine Wines this late September, 2010 at Cleveland Park Wines & Spirits ( 3423 Connecticut Avenue N.W. Washington D.C. 20008, Tel:202-363-4265 sales@clevelandparkwine.com www.clevelandparkwine.com on facebook at : clevelandparkwine. ). I had already tried the FREEMARK ABBEY Napa Merlot on at least a couple of other occasion. Check my blog out that I have already posted on this wine with both Elyse and Jennifer a month or two ago also at : chatwine.blog spot and chatart.blogspot.com where I have posted more of my artsy photos.




It's now Saturday, November 6th, 2010 here at home in northern Virginia at 9:40 AM and I've just done my Health-Rider walking-running exercises and realize that I am WAY BEHIND in getting all of my " draft " blogs written and posted so here goes!

It's a really brisk and clear and baby-blue-skied gorgeous morning and I've walked my dog and am getting ready now for work. It's going to be a really busy day with our next " Big-Theme " Holiday Wine-Tasting/Gifts' Theme in the store from 2-6 PM. Jennifer will not be with us this weekend though she was with us already on our Cleveland Park Day that I have already blogged about and if I am not mistaken then she poured some of the LOS ALISOS Santa Barbara 2007 Syrah ? Both Chris Barker and I liked it when we tasted it recently with Jennifer and the gentleman pictured here that works with her really promoting well these fine line of California wines.

They are always at it : tasting over and over and over again these wines of FREEMARK ABBEY and RAY'S STATION and LOS ALISOS and more. I can't forget about them even if I want to and as a result we always have some on hand to sell.

AS I said Chris Barker and I both really liked the LOS ALISOS Syrah 2007 and it's quite affordable, too. It showed well with our customers the other day when Jennifer poured it for them.

On a previous in-store wine-tasting Jennifer poured both the FREEMARK ABBEY CHardonnay as well as the " Katherine's Cuvee " Chardonnay I believe. Did we also pour some of the excellent FREEMARK ABBEY Merlot at that tasting as well Jennifer? Memory fades and yet I know that all these wines have been sold over the years at Cleveland Park Wines & Spirits ( 3423 Connecticut Avenue N.W> Washington D.C. 20008 Tel:202-363-4265 sales@clevelandparkwine.com www.clevelandparkwine.com, also on Facebook at : clevelandparkwines&spirits ).




Here I have included many of my artsy pictures. Being an artist I like to make people want to try wine in a visual manner with showing pictures of the wine's color and clarity, depth and richness, viscosity, etcetera to get you all to wan to get up and go over and visit your wine store and inquire and purchase these wines. That works for me : does it work for you? Do you respond well to these pictures?




The wines all showed well here on this visit to the store in our Cleveland Park N.W. Washington D.C. neighborhood. The conversation was lively, too : we all four of us connected and enjoyed the moment. I think the pictures reflect this.




I will have to talk to you Jennifer about including some RAY'S STATION Cabernet Sauvignon from California into your next in-store/wine-tasting. You need to remind Chris and me about the price again as we have none currently in the store and it's a style that's very popular and sells well for us.




Today is an important day, Saturday November 6th, 2010 as I as well as the store will be featured on CNN at 1 PM ( Sunday at 3 PM ) in their show called : " Your Money " on the topic of : " How Does A Small Store Survive & Stay In Business In Hard Economic Times ?"




We may also now be out of the LOS ALISOS 2007 Jennifer and it's November and it's getting colder and brisker and more biting and some of this Syrah would go a long way to warming us all up a bit and taking the edge off the weather. I'll call you next week and set up a delivery date.




Thanks again for all your patience, hard work and great attitude when you call on us and help us in the store Jennifer. We appreciate it : hope your bosses do, too.

I love these close-ups that I did of you Jennifer. The one with the smile above is pretty special. Cheers and see you soon. Have a great weekend and watch us later today and tomorrow on CNN on " Your Money " and enjoy a glass of any of the above when you do! TONY

Hugh Hamilton, Owner & Winemaker Extraordinaire Of HUGH HAMILTON, McLaren Vale, South Australia Wines @ Cleveland Park Wines Sat. /10/2/10 2-5PM Join

     This is Hugh on his last visit here to Cleveland Park a few months ago in early 2010.

     Hugh and one of our local and most loyal/favorite customers : who can resist that smile here in early 2010.

     Arielle Monaco our rep for Country Vintners did and in-store wine-tasting of Hugh's wines and I took what was left in the bottles to enjoy at home with my wife. Here I was making salmon fillets and burgers. The Mongrel Sangiovese red blend 2008 ( $16.49 ) and the " Loose Cannon " 2008 Viognier white sold really well at the tasting and complemented really well both the succulent, juicy, sublime  Salmon and the thick, beefy burgers.

