Anthony Quinn's Cleveland Park Wines & Spirits Store Email Written, Sent & Posted Today, Tuesday August 6th, 2013 : Enjoy it! Cheers!

                                                                                                                                                                                                                    

Cleveland Park Ales.Beers,Ciders,Liqueurs,Liquors,Waters& Wines!

FORGET? FORGOTTEN? The Pace Continues at such an intensity that our blinders are all and in place to protect us from being bombarded with too much information that we cannot possibly absorb. SO : Let me share with you a story to start this email.   IT'S ABOUT ELSA, it's a bout one of our customers that we have known for years like so many of you. It's time to put names to so many of your faces. This is the face of Elsa. She's such a wonderful character and I met her years ago here and we always spoke of the VALENTIN BIANCHI " Elsa's Vineyard " dry red Malbec, and sometimes even of the " Elsa's Vineyard dry Chenin Blanc. How many of you know and remember these wines? It goes back awhile, it really does.   WITH MY OWN " Bottle Age " I like to share some perspective, some history, some of the " then " to get to the " now " of today. I hope you do not mind, I hope you enjoy and can use this information as you navigate through the myriad that is today's wine and food scene here in Washington D.C.? ALWAYS please feel free to ask me for any clarification on anything that I write about.   I WOULD LOVE to hear more from you all so that we may all do our jobs better in these difficult times where every sale is important to us from the smallest to the largest. So please do comment , no inquiry or comment from you will not be welcome. As a matter of fact, any comment or inquiry from you today is a reason for celebration as today, so many push the LIKE button , or not, and my constant question when I see that something is LIKED is : " What is ' liked ' about it?!? " . SO : let's celebrate more and share more and please tell us what you LIKE or LIKE-NOT( ! ) about what we are doing or failing to do for you?   BUT BACK TO ELSA, I did not know that this fine, beaming, sparkling-eyed lady's name was Elsa. It would not have mattered, except it is always nice to know a customer's name. It helps break the ice when we can address you all by name and not use the ancient old terms of " Governor " - Herbie used to say that , or " Buddy ", or " Sport ".   I SIMPLY KNEW ELSA and who she was and then I began to know her daughter, too that shops here as well when she is home. Now I am getting to know Elsa's daughter's boyfriend-fiancee as well. It's all one big-glorious family here.   THE " Elsa's Vineyard " Malbec was THE FIRST Argentina Malbec to come here to Washington D.C. Wow, that's something, that's a bit or real history for us all.   BACK THEN " Malbec " WAS NOTHING here in Washington D.C. back in mid-to-late eighties. No one knew of Malbec back then except for the " Black Wines "  of France's Lot region south of Bordeaux where the Malbec was wither used 100% to make these dark and inky wines that required a whole lot of patience and cellaring-time before drinking.   I USED TO HAVE many conversations with my father when we lived in Paris, France back in the early seventies about the " black wines " of Cahors which is both a picturesque town and region as well. We started buying our Cahors at the local Nicolas wine stores and then started to patronize Steven Spurrier's Cave De La Madeleine before the earth-moving-wine-changing-landscape wine-tasting of Steven's back in 1976 when California and French wines were tasted blind.   SO ELSA would always ask me for the " Elsa's Vineyard " Mendoza, Argentina dry value-oriented Malbec that we sold forever for $4.99, them $5.99, then $ 6.99 a bottle : get the picture. It was a great quaffing dry red from Argentina and it sold really well.   ALFREDO BARTHOLOMAUS and NORA FAVELUKES of Billington Imports beat the pavements here and around Washington D.C. and placed and sold well this " value " dry red Malbec, and " value " dry white Chenin Blanc.   " Elsa's Vineyard " was named for the daughter of owner Valentin Bianchi in San Rafael, Mendoza, in the southern part of Mendoza. I was there. I was wined and dined by the Bianchi family and met brothers Roberto and Valentin, their parents, their " other " brother, but I do not remember ever meeting Elsa and that saddens me as I did walk down and photograph her vines named after her.   