Giovanni, The Winemaker @ DA VINCI Tuscany, Monday, Feb. 22nd, 2010 Here In Cleveland Park Wines, Wash. D.C. Tasting Current Releases

I have a wonderful story to write here about my second visit with wine-maker Giovanni of the DA VINCI wines when he came by last week ( Monday afternoon , ) to Cleveland Park Wines & Spirits ( 3423 Connecticut Avenue N.W. Washington D.C. 20008, Tel : 202-363-4265 sales@clevelandparkwine.com www.clevelandparkwine.com ) where I have now managed the wine department in our nation's capitol for almost ten years. What a great run it has been so far. I still feel so inspired : and I believe even more inspired and energized and focused that ever before even though I am embracing a lot more now than ever before and entertaining and pursuing more options and threads and inspirations and leads to things than ever before. It's exhausting and exhilarating all in one and boy do I sleep well when my head finally hits the pillow at night.

And seeing Giovanni for the second time in our store is what is perhaps one of the most meaningful and stimulating parts of my job : and this visit was no exception. As a matter of interest I believe strongly that this was so much better than I could have ever imagined. I loved the way he recognized me immediately and we picked up almost immediately where we had left off on his last visit when I tried then his current releases ( one was an excellent 2003 Chianti Classico that I remember well and fondly as it tugged at my guts and massaged my heart and coated my palate and tweaked my brain and jarred and smoked my thoughts ...

These moments and those where I have customers like Les that take this all in and appreciate it ( he's pictured below with his signed bottle in his hand and then later with us ) is a great culmination of all my efforts at keeping as many of the venues of communication open and welcome everyone and introduce them and get them to relax and open-up and share and embrace the moment - ours - the one we are actually a part of and that should thus matter the most ...




We had five wines on hand for this lovely mid afternoon in-store/wine-tasting : starting with a 2008 Pinot Grigio that comes mostly from grapes grown in Friuli ( was it the Grave region Giovanni? ) and Alto Adige. I learned this from you Giovanni as we discussed this white that is not from Tuscany and the importance to the line to have a white counterpart to the excellent 2007 current vintage of the Chianti.




I love this picture of you above Giovanni that I took through my Reidel glass filled with one of the three excellent reds - all Chiantis from Tuscany - tasted then. Your expression is pensive and shows experience and life and the character that comes with having paid the price for it as you went along ... I like it very much.

I really liked both the DA VINCI 2007 Chianti and the dry white 2008 Pinot Grigio from DA VINCI. They both sell for $15.99 in the store and today I am at home here in northern Virginia on Monday, February 8th, 2010 at 5:16 PM. When I left the store this past Saturday night all of the four wines were at Cleveland Park Wines & Spirits and ready for sale.




The DA VINCI Pinot Grigio 2008 ( $15.99 ) surprised me with it's extra flavor, character and crisp focus and freshness. It's a well-balanced wine and one that I would enjoy under many circumstances. Really quite an elegant wine that would show well in many settings. Bravo.

The DA VINCI 2007 Chianti ( $15.99 ) had some extra weight and heft that I think would work really nice with a heavier meal. At first this did not please me : it was just a bit too much of it : too much like solid and thick columns of flavor that are harder to pierce with your tongue and palate and thus for me less -appealing as I have trouble getting myself into and around the taste. This did soften with time and the wine seemed almost to relax as if that were something that can happen in a wine? It got to where I could taste through these columns of what I refer to as the more muscular, heartier and modern flavors that so many people today associate and expect as the norm.

This 2007 DA VINCI Chianti became more enjoyable and more approachable to me as it opened nicely in the bottle. For me I would like to have it open an hour or more before drinking. I will have to buy a bottle myself now and bring it home here and put this to the test to see and to taste first-hand. I am pretty sure that I am correct about this.




So anyway I did like the wine more as Giovanni and I tasted the other three reds : a 2005 Chianti Classico, a 2005 Riserva Chianti 2005 and a super Tuscan ( without any Sangiovese in the blend I believe? ) Sto. Ippolito . I liked best the regular 2005 Chianti Classico and that has come to the store and I will check the price of that and include it tomorrow when I am there.

I liked the DA VINCI 2005 Chianti Classico best of the four reds because even though it was bolder and bigger and spicier and earthier. It seemed to me to be the best of the three that was the most ready now to drink and to enjoy fully with a meal. It also tasted to me to be the classic/ traditional style that I love so very much with herbs and spices, tar and leather and tobacco and warmed, dusty-dry flavors of the grapes that have survived - even thrived in the Tuscan sun and elements of the year to shine their trademark struggle and sacrifice and triumph of glorious Chianti reds at their most honest and humbly stunning. There's nothing quite like a classic Tuscan red in this world and we are all so blessed to have them in our lives today and for all the years before.




The second to last of the four - a DA VINCI Riserva Chianti showed all the promise of this DA VINCI 2005 Chianti Classico but it needed more time : classic and it will follow suit as soon as it is ready. I can't wait to try it with you Giovanni on your next visit. You must come again next year and we will check it together just as we have this day these here. It will be just like when on your first visit I remember getting all wrapped up/ entangled and mesmerized and excited to the point where I was singing loudly the praises of the DA VINCI Chianti Classico 2003. That was a beauty, too that would really complement well a seasoned and flavorful dish whether elegant or simply a tasty comfort food like a ragout or thick pasta and red wine sauce dish ... count me in : I'm there !




