Great to see Conte Ferdinando Guicciardini in the picture above smiling. It sure was a nice experience for me to briefly reconnect with him back in March of 2010 I believe? We were in northern Virginia at the annual Michael Downey ( I call it that because I knew Michael fairly well having worked with him for years at the Mayflower Wines & Spirits ) wine-tasting with many winemakers and wine owners. They have been doing this now for years and I have attended a number of them. I am almost always suckered into going because of my old friendship to both Andrea Fossi and Alessandro Furlan. I always ask Brennan Downey if either will be in attendance and go if one or both are. I love seeing them : it brings the old days back for me and I still love them ( those days back in the 1980's ). It's also good for business as I reconnect with many of the Italian winemakers and owners that I have grown to know since. It's a bonding for me and a reason to buy these wines and not someone else's as the wines are already excellent and I love to sell the wines of those that I have met and gotten to know ( and that have been in the store tasting their wines with our customers already ). I'd rather sell like this than to quote points and scores and reviews as for me that has really very little relevance and often is old information and is speaking about wines that tasted a certain way awhile ago. Just like you and me that are alive : so is wines : and we are all changing all the time , and all have highs and lows and everything depending on many quickly changing variables.
Anyway, as I started by saying above : I love seeing Ferdinando's smile above. he has been in the store in the past. I believe that it was Bill McKinney that got him to Cleveland Park Wines & Spirist for his first visit and his wine-tasting with our local customers? That was awhile back but it cemented and got the ball to roll really well for us at the store and behind selling both the CASTELLO DI POPPIANO dry reds as well as his wife's ( Annamaria Titt's ) excellent extra virgin olive oil. I still remember when there was a whole review about it in the Washington Post newspaper years ago : paragraph after rich paragraph of information, notations and observations about this liquid gold extra virgin Tuscan olive oil that is some of the very best made in the whole wide world. And made in miniscule quantities, too : that comes in two sizes. We are all sold out. We just sold the last bottle perhaps three or so weeks ago.
Nothing like reaching for the stars when you want to get a great photo. I often do this, too : though I do not look as good doing it as she does above. I think I introduced myself to her as I took this photo and we exchanged cards? I hope so. Must find that card!
Here I have framed Conte Ferdinando through the wine glass that I was using and with some of his dry Tuscan wine in my glass. Was it the POPPIANO Chianti Classic, the Reserva, the Colli Fiorentino " Il Cortile ", the Syrah or the Sangiovese Di Toscano " Tricorno "? I know that it was not the great POPPIANO Vin Santo that we love to sell so much ( greatest value for the money that we offer at Cleveland Park Wines & Spirits ) that is aged in chestnut and oak barrels.
I remember when Conte Ferdinando came to the store that I was pleasantly surprised by a visit from Raz that used to sell his wines when she worked for Michael Franklin of Franklin Selection Imports many years back. She wanted to see him having enjoyed selling his wines over the years and it was great to see her. The wines all showed well including the olive oil and some of everything sold while he was there. He signed a number of bottles and helped to make another link between him and his family's wines. We made another link, too between him and his wines and us and our customers : all becoming one bigger, happier, more imaginable family and world where there are actual contacts and connections and not simply just points and scores and what I refer to as abstracts and in fact distractions because they reveal very little about the wines themselves. A hard line I know that I have but one that I stick to fiercely and guard vigilantly with my whole body and soul between me, the points and the scores and our customers as well. Come and prove me wrong anytime.
Love your smile Ferdinando!
I took a whole series here of these pictures and here are but a very few of them. I remember Conte Ferdinando asking me for them and here it is two years later that he may actually see some of them? I am sorry for that if it is true. I have, however used a number already when writing more generally about these wine tastings - these annual Downey wine-tasting both here and at chatart.blogspot.com as well. Some of the pictures I do frame with my artist's perspective and so I often include those on my charart blog spot for you all. You should plug both in here above and at chatart to see more if you are interested?
Currently we have three wines from CASTELLO DI POPPIANO on our shelves : 1) the " Il Cortile " dry Chianti Colli Fiorentini, 2) the Reserva half-bottles of Chianti Classico ( $14.99 ) and the 3) Vin Santo 500 ml bottles at between $20-$25 a bottle I believe? As I said we just sold out of the extra virgin olive oil and will have to ask Brennan about those on his next visit to Cleveland Park Wines & Spirits here in Cleveland Park Washington D.C. N.W.
All is well and we are thrilled to represent these wines and have for years. We hope that Conte Ferdinando and his family are all fine and look forward to meeting his wife sometime in the future.
When my daughter and I went to Italy that October of 2010 I had contacted Castello Di Poppiano by email and they were more than pleased to have us come and visit. Unfortunately we simply did not have enough time to visit them I am sad to say. I still look forward to doing so sometime in the future. In the meantime we will continue to work with Brennan and his wines and perhaps even a bit later this year in 2012 see Conte Ferdinando once again at the Downey annual portfolio wine-tasting? I'll ask Brennan about that as well.
It was Brennan's father that many years ago came to Cleveland Park Wines & Spirits and presented his selection of wines to us himself. WE had a number of visits then from Michael himself that I knew quite well. Cheers e a presto! Anthony ( TONY ) Quinn
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