You will be missed Sidney, thanks for all that you did for us all in wine and in furniture and in life, in stories and song and so many things hard to quantify and categorize put into words. I really enjoyed working for you back in the past in the 1980's and came away with so many invaluable experiences! Grazie e a presto Sidney ... I will wrote more later. Check out what I wrote earlier here and go to our Facebook page at : Cleveland Park Wines & Spirits. Cheers, TONY
Pictured above is Sylvie Franco ( family owns NINO FRANCO ) and me with the NINO FRANCO Prosecco that we brought to the Mayflower Wines & Spirits for the first time back in the eighties when no one knew Prosecco at all. It was just starting! The " Rustico " that they make is a great bottle to drink anytime. Buy some here at Cleveland Park Wines & Spirits and celebrate Sidney's life. Cheers, TONY
I left the store with Ravi at 9:30PM and heard some music being played - live - down in front of the old McDonald's location and it was a blues guitarist named Calvin Fox playing Jimi Hendrix's song " Red House " and I was moved and awed and so drawn to it that I had to stay and listen and I kept thinking of Sidney and the music and that it was carrying her to her next place and that the music was for her. I waited for Calvin to stop playing and when he did I put three dollars in his coffee cup and began to talk to him asking him questions and telling him about Sidney. I told him where I worked and we chatted as he told me his name, the name of the song, etcetera. I asked him if I could use his name and he said it was okay. Anyway, as far as I am concerned this live music of Curtis' was for you. Hope you heard it and enjoyed it. Cheers now at 11:25PM here on Saturday, April 9th, 2011. TONY
It's now Sunday, April 10th, 2011 at 3:18PM and I have been out cleaning our shed out back here at home in northern Virginia as well as putting some more red wine into my small wooden barrel that I make vinegar in and that the owner/chef Alain Planche of the LE RIVAGE French restaurant on the waterfront on the Potomac river in Washington D.C. gave me years ago. Thanks Alain : a whole lot of pleasure has been derived from this barrel as well as the one to make white wine in. Much appreciated.
I stumbled upon an old empty brown and faded bottle of 1959 FOSSI Chianti Classico that I intend to make some vinegar in soon. I have brought it inside here with me and intend to photograph it first, empty, however. I will do that tomorrow. I am way too tired just now having worked all morning and early afternoon on house projects here. I am, however, thrilled to have the bottle and here and now I will tell you what is written on the label alone which is remarkably good shape after all these years.
The FOSSI Chianti Classico 1959 label says : RISERVA Chainti Classic De Nominazione di Origine controllata FOSSI 1959 bottled by D. Fossi Fiesole Italy Imported By MAYFLOWER IMPORTS, LTD HYattsville, MD. Table Wine 750ml E Alcohol 12.7% By Vol. Product Of Italy.
The Small neck label above the larger label says : 0.750 B 0244159 Controllo Di Qualita Incarico Di Vigilanza Decretto Ministeriale 3-2 1979 Riserva. Wow, what a whole lot of information in two labels on one bottle of wine : I love it! I still have a bottle of the 1961 to drink some day which may be really soon. We will see. I may also have another bottle of old FOSSI Chianti Classico, too. I will check. I know we sold them going all the way back to the 1958 vintage and that sure was fun and special. We imported them directly to Washington D.C. and it was fun to have so many vintages to offer of the wine at the time. It was like being a kid in a candy store or a toy store all over again. What a special treat that all was! I will never forget the excitement of it all. When I do drink this last bottle or two I hope that Andrea Fossi is with us and we will toast him and his father and you Sidney and Michael, too as well as everyone else involved in all of this that I have already mentioned and including Peggy, Brennan and Shannon Downey, too. What a big and grand and glorious family we all were. What a whole lot of excitement we all generated the crazy and unique and various bunch of characters group that we were with all our various paths colliding together at that particular point and time there at the corner of M Streets and New Hampshire Avenue! Who would have imagined? Who would have guessed?
And Sidney I never did go over to Italy at this particular point in my life to visit your parents. That was a mistake. That would have been a very special eye-opener for me. Oh well, others will simply have to tell me about their experiences there at the time. Anyone is more than encouraged to share here in the " comments " section at the end of this blog. Please do share! Thanks and stay-tuned for more. TONY
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