When I tasted the super Tuscan 2004 DA VINCI called " Sto. Ippolito " I liked it and would enjoy a glass of this blend of " other " grapes ( was it Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot and Syrah? ) but I would go back to the 2005 Chianti Classico and drink that for the rest of the evening ot until there was not more of it. We all have to choose our favorites and enjoy those when we can.

I liked the DA VINCI 2004 " Sto Ippolito " but it simply did not transport me to realms of experiences and fancies and moods and states of mind that thrill and excite and make me soar into the stratospheres and descent equally quickly ( almost like a ping pong ball going back and forth , being slammed each time a bit senseless and yet so welcome the attack on the senses each and every time ! ) into the depths of the earth and the grip of my bowels that is so reassuring and real and reassuring of me in this time and place and moment of this wonderful world of ours that we are lucky to share in / partake-in and be a visitor for the brief time that we have ...




I like including pictures of everyone that was a part of these moments in time of ours at Cleveland Park Wines & Spirits .




I love trying to capture the label on the bottle and the wine color through the light of the glaring/ merciless ceiling lights above in our store. Sometimes the pictures work better than others: and yet they all tell a part of the story. In the picture above I do manage to capture by chance the lovely green color of the wine bottle.




In this picture above I get the around the rim of the wine in the Reidel glass a glimpse of this wonderful garnet color coming from one of these Tuscan reds. Giovanni, you are pouring it here. Can you tell by the color which wine it is? Let me know.




In this picture above with wine and glass and label and bottle it all comes together and I see that this super Tuscan " Sto Ippolito " is from the excellent 2004 vintage. I like the color here, too. It's got some nice richness and density of color of wet red-bricks from the sides of a building with the sunshine on it and bouncing off as well as being absorbed ...




Sofredo from El Salvador that works with us ( in the blue shirt next to Giovanni ) loves all things Italian and the wine as well and so I have introduced him to Giovanni and asked Giovanni to taste him on his wines. The other gentleman across from both Giovanni and Sofredo works at the Italian restaurant at the end of our block called DINO that specializes in both Tuscan and Veneto cuisine as well as wines.

I hope Giovanni that you passed by DINO after leaving out store to say " hello - caio " to owners Dean and Kay?




Look at the color of the DA VINCI 2004 super Tuscan in my Reidel wine glass above! Wish I had a glass now as I am finishing this story of this wonderful moment spent with Giovanni recently.




Sofredo is always asking me questions about wine and wanting me to teach him as much as I can so that he may learn more and be of greater service to our Cleveland Park neighbors and customers. Bravo for that Sofredo! You are in great hands here with Giovanni.




I love all these pictures that I took with my Reidel wine-tasting glass with Giovanni behind as I swirled his red Tuscan wines and bits and pieces of his head would show through : art at it's most glorious- uproarious! Bring it on ...




Giovanni pours for our DINO waiter above as he comes to the store to select what he wants for perhaps after DINO closes later this night? I don't blame him : be proactive and get what you want or need early as it may be too late afterward ...




Red shades of Giovanni here in the picture above. Do you like this shade of lighted garnet red for Giovanni? I think it looks pretty magnificent myself ...




I love how the Reidel wine glass as it is bent and rounded will distort and elongate the label and letters on it above of the " Sto Ippolito ". What do you think? I like the color perhaps best in this picture above as the ceiling lights bathe in it from above ...




These pictures like the one above I took withing ten seconds or so - all of them and I have only included three or four of them here for color and atmosphere and warmth and motion and the " thrill " of it all ...




T This picture above I took of the wine over the picture of Tuscany and the vineyards from which it comes. If you enlarge the image on the monitor it mat show through better so that you may see more of the lush, verdant vineyards below and through the red color of the 2004 DA VINCI " Sto Ippolito " super Tuscan red? I hope so : that was the idea anyway.




Ah, finally we see Giovanni's eyes through the swirl, pomp and circumstance and motion of this red Tuscan DA VINVI wine in my Reidel glass! The wait was well worth it I believe ... what are you thinking now Giovanni? What are you looking at here?




Les, here in this picture above you are enjoying your DA VINCI ( you bought the 2007 DA VINCI Chianti that Giovanni signed specially to a good friend of yours ) as Giovanni shows you in our Chianti book on the map where DA VINCI winery is located.




Les, here you look down on the bottle that Giovanni has signed for your friend : you look mighty satisfied with your treasure that you will soon take away with you.




And here we all are at the end of the tasting : in all our glory and with all our new memories and shared moments, stories and experiences : the " way better " for it all - for having had our paths crossing in such a special manner here in Washington D.C.'s Cleveland Park neighborhood of the North West ... two blocks down from the National Smithsonian Zoo as well as across from the famous Uptown movie theater. Thank you one and all for this and may our paths cross again really soon. A presto Giovanni ... TONY

Tasting BOMFIN, POST SCRIPTUM, CHRYSEIA, POMBAL & QUINTA DO VESUVIO, PRAZO DE RORIZ & DOW 2007 VINTAGE PORT 8/09 : Wow!