I TOOK PICTURES with a camera with film in it, not digital. I had rolls of film and I took them to a store to have developed and I was like a giddy child waiting breathlessly for them to be developed so that I could see the pictures I had once taken in both Mendoza and in Buenos Aires, Argentina.   BACK THEN in 1995 Malbec was still relatively unknown. It was the Cabernet Sauvignon that was " king " back then with the NAVARO COREAS " Collecion Privada " that everything was once measured against : always the Cabernet Sauvignon. The whites were relatively unknown back then.   IT TOOK PAUL HOBBS that used to make the wines of SIMI WINERY in California to go to Argentina and to make at CATENA the oaky and buttery marriage in a Chardonnay that made people look to Argentina for more than Cabernet Sauvignon. ALL OF A SUDDEN, besides the BUZZ over the red dry Cabernet Sauvignon there was also tremendous BUZZ over the dry Chardonnay of Nicolas Catena. There was no buzz yet over the Malbec grape. It was still being developed and pretty much in the shadows.   THE BUZZ would also soon come on winemaker/owner Susana Balbo's dry and aromatic and floral Torrontes that we still sell really well today. She was the lonely female Argentina winemaker working alongside many men winemakers : together this group brought Argentina wines to where it is today. According to Susana that spent some time here with us at Cleveland Park Wines & Spirits, everyone discouraged her from making her version of a dry , floral white Torrontes, and yet once out it sold fabulously and everyone had to make a similar version and follow in her footsteps!   NOW the BUZZ for the Malbec grape has come along, and it's still very much with us today. So VALENTIN BIANCHI and their " Elsa's Vineyard " Malbec were way ahead of the crowd and deserve to be remembered for blazing the trail, being THE FIRST to introduce their Malbec to us here in the United States back in the mid eighties. Gracias Valentin, gracias Elsa e Elsa, e Alfredo e Nora e todos involved in getting the ball rolling here so many years ago when the wine scene was so very different.   GRACIAS ELSA our good customer for being here last week and tasting with Jim Reeves and taking a picture and posting it on our Cleveland Park Wines & Spirits Facebook page. I have been meaning now for a week to share some of this story and am now finally doing it here in today's Tuesday weekly store email. Thanks for giving me this platform to share some of the history of wine here in Washington D.C. Northwest as I have seen it unfold and grow, brands coming and going, trends appearing and disappearing, brands and grapes becoming discovered and then forgotten over the last thirty-plus years. What a glorious trip it has been.     BUT HEY, IT'S TIME to give Santos and CERVEZA, ALE, BEER and CIDER a chance here now :          1) " Noble Rot " Ale Brewed with Grape Must and with grape must added from DOGFISH HEAD ( On Special for $10.99 a 1 Pt. 9.4Fl. Oz Bottle, 9% alcohol by volume, Milton, Deleware, www.dogfish.com) : " Off-centered ales for off-centered people. We brew this unique, sorta-saison with a little help from our friends at Alexandria Nicole Cellars using botrytis-infected Viognier grape must. This ' noble rot ' magnifies its complexity and long finish. " Cheers.        2) RUBAEUS Pure Raspberry Ale from FOUNDERS Brewing since 1997, Brewed For Us ( $13.99 a 4-pack of 15 IBU'S, 5.7% alcohol by volume, www.FoundersBrewing.com , Grand Rapids, MI. ) : " Malt beverage fermented with raspberries. " Packaging made from 100% post-consumer recycled content brewed and bottled by founders brewing CO. ... Crack it, pour it, love it ...        3) Double Dark Abbey Ale 1128 Phoenix Ardet Nec Consumitur from GRIMBERGEN ( On Special for $14.99 a 6-pack of 12-ounce bottles, 6.5% alcohol by volume, Belgium ) : " GRIMBERGEN Double is a rich, dark Burgundy ale with a white head. Double has undergone two fermentations which give this ale a chocolaty, toffee taste with a brandy-like finish. "     RAVI: What LIQUOR & LIQUEUR Have You?!?        1) Passion Fruit Triple-Distilled Vodka from SMIRNOFF , No. 21 Recipe ( On Special for $13.99 a 750ml bottle, 70 Proof, distilled from premium grain, USA ) : last week we had lots of requests for Passion Fruit products and we " came to the rescue " with this SMIRNOFF. Come check it out : something must be going on, Passion Fruit