I met Carmelia two days ago as she came shopping for two bottles of Chardonnay and asked me if we had KENDALL JACKSON? I said " No ". but that I had an assortment of other California chardonnays depending on her needs? I said, too that we had carried the KENDALL JACKSON Chardonnay but were out and that we had not had many requests for it. She probed a bit deeper about this and I said that we wer trying to keep many of the smaller vineyards alive in California and not the biggest or most successful as KENDALL JACKSON. I said : " We're a small store, we support small wineries. ". She smiled her gentle smile where her eyes beam brightly - boy, there's a light inside you Carmelia, and I love it! Oh, before I go on I have to say that as we approached our American chardonnay section Carmelia told me that she was not the average customer that perhaps did not know their wines well. She continued with that she was a bartender for the Marriott Hotel and she was implying that she knew her stuff and that not just anything would fly with her. I LOVED that, too. I loved her subtle fire ; a force to be reckoned with! So I showed her the SILVERADO 2010 Carneros Chardonnay, $19.99, 14.2% alcohol and told her the story of how it was Walt Disney's widow that owned it. I was implying that there was not a money problem and that there was more than enough for SILVERADO Vineyards to do their job well. Carmelia also wanted to know if we had any Napa Valley Chardonnays? It is nice now that I think of the connection of SILVERADO Vineyards and the " new " Disney movie about Mr. Banks and Mary Poppins with Tom Hanks and Emma Thompson in it that is just out! I will post this and continue my conversation with Carmelia in the Second Part that will follow next. Cheers Happy Holidays to you Carmelia, what a pleasure it has been to help you! Anthony ( TONY ) Quinn December 18th, 2013, Wednesday afternoon.
I was unaware until now that co-founder Diane Disney Miller had passed away recently. We are so sorry for the Miller's loss as well as that of our great wine world. Our thoughts are with you all. Cheers, TONY 12/20/13
Part Two Of selling two bottles to Carmelia of Chardonnay:
Carmelia and I had much conversation back and forth. Besides the SILVERADO Vineyards Chardonnay 2010 from Careneros, $19.99, 14.2% alcohol, I also showed her the MOLNAR FAMILY Vineyard , On Special for $29.99 a bottle, the EDNA VALLEY Chardonnay, $12.99 - telling her it was one of the very first to really make California chardonnays popular, she did not know it. I showed her a couple of others, too; and there was much going back-and-forth and she did ask me which I would pick? After ten minutes or more Carmelia finally decided to take two bottles of the SLIVERADO Vineyards' 2010 Chardonnay, saying she knew where to find me and would be back. ... This was not Carmelia's first visit to Cleveland Park Wines & Spirits. She has shopped with us for years, buying Johhnie Walker Black for many of them as gifts. She told me she was in the banquet department of the Marriot Hotel in Georgetown did she say? She remembers coming thirty-three years ago and walking to work and past the Hilton Hotel on the day that John Hinkley shot President Reagan! That memory has stayed with her all this time. She has an Ethiopian friend that works with her at the Marriot, I think she said the Johhnie Walker was for him? I liked Carmelia. At the register I complemented her on her hat. She liked that, said I was not alone. She told me she was 80 years old. I asked her where she was from as I liked the sound of her voice. I said : " Trinidad? " She looked quizzically at me and asked me why I said Trinidad? I then said : " South Africa? " At that point she was saying : " Now all across an ocean?!? " And she added : " Go back, I;m from an island, up north, closer to Florida. " That's when the bell finally went off and I said : " Jamaica! ". I was right. Sorry Carmelia. We spoke of " The Voice " and the current winner being from Jamaica. She did not know this, did not watch the show. I said that all of Jamaica was proud of Tess-Anne is it? Cheers Carmelia, I loved helping you. You are some woman, love your fire and spirit. Keep coming to see us. I want to hear what you think of the wine of co-founder of SILVERADO Vineyard's - Diane Disney Miller that sadly recently passed away? Come back and share more often. We need people like you, good conversation. Cheers, TONY 12/20/13
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