Cleveland Park Beer, Liquor & Wine

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IT'S THE HARD WEEK AFTER LABOR DAY WEEKEND

IT'S ALWAYS SO HARD FOR EVERYONE MENTALLY on this week that follows our Labor Day weekend as many take their last swim in their neighborhood pools, lifeguards return to school or go off to college and for many students to start school whatever grade they may be in. I was witness this weekend to this spectacle and even with a grayer day many young children were playing merrily to their hearts' content in our pool, even waiting patiently, feet dangling over the edge of the two diving boards for the bell to ring letting them know that they could once again dive and jump into the pool water on this last day. As I said in last week's email : everyone was squeezing the last drops of joy and relaxation and summer that they could before this Tuesday morning!

THE ABOVE is from the store email that I wrote and posted the first week of September 2012! Wow, seems like such a long time ago. How have things changed since then? How was that summer versus this year's summer? Do you all have fond memories from both?

LET'S KEEP SUMMER and OUR VACATIONS ALIVE as long as possible. I am going to do my best to try. So far so good. Even while this Labor Day weekend while I labored to water-blast our back wooden deck ( that's very large by the way ) I would take breaks to write my poems and also to type my old " Dinner Party " story - written by my own hand-writing from 1998-2001 : before " 50 Shades of Gray " onto my blogs. Great exercises both.

LADIES, what do you all think of the two lead characters picked to play the roles in the 3-book trilogy " 50 Shades Of Gray "? What beer, liquor , cider or wine did you drink while reading each book? Do you all know any men that read the three books? If so, what did they think? What beer, cider, liquor or wine did they drink while reading the books?

SPEAK UP MEN, here's your chance! I thought to myself this morning that reading the books might be a good idea so that I understand better what women want/ need/ are fascinated by? All us men should read these three books. But from what I have heard so far it just doesn't seem like I would really enjoy them? What do you ladies think? Let me know?

NOW WITH THE MOVIE in the works we need to put our heads together and see what beer. cider, liquor. liqueur and wine are appropriate for watching the movie, for any trial-runs before to see what might work best?

WE CAN DISCUSS this perhaps at one of our next weekend tastings? We may have dropped the ball already here on numerous occasions for not picking it up " and running with it " as the books were released and read voraciously by you?! Our loss, will have to try and make up for lost ground as we also try and keep ...

WHATEVER VESTIGES of SUMMER that we can wrangle and hold onto as, hopefully we wind into a lovely Indian Summer with low Humidity and baby blue skies and fall leaf foliage that has us ' oohing and wowing ' and pursing our lips to make one continuous " O " out of our mouths.

TAKE THE TIME to go outside and sit still and look up all around you. Sip some of the ST. GEORGE " Botanivore " California GIN ( On Special for $34.99 a 750ml bottle, 45% alcohol by volume,www.stgeorgespirits.com , Alameda, CA., since 1982 ) : handcrafted, " a botanical balancing act of the highest order, pot distilled from wildcrafted juniper and an array of choice herbs, spices and citrus."

THIS MAY HELP you all - give you a bit of grounding, a bit of focus, an attachment to the outdoors that is so much larger than us, especially as the gin works it's way past the portals of your lips and down the central trail of your throat and snakes it ways into every nook and cranny and spreads a warmth and a " charge ! ", and a " start! " and a " giddy-up! ", and a release from life's many unwanted pressures that distract you from your main purpose of just " being gloriously ". Feel the gentle purr, the slap of a whip-like burn that will light your guts and be like an internal bonfire all of your own making. Who will you share it with, that's the question now?

BUT HEY, YOU may rather have an IRON FIST " Velvet Glove " Stout instead from IRON FIST Brewing Company, whether you are in Vista, California or not?!? We have it On Special for $11.99 a 750ml bottle, 9% alcohol by volume, www.IronFistBrewing.com. They write on the back label : " You know the expression, ' A Velvet Glove and an Iron Fist'? It was coined to refer to a regime that used a soft exterior to hide it's punishingly unforgiving nature. This seems an apt description to our Velvet Glove. It's placid appearance and unparalleled smoothness hide the truth, this is one fiendishly unrelenting stout. Rich chocolaty espresso dominates the flavor profile, with a velvety smooth texture that will haunt your senses... "

WONDER IF A WOMAN wrote this text above for the IRON FIST Brewing Stout? If so, do you think that she might have been reading or read " 50 Shades Of Gray "?