must be hot now! What have you all heard? Cheers. It's here for you now. Come check it out.        2) Rum Cream from CRUZAN :  a Rich Cream Liqueur with natural flavors ( $14.99 a 750ml bottle, since 1760 - who remembers that far back? What were you all doing in 1760 in a previous life? Drinking CRUSAN Rum we are sure! This is 15% alcohol by volume, go to :www.cruzanrum.com for more info, Deerfield, Illinois, USA ) : " We combine the finest quality ingredients and rich traditions of master blending to produce our creamy, smooth, and distinctive flavor. Enjoy! "        3)  Single Malt Scotch Whisky of Glendullan, since 1897, THE SINGLETON 12 Year-Old ( $42.99, a 750ml bottle, 40% alcohol by volume, Keith, Banffshire, Scotland ) : " Matured for twelve years, aged in sherry & bourbon casks, ... perfectly balanced, naturally rich and smooth ... from the heart of Speyside, we make it slowly ... in a unique balance of European Sherry Oak and American Bourbon Oak casks ... " Go to : SingletonGlenullan@consumer-care.net for more valuable information.        4) KINKY Liqueur Get Kinky!  ( On Special for $19.99 a 750ml bottle, 17% alcohol by volume, go to : www.kinkyliqueur.com for more info , Princeton, MN ) : Enjoy over ice, with lemon-lime soda or in your favorite kinky cocktail. ... a naughty fusion of super premium vodka distilled 5 times with succulent mango, blood orange liqueur and passion fruit. " Cheers!      WINE From Michel & Tony : So Many!             WHITE :        1)  100% Insolia 1012 indigenous dry white from VALLE DELL'ACATE in Sicily ( $11.99, 12.5% alcohol ) is an absolute delight to drink now in this weather. It's so bright, lively and refreshing and is guaranteed to make you feel pretty good about things, brighter about life and yourself and your present surely, too! WOW!        2) IGP  Dry White Blend , this F Cotes Catalanes 2012 from the DOMAINE FERRIER RIBIERE , $13.99, 13.5% alcohol by volume is showing so well that tomorrow we will have it open for you all to sample and enjoy here after work. Come taste and let's talk about what foods it will complement most. Cheers.        3) Roussanne 2011 indigenous dry French grape variety best-known in France's southern Rhone valley where it is often blended with some Marsanne and even some Grenache Blanc and Clairette and others, too. Here it's from California's southern region San Luis Obispo, from TOLOSA Winery   ( $18.99, 13.2% alcohol by volume, ) and it's bright, crisp, so amazingly lively and bright at fresh and engaging : PERFECT hot-weather white, a treat! Tasted here by us this past Saturday and it sure does show well : what a wonderful liquid conversationalist!        4) 80% Pinot Blanc/ 20% Pinot Gris " Caprice " off-dry white wine from MATELLO and Oregon's Yamhill-Carlton district ( $23.99, 11.8% alcohol by volume , McMinnville, Oregon ) : so smooth and creamy and full and pleasing on the palate. No bite or edge, just a lush magic carpet ride of flavors as you step onto John Kay's Magical Carpet and take flight into the stratosphere of taste and comfort and pleasurable flavor sensations ! Oh, say can you taste all of this?!? Give it a try. As MATELLO writes : " Cricket or Frog / which makes the perfect sound / for a summer night " ... Go to : matellowine.com for more palatable suggestions.        5) HUGL Weine dry Gruner Veltliner from Austria, this 2012 is NOW AVAILABLE in the 750ml size bottle, $9.99 a bottle, 13.5% alcohol by volume : ALWAYS delivers for the money. Cheers.        6) I Basalti  2012 dry white Italian Soave from the CANTINA Di GAMBELLARA using the Gambellara indigenous Veneto grape variety ( $7.99 a 750ml bottle, 11.5% alcohol by volume, go to :www.cantinagambellara.it ) : " Soave Basalti is named for the Basaltic outcropping on which the golden garganega grapes that make this wine are grown. ... using Pergola trellising ... goes best as an aperitif or with fish, salad or chicken dishes." LOVE it, love it's low price, too : bone-chillingly refreshing and DRY!          7) COCOCCIOLA Indigenous dry Italian white from the Abruzzo region, this Terre Di Chieti I.G.T. TERRA VALSE from the CANTINA FRENTANA, 2011, 13% alcohol by volume, was tasted here this last Friday by Scott Calvert of Monument Imports , at $17.99 is an utter delight to enjoy, to feel really good, to be pleased, to be entertained, to be storied ( as in this white tells you it's story as you sip it ), and the flavors AMPLIFY as you continue to let it weave itself in and out of your senses. Cheers. A fine hot weather food wine to be enjoyed thoroughly outside.              