Us this headline should finish.

It's Cleveland Park Day on Saturday October 2nd, 2010 and Hugh Hamilton of the HUGH HAMILTON and " Jim Jim " wines from McLaren Vale will be our special guest on this day from 2-5 PM. Come meet him if you do not already know him ( he is a yearly fixture here in the store at Cleveland Park Wines & Spirits ( 3423 Connecticut Avenue N.W. Washington D.C. 20008 Tel : 202-363-4265 sales@clevelandparkwine.com www.clevelandparkwine.com facebook @ clevelandparkwine.com ) and so come again as Hugh's wines are some of the very best the we sell : period.

More to follow, have to rush off to work now. Cheers Hugh, see you soon. TONY

Samantha, Owner Of CHATEAU FELICE Chalk Hill, Sonoma, California Visit Cleveland Park Wines W/ Chip & Tastes 9/ 29/ 2010 , Excellent Merlot, Zin, Lon

don Cabernet, " New " Sauvignon Blanc & Killer Chardonnay - the headline should end.


This is great : the wines have arrived at the store Samantha! I'm thrilled to have the " new " dry CHATEAU FELICE " Aciers " Sauvignon Blanc. It's really got a nice crispness and a unique spin of the dry mineral and citrus fruit that I could not quite peg but I can tell you that I enjoyed it and that it drew me into it's flavors and I would like to sample it with some different foods.




We got four wines in all I believe : the Merlot ans the London Cabernet Sauvignon as well as the Chardonnay and the Sauvignon Blanc. I got to try them all this go-round with Samantha and Chip along with the Zinfandel, a dessert-style red and for some reason there was no Cabernet Franc. I know that that one has traditionally been your favorite Samantha. I guess it has just been bottled and will be ready soon ; is that correct?




I will comment more on all the wines when I am back at the store. It's Thursday night ( 8:51 PM on October 7th, 2010 ) and I am off early and home with my family having just enjoyed a meal that my wife prepared for us of a pork roast, broccoli and brown rice - simple and yet delicious.






It's been fun to get to know you Samantha over the years, as well as your sister Genvieve and her husband, too. I guess the only one that I have not met and still want to meet very much is your mother the photographer. What happened to her Tall Woman wine? I did not taste that either. That had become a favorite of some of our customers so you will have to fill me in about it's availability?




Chip, you need to come and do an in-store wine-tasting of these CHATEAU FELICE wines soon. Call me and let's set a time so that our customers can discover them all over again.




It was a nice day this past Thursday, September 30th, 2010 when you both came to see me at Cleveland Park Wines & Spirits. You can see this in the picture above that shows the sky above the Potomac River with a small part of the Kennedy Center, too.




Being an artist I like to take a lot of these pictures with my artist's eyes and artist sensibilities : I hope you like them. In these pictures of Samantha I took them looking at her through both my Reidel wine-tasting glass and the CHATEAU FELICE wine bottle. I like the results myself though I know that they do distort to some extent things - hope that you do not mind.




I showed these to you as I took them and this is not the first time I have captured you in pictures like the one above. I like it, too : but if you hate it I will be more than happy to remove it - your decision, just let me know.

























This was another great visit with Samantha of CHATEAU FELICE in Chalk Hill, Sonoma California. It's the fifth or sixth visit from Samantha and Chip of Atlantic Wines & Spirits Importing Company. It was great to see you both once again and I loved pretty much everything that I tasted. You make well-made/focused, balanced wines that often have something extra and unique like the flavors I got from your Sauvignon Blanc 2009. I could not put my finger on what exactly that something extra and special was but it was there and I liked it.






Samantha, you said that you had just returned from a pleasure trip to Panama and had caught a bug and were not feeling as good as usual. I commented on that : and that's what prompted your response about not feeling well. You can't tell from these photos : you look great as usual.




We will have a selection of your wines coming in another couple of days to Cleveland Park Wines & Spirits ( 3423 Connecticut Avenue N.W. Washington D.C. 20008 Tel:202-363-4265 sales@clevelandparkwine.com www.clevelandparkwine.com facebook @ clevelandparkwine ) of the wines that I tasted with you on this past Tuesday, September 28th, 2010.




I have more to say and more pictures to add but I'm going to post this now while it is fresh. The Zin was grand, the new vintage of the London Cab was also very good and balanced and I would have liked to have had some food with it. Chip's son's Merlot was fabulous and bright and radiant and vivid and overall an absolute delight to enjoy with or without food. As I said the wines were very good all around. Come get some here at Cleveland Park Wines & Spirits the first week of October.




It was great to see you Samantha and Chip. Seeing you Samantha made my day and that's why I told you this twice, once in the store and once later when I called you to tell you again in the hopes that it would also rally you and you would feel that much better that much quicker. Cheers, TONY