WHAT PART of the 3-books might this IRON FIST Stout be truly appropriate? You all have to weigh-in on this as I have not read the book yet, but do plan to do so soon. HELP!

I KNOW, ENOUGH'S ENOUGH, or maybe not nearly enough! That's the conundrum facing us.

I JUST SPOKE TO TWO OF OUR delivery men that brought us more of the delicious dry white Veneto white Lugana 2012 from the southern tip of Lake Garda from AZIENDA AGRICOLLA OTTELLA, $14.99 a bottle, 12.5% alcohol by volume, ) , and I asked them if either of them had read " " 50 Shades of Gray "? They both said : " no ", one added : " But the movie's coming out, that's when I'll get a chance to see what it's all about." SO : when and if you do read one of the three books : have a glass or more of this deliciously refreshing Lugana white. You will like it.

IT'S ALSO a great reminder that you are still basking in the supreme pleasures and glories that are summer, being outside, having a grill, sitting in the shade and listening to the summer's wild and frivolous and mischievous-at-times-too escapades. Where and when day's melt into eventful evenings and that wind their ways into long and soulful, heartfelt and soul-bearing conversations, both public and some private over cigars and brandies, or BAILEY'S Irish Cream ( On Special for $25.99 ), or DOMAINE DE CANTON Ginger-saturated VSOP French cognac ( $31.99 ), too.

RAGE AGAINST THE COMING OF THE LIGHT! Do you think that Dylan Thomas might have said that ever in his life? How did he feel about those long nights that had to come to an end eventually with the dawn and the sun's poking it's round head over our horizon?!?

THEN, AS WE PUT TOGETHER A CASE of wines for the beach I asked our good male customer : " Have you ever read " 50 Shades Of Gray? " He responded : " No but that was not written for us to read ". I immediately said : " What! Why? " and we continued to talk about it and put together his case of a Baker's Dozen for his " Last Hurrah " at the beach. He's got some of the really fine Spanish Gran Reserva 2005 from Valencia, $13.99 a bottle. THIS IS AN INCREDIBLE deal and wine, both, amazing for this price : Spain's highest quality level from a great year and under $15 a bottle - impressive all around. I convinced him to buy 2 bottles of this.

BUT HEY : LET US HELP YOU make this process of an eventually disappearing summer be less painful than it has to be. You simply have to see it as another opportunity, a chance, a challenge and something to look forward to as hard as it may seem now.

AS YOU KNOW NOW, we have our " weekly Wednesday 3-Part Still-Non-Sparkling-Wine SALE again tomorrow . September 5th, 2012 :

IT'S ALSO , In Fact, A PORT, SHERRY, MARSALA, MADEIRA & SAKE SALE 2 : Mix these up with the non-sparkling wines and SAVE BIG :

1) BUY ANY 6 Or More Still Wine Bottles ( whether On Sale or not ) and SAVE another 15% OFF the marked sticker prices.

2) BUY ANY Still-Wine BOTTLE over $20 and SAVE 20% OFF the marked sticker price.

3) BUY ANY 12 Or More Still-Wine Bottles and SAVE 20% OFF the marked sticker prices, whether On Special already or not.

SAVE BIG @ Cleveland Park Wines & Spirits

IF YOU CANNOT COME call us and we will take your order over the phone.CALL : 202-363-4265, ask for Michel or Tony.

YOU CAN ALSO respond to this store email and give us your order over the phone. Include a phone number and we will call you if you like?

WE DELIVER for free here in Washington D.C. if your order is over $30.