ROSE :        1) Chiaretto Classico 2012  Mostly Corvina Grape Dry Rose Blend W/ Molinarra, Negrara and other grapes, too that make fine Bardolino red wines from MARCHESINI  ( $13.99 a bottle, 12% alcohol by volume, from Italy's Veneto region in Bardolino by Lake Garda ) : NOTHING is any nicer for the humidity because it refreshes, cuts through the air and creates a lovely breeze all by itself that serves to move things along around us, and catch us up in it's motion-commotion! LOVELY.      2) Rose MARTINEZ LACUESTA 2012 dry Spanish Rioja ( $10.99, estate bottled, 13% alcohol by volume, a wonderfully rich and pleasing dry Tempranillo blend - a treat, also a very fine value for everyday enjoyment!        3) TROIS AMIS dry rose 2011 from France's Vin De Pays Du Grad ( $8.99, 13% alcohol by volume from Route Des Vins Imports, ) is both an amazing deal as well as an amazing wine. It was still good after two-weeks' being open. And on the first day it was pure sunlight filtered through the grapes just picked -that's how fresh this dry inexpensive rose is! GREAT VALUE.          RED :        1) Sangiovese from Italy's Romagna region, this " Le Vigne Nuove " from DREI DONA , this Forli Rosso ( $13.99, 13.5% alcohol by volume, www.dreidona.it ) is showing really well and when combined with a meal the liquid-music sounds it makes plumb the depths of our soul and settle really nicely in the pits of our guts. The real true experience, one not to be missed. Thanks, grazie Enrico that is the owner, and Regis our local rep for Roanoke Imports.          2) Tempranillo from Spain's Ribera del Duero region from MARQUES DEL CAMPO ( $17.99, 14% alcohol by volume, sustainable viticulture and grape-growing , from Burgos, Spain ) : there is good body and weight here, the wine is still young, best with a meal, don't rush it : needs to be cajoled to reveal more of itself.        3) AR GUENTOTA Old Vine 2009 Malbec from Arentina's Lujan de Cuyo in the Mendoza region, this BELASCO DE BAQUEDANO dry red is made from 103 year-old-vines. Still very young, may be enjoyed now but it will continue grow magically and spiritually into it's next five-to-ten-to-fifteen years of life. No need to rush this. Made at 3.346 feet above sea level and aged for 12 months in French oak barrels :  " Ar GUENTOTA means " Cuyo's soul " in the language of the Huarpe Indians , the first inhabitants of Mendoza river valley's Cuyo region. It was the spirit of those people, who with great respect, effort and persistence, achieved an alliance with the dessert to create the oasis that thrives today." Wow, this is impressive, this is wonderful, this is special indeed. BUY, store away, wait patiently, respect this wine, let it grow and develop slowly.        4) Petite Sirah 2010 Barrel Select from Napa Valley, $37.99 a bottle, 14.5% alcohol by volume, www.elysewinery.com ) : big and full-flavored, dusty-earthy dry, needs to age more, best with food, a real treat for us to discover here as so many of you are in love with the Petite Sirah grape, and this is a nice one to buy and to lay away if you can and drink in another 3-7 years! Get some now!               THREE From TORBRECK , Barossa Valley, Australia:        1) 2004 " Descendant " , $105.99 a bottle, 14.5% alcohol by volume, www.torbeck.com , by David Powell ), 92% Shiraz, 8% Viognier ), gown & made by TORBRECK Vintners, Roennfeldt Road, Marananga, S.A. Cheers.      2) 2003 " The Factor " Shiraz , $106.99, 14.5% alcohol by volume, www.torbreck.com.      3) " RunRig " 2003, $203.99, 14.5% alcohol by volume,  95% Shiraz, 5% Viognier.     WEDNESDAY 3-Part Sake, Port, Madeira, Marsala, Sherry, Still-Wine/Non-Sparkling Wine SALE :        1) Buy any wine above for $20 or More a bottle and SAVE 20% OFF the marked sticker price, whether on sale already or not.      2) BUY any 6 or more of these , solid or mixed of existing store inventory and SAVE 15% OFF the marked sticker prices.         3) BUY any 12 or more bottles of these categories listed above and SAVE 20% OFF the marked sticker prices.        Call Michel or Tony if you need assistance at : 202-363-4265. Cheers.          THANKS FOR EVERYTHING. We appreciate it all! Please LIKE us on Facebook at : Cleveland Park Wines & Spirits and also follow us on Twitter at : cpwinespirits and also at : wineenabler . Take care, and thanks again,   TONY