THE FUTURE OF BRALVIN?! Brazil's Fine Wines Tasted Monday, October 15th, 2012 @ The Charbroil Grill Brazilian Churrascuria Restauarnt, 22092 in Woodbridge, Virginia from 1-4PM W / Bralvin Import's Launch/ GO BRASIL! GO WINES OF BRASIL!

I am sorry to say that, for the moment my bringing wines from Brasil into the UNited States has been put on hold. Not my doing : my partner at Bralvin Laurent Donchegay decided without telling me that he would close Bralvin and only after he had done it and contacted these fine owners and wineries shown here to tell them Bralvin was closing , only after that did he tell me. He also closed our Go Daddy site and so all my correspondence has now been lost to me, something for which I am deeply sorry. However, when I heard this in an email from Laurent I did not panic and I did not do anything stupid or that I would regret later. Instead I waited patiently to see what would happen. That was back in late January or early February 2013 and I am very pained as I know that these wineries were working hard and everything had been approved to bring the wines here to the UNited States : we had finally gotten the Brazilian Government label approval and the orders were being readied as we had an order from each of these wineries to import here to the United States.

I would still very much like to get the wines here and the problem is the money involved in getting them here and stored in a warehouse or two or three, depending while we all go out and beat the pavement, so-to-speak, and get the wines sold to the various retail stores, restaurants, bars, clubs, hotels, etcetera. It takes planning and constant work to keep the wines in the attention of / in front of these various people that can buy and serve or resell them, depending on the type of operation that they run here in the U.S.

The pictures that I have taken here ( or perhaps Katarina Zuber, I think these are hers, too ? ) are from our Brazilian Win-Tasting launch in Woodbridge, Virginia in October 2012. They were the samples that Laurent and I collected in the ten-day trip that we took to Brasil in late June, 2012 and stayed in the wine town of Bento Goncalves at the Vittoria Dall'Onder Hotel. Ana Paula Valenti, then of the Wines Of Brasil was nice enough to get them all collected from us at our hotel and mailed here to the United States for us. Obregado Ana Paula. We did not have enough time to get samples of all the wines that we wanted to have sent to the U.S. and these only represent some of the wines that we decided in the end to import here. It's a hard and long , complex, with hidden costs and lots-of-surprises process. It takes lots of tries and lots of patience and deep-enough pocketbooks of money.

There were and still are many smaller wholesalers interested in coming to try these wines if we ever get them here. They had been asking me all along : where and when will we see the wines and get to try the final selections? They were expecting them to arrive in February, so was I. I had no idea that this would happen, not in a million years. I want to make it up to all those that put their faith and trust in me in this daring and exciting project that can still work. I have been working daily/ weekly on the Facebook Bralvin site to build up interest in our Bralvin import of Brazilian wine to the U.S. I have got the attention of many in Brasil and am only sorry that they do not comment more on the site in Portuguese and let us know any of their thoughts or questions or opinions. Why is that? I ask questions on the site and never get answers? It's a team effort as I have said all along and I certainly would like to hear from more of those interested in this project that also includes " Everything Brasil, Not Only Wines ! ". Please go to our Bralvin home page on Facebook and " like " us and give us whatever suggestions, feedback, concerns that you may have. We can and should work together. Wines Of Brasil has known about us and Barbara Ruppel was in contact with me until Bralvin's Go Daddy page disappeared, probably making her wonder what happened to us? TO Barbara and the rest of the Wines Of Brasil I say that I am still very much here and not intending to go away and disappear. On the contrary, I am working to learn Portuguese and to continue what I have started. I have continued to post daily on the Bralvin Facebook apage and to post at : chatbrasil.blogspot.com as often as I am able. Both sites as well as my original ones : chatwine.blogspot.com, chatart.blogspot.com, chatpoetry.blogspot.com are all open and working and being added to as often as I am able.

On top of all of this I am still posting weekly at the Facebook page where I work, buy and sell wines : Cleveland Park Wines & Spirits, 3423 Connecticut Avenue N.W. Washington D.C. 20008 , tel : 202-363-4265, anthony.quinn@clevelandparkwines.com ); and I am there five days a week promoting and selling Brazilian wines to even many Brazilians that are not sure whether to try and buy them?!? How is this possible? The wines of Brasil are excellent, really excellent!!!

In some ways I feel very much like a lone voice out here singing the praises of Brazilian wines and that is both a challenge to me as well as a bit sad as I would certainly like to hear more from those that believe in the wines as I do? I cannot be the only one out there that believes in the wines of Brasil? I refuse to believe that. And if I am one of the few I will do everything in my power to make them better known.

I have offered my services to the Wines Of Brasil and been told that for the moment that they do not need my help. This is a big disappointment to me as I am ready to devote myself entirely to this project of getting the wines of Brasil here to the United States. I would love to help. I want to help and I wish someone or a group of you all would contact me , reach out to me, and help me to continue this grand adventure that I have started with Laurent and must now continue on my own. HELP! AJUDA! You can reach me at : tonythewineguy@gmail.com.

I am still so very excited about all of this. I loved my trip to Brasil in late June, 2012 : in Brasil's winter : ten glorious days there. What a grand adventure and treat that all was. It has changed me for the better ... forever and ever. I will continue to support here in the United States " All things Brazilian including the wine. Please help me, reach out to me, let's talk and see how we can help each other. I will work on learning the Portuguese as communicating and understanding one another is a huge issue. WE have to trust one another and believe that we are working together and not against each other. That's what our ten-day trip to Brasil was all about : to meet you, to gain your trust, and to get a btter idea of what we would be working with? On every point it was an amazing discovery for me and one that I believe in completely and embrace wholeheartedly. Cheers and bravo to you all and I await news, opinions, suggestions, proposals from you all. Write in Portuguese, that's okay. I will translate. Hope you like these pictures and what I have written : GO BRASIL ! GO WINES OF BRASIL! Let's get to work now while we still have enough time before the World Cup and the next Olympics - both there! Cheers, ... ola, bom dia e obregado a todos ... Anthony ( TONY ) Quinn