WITH THIS SALE IN MIND I will continue to mention some of the GREAT DEALS that we have for you all here now:

1) MEURSAULT dry white Burgundy 2009 ( On Special for $44.99, regularly $53.99 a bottle, a great vintage, 13% alcohol by volume ) from PIERRE ANDRE au Chateau de Corton Andre is another steal for you all to consider when you want to really treat yourselves or a friend . With tomorrow's still-wine sale of any bottle over $20 the price comes to $35.99. That's a GREAT DEAL for this vintage, this famous village of 100% Chardonnay wines and from the really good house of PIERRE ANDRE!

2) 2011 Dry Red Burgundy Pinot Noir from the DOMAINE HENRI NAUDIN-FERRAND ( On Special for $14.99 a bottle,, 12% alcohol by volume ) : It's young and lively and lovely and so promising as it starts to shed some of it's steely exterior and permit one's tongue to penetrate to the juicy liquid meat of these Pinot Noir grapes that gave up their lives to reward us for our patience and admiration. SO : OPEN the bottle 45 minutes before drinking it, even decant it : it will deliver, it will come through but it cannot be rushed! What a treat.

3) Pedro Ximenez dry white Chilean food wine, this 2012 Reserva from the Elqui Valley ( $11.99 a bottle, 13% alcohol by volume,www.falernia.com ) is made from a Spanish sherry grape by an Italian and made in Chile! On top of all of this it's also made from a grape that makes a famous sweet sherry and here it makes a dry and complex dry white that is laden with gobs of nutty overtones, a touch of oxidation perhaps, and honeysuckle and honey accents that will temp all those remaining bees and bumble bees that are still around storing up their food treasures for the winter that will eventually displace this glorious AUGUST SUMMER that we have enjoyed here in the Washington D.C. metropolitan region. This is a fine food wine indeed. It's got all the weight, the presence, the fortitude, the stamina and the character to withstand any barrage of extra-strong flavors and tastes, textures, layers, sauces ... herbs, hot-heat peppers, spices - whatever is there!

4) " Ship Of Fools " 2010 dry white blend of 50% Pinot Blanc, 45% Pinot Gris and 5% Pinot Noir ( $18.99, 13% alcohol by volume,www.cgtwines.com , from the Chateau Grand Traverse, Ltd, Traverse City, MI ) is a flavorful and tasty white that will taste great with many meals now. Drink something fun and exciting and that will please and surprise you both. Support one of the States that is not so well-known for it's wine but should be when you try this white blend. A treat. Cheers. Just a couple of bottles left of this before we move into the " new " vintage.

COME FOR OUR SALE of STILL WINES tomorrow, Wednesday, Sept. 5th, 2012 and inquire about our weekend wine-tastings. Buy some of these great wines I have written about above and SAVE 20% OFF the marked sticker prices. What a great way to save here and have both everyday wines as well as some great special wines, too.

TAKE FULL ADVANTAGE of our three-Part Still-Wine SALE above. If you cannot come please call us ( 202-363-4265 ) or respond to this email with your orders, questions or requests. Let's work together. Cheers.

MORE WINES FOR YOU ALL :

2 Dry Reds :

1) Salice Salentino Riserva 2008 from CANTELE ( $13.99 a bottle, 13% alcohol by volume, www.cantele.it, from Guagnano, Italy in Puglia ) : is made from 100% Negroamaro grapes, is a D.O.C. wine, the flavors are really well-balanced with softer tannins and acids so the fruit pulls everything together and the taste is so satisfying!

2) Monferrato Rosso 2007 From SULIN ( $17.99, 14.5% alcohol by volume, ) is a blend of the grapes I believe with a lot of Barbera in it. Brennan tasted the Brabera when he was here this past Labor Day weekend and we enjoyed that very much. Too bad we could not open this as well as I would have loved to have tried them side-by-side. I know that this dry rosso 2007 is fuller and more robust and flavorful. It probably also needs a meal. From Italy's famous and fabulous Piemonte region this is a well-focused, firm and tasty dry red Italian blend. I did try it back in March of 2012 and that is why it is here. I really liked it then and will probably like it even more now that it has another several months of bottle age since my taste buds last crossed paths with it. Cheers. Thanks for the excellent Saturday wine-tasting here with you Brennan from 2-6 PM. THIS WAS TAKEN from last year's store email. We still have it, though, AS WELL AS the " Sine " 2010 Barbera Del Monferrato, $13.99, 13.5% alcohol by volume. BOTH are wonderful and balanced and great with a meal!

BUT HEY : WE ARE SO MUCH MORE than just wine!

SANTOS, WHAT HAVE YOU For US ?!? ALE, BEER, & CIDER :

TWO FABulous PUMPKIN ALES :

1) Our PUMPKIN ALE from SARANAC ( On Special for $5.49 a Jug that has a handle - like old bottles of whiskey to chug! It looks like a 750ml bottle, I like it, go to : www.saranac.com for more info ) : new and exciting, and certainly a fun presentation and SARANAC does a fine job. Come get some while you still can, may be very limited availability in this presentation. Ask Santos.

2) Fall Hornin' Pumpkin Ale from ANDERSON VALLEY, Boonville, CA. ( $11.99 a 6-pack of 12-ounce cans, 6% alcohol by volume, go to : www.avbc.com for more information ) : Santos says that he has never seen this before, it's a first for us, SPECIAL, BE THE FIRST to try it here in Washington D.C. Be the first to tell others about it. Sounds so new and exciting and cutting edge. After all, ANDERSON VALLEY is high quality indeed, since 1987...

BEER :

1) Oktoberfest from GOOSE ISLAND ( On Special for $9.99 a 6-pack of 12 ounce bottles, 6.4% alcohol by volume, Chicago, Illinois, go to : www.gooseisland,com for more information ) : WHAT?!? Oktoberfest now, it's just September, not even close to October yet! But that's the wave of the future, release everything really early these days. Keep that in mind as you plan your buying strategies, that way you will not be disappointed later when you go in search of it.

AND RAVI, What SAY YOU About LIQUOR, LIQUEUR?

1) Rum from FLOR De CANA , this 7-Year Old GRAN RESERVE , Slow Aged ( $24.99, 750ml bottle, 40% alcohol by volume, from Nicaragua, imported, kosher, go to : www.flordecana.com for more info ) has a lovely darkly-golden patina, a sheen, a scent, a silky essence and perfume that wafts so un-alarmingly and straight-pure to our cores as we smell and sip, and pause to reflect how lucky we are to have this wonderful moment together with still all our senses and mental faculties clear and intact : ohhhhh yes! A great time to smile and grin and " wax-poetic " about our recent exploits and adventures, some we share some we keep buried so deeply, privately that this FLOR De CANA can only know.

2) Red & Blue Bikini 2-Piece from SKYY Vodka ( $15.99, 40% alcohol by volume, San Fransisco, CA. , www.skyyvodka.com for more info ) : the bottle packaging SCREAMS OUT summer and warm and hot weather, at the beach or by the lake, of bathing suits and relaxation and feeling stress-free and relaxed and smiling broadly, grinning sheepishly, burning the candle at both ends for as long as there is light and flame and any reserve of energy left at our disposal to carry us along until we drop with delirious glee and rest and all-consuming summer's bountiful satisfactions. Buy this and keep refilling it with more SKYY Vodka to keep the summer alive for yourselves.

AS YOU CAN PLAINLY READ with all of this that I am still clearly in a SUMMER'S STATE-OF-MIND and happy to still be so. SO : please bear with me, I have a whole lot weighing on all of this, a lot of pressure to keep summer with us this week. Cheers.

3) Rare Fine Champagne VSOP French Cognac from HINE ( $62.99, 750ml bottle, ) : some really fine and smooth French cognac. I was drinking some with my neighbor about three weeks ago as he got ready to deploy again to Saudia Arabia once again. We smoked some Astral cigars I still owned and drank some of this very special HINE VSOP Cognac and told some personal stories as 50 shades of stress dropped off our clothes and we shared our humanness and our honesty : how HINE RARE and exciting was that ( !?! ) into the wee hours of the night. Work was hard because of this but it was a price I'd gladly pay all over again. I thanked him for his service and keeping our country a bit safer for those of us civilians that stay behind here and never see what he and the others see or experience. Cheers!

4) Walnut from THE " Original " NOCELLO from TOSCHI ( $31.99, imported from Italy, 24% alcohol by volume, from Savignano sul Panaro ( MO ), Italy. What fun, still popular after all these many years. Great to drink while reading an all-absorbing novel.

FOUR MORE WINES To Enjoy While Reading 50 Shades Of Gray:

1) Sancerre Dry Loire Valley White, 100% Sauvignon Blanc, from the DOMAINE De CHEZATTE ( $22.99, 750ml bottle, 12.5% alcohol by volume, go to : www.domaine-chezatte.fr for more information ) : steely clean, crisp, vibrant, like plucking a taut guitar string or violin string, the flavors will resonate and reverberate long and satisfyingly on your tongue and full palate. What a tasty treat, enjoy with some fresh goat's cheese! I asked a Frenchman earlier while discussing this wine : " Have you read : ' Fifty Shades Of Gray ? ' " He responded : " No ", but that his wife had.

2) Cracklin Savie Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc from LAKE CHALICE , New Zealand ( $18.99 a bottle, 12.5% alcohol by volume ,www.lakechalice.com ) : mature, multi-layered, more weight and complexity with the bottle-aging - you can lose yourselves and your palate and tongue in the folds and the nooks and crannies that have miraculously appeared in the tapestry of it's flavors : Sauvignon Blanc takes a solid form of marble and stature and a Rodin-esque quality that shouts for food, for a meal, for a release from it's bottled-confinement. Be the one, release it, free it, unshackle it's myriads of flavors, textures, taunts and teases and pleasures.

3) " Pure Syrah " from La Maison GUYOT, 2010 ( $14.99 a bottle, dry Northern French Rhone wine from a great year , 13% alcohol by volume ) : effusive raw and thick Syrah toasted-roasted fruit and all the spiciness and lovely messiness and mildness and munchiness that comes in a liquid Syrah form : from the most famous region in the world for a Syrah's true, unvarnished, humble and mighty and amazing expression. Cheers.

4) Lambrusco Vino Rosso Frizzante-sparkling , this " Rigoletto " from ROBERTO NEGRI in Italy's Emilia-Romagna region ( $18.99, 750ml bottle, 10.5% alcohol by volume , San Giorgio, ( MN ), Italy ) : it's dry and sparkling and fresh and lively and bubbling and earthy and spicy and yet also bright and frothy : EVERYTHING in perfect balance. What a wonderful treat to enjoy with smoked meats at a meal or afterward with some Biscotti. Lovely. Diego poured it here this weekend and everyone loved it. It was a real treat for everyone this past Labor Day weekend. Grazie Diego.

WEEKEND TASTINGS :

FRIDAY, September 6th, 2013 ( 5-8PM ) : We have Jodie Jackman here to taste an assortment of her fine portfolio of wines. We will taste some of the VALDIPIATTA Tuscan reds, the AN/ 2 from Mallorca from ANIMA NEGRA using four indigenous grape varieties, a Portuguese wine, too : and at least something from the Western Hemisphere as not to forget it , too makes fine wines! Call us for more info, or just show up and be happily surprised!

SATURDAY, September 7th, 2013 ( 2-6PM ) : We have Sotiris Bafitis himself here to try some FABulous dry Greek whites, reds and rose : and maybe even an Italian wine as well? What a great tasting this will be. He's a great Greek Ambassador, one everyone should meet at least once in their lives!

JOIN US : ALL our weekend tastings are always free and everyone is welcome. Cheers.

I AM SURE I HAVE FORGOTTEN many things but it's time finally now to proof and send this. Cheers. Thanks for everything. Be sure an follow us on Twitter at : cpwinespirits and also at wineenabler, and LIKE us on Facebook at : Cleveland Park Wines & Spirits.

AGAIN, THANKS FOR EVERYTHING > Happy Birthday today Dave Hansen. Hope you got to see the Richard Dieberkorn art at the National Mall today. Looked really good from what I read and saw in this past weekend's Washington Post newspaper. Take care all ... you are all the best, the cream of the crop ... TONY