This was quite the tasting and I think it even included another port or two. I will have to check my notes.I loved this experience to try so many fine Portuguese wines and ports side-by-side like this to get a sense of the range and depth of styles and that Portugal is producing from the traditional to the modern and sometimes blend of both.





You can see the line-up above and if you enlarge the picture on the screen you can see vintages and more detail on these wines.

WE tasted the 1) VALE DO BOMFIN 2006 Douro Valley , 2) PRAZO DE RORIZ 2007 ( this had a hand-written label on it and may also have been a cask or barrel sample ) , 3) POST SCRIPTUM 2003 , 4) CHRYSEIA 2004 , 5) POMBAL DO VESUVIO 2007 , 6) QUINTA DO VESUVIO 2007 , and the 7) DOW'S 2007 Vintage Port Cask Sample. I think I tasted one or two more and so will check my notes for that later.




I really liked what I tasted this day in August which I recollect was Thursday, August 20th, 2009 I believe. There wasn't one that I would not enjoy drinking with a meal. They represent the best quality tier of Portugal and also some of the most expensive wines as well.

I want to have some of them at Cleveland Park ( at our store Cleveland Park Wines & Spirits 3423 Connecticut Avenue N.W. Washington D.C. 20008 Tel : 202-363-4265 sales@clevelandparkwine.com www.clevelandparkwine.com ) in our nation's capitol so I am going to work on doing a Portuguese " Big Theme " tasting on a Wednesday evening in the store from 5:30-8:30 PM. Perhaps this will be the October tasting and I have to work out the details still. This was we can taste these wonderful wines and sell some of them, too.




In many of the cases here I felt from tasting these that they were taking the best of traditional old-world and modern-world and combining the two. There was such a brightness and clarity and purity to these wines and both their flavors and varied tastes. They were balanced and in many cases quite pleasing and captivating. They always preserved the fruit in the wines and though it may have lain buried in some of them I could taste it and know that it would surface with time and flesh the wines out.

What makes them traditional and classic is that even though they may be approached at a young age you sense that they will age well and reveal even more treasure and pleasure with time. It's worth being patient with most of these wines. No need to rush. Play their game and let them strut their stuff to the beat of their own drum and not yours that may be impatient and rushed. Easy as it goes ... remember the tortoise here ...




I need to include more information here and so I have to find my notes. I will do it sometime this week but now it is Sunday, August 31st, 2009 at 12:26 PM and I am at home on my day-off. It's a nice day and I'm headed outside to enjoy a bit of time on my deck reading the Washington Post newspaper ( a ritual which I dearly love and will be crest-fallen when they disappear and everything will have to be looked at on-line. This is a big mistake in my humble opinion. Don't do it! Leave us the daily newspapers to read and enjoy!!




I'm an artist and approach things with an artist's eye for both capturing the moment and trying to appreciate it for what it is and what my involvement in it may be? That's always a bit up for grabs. As you will see from these pictures I like to take pictures through the glass as well as reveal those involved and the color and clarity and densities of the wines that are now in the glass and next to either their bottle or those drinking them. This is the experience as I see it fleetingly pass before my eyes and into my ears and onto my tongue and palate.

It happens all so fast that these pictures help to bring it back for me as well as share it with you. I hope you enjoy this wondrous ride through these pictures. I am only sorry that I cannot make it possible for you to taste them, too. That's why we will have to do our monthly " Big Theme " tasting to give you that opportunity.




In the meantime enjoy these photos until I can finish this soon.





In my eagerness to download these pictures quickly I made a mistake in loading some of the pictures I took earlier with Sam of LVDH imports. He was tasting me here in these three pictures the " new " Spanish brut cava called SABARTES that I enjoyed very much as well as one of our all-time favorite dry Viogniers from France called MONTMARIN from the southwest of France. We tasted the new 2008 vintage and will have it along with this new SABARTES brut cava. Stay-tuned for more on the LVDH wines ...

Katharina Prum of JOH. JOS. PRUM ( 5/21/03 ) Tastes Current Releases Of Her Family's German White Wines @ Cleveland Park / Returns Wed. 5/6/09 5-8 PM

It was great to have Katharina Prum of ( JOH. JOS. PRUM ) here on May 21st, 2003 at Cleveland Park Wines & Spirits ( 3423 Connecticut Avenue N.W. Washington D.C. 20008 sales@clevelandparkwine.com www.clevelandparkwine.com Tel : 202-363-4265 ) tasting an assortment of her wines with our customers. Boy was that tasting well-attended : everyone was so full of cheer and joy to taste these J. J. PRUM wines and to meet Katharina Prum herself. There were so many of us all gathered around our round tasting table. The German Wine Society had a number of their members there and we had lots of other regular customers that knew and loved these wines as well.

Here are some of the pictures from this event. I am sorry that they are a bit blurry and the presentation is rushed. I wanted to include them here anyway before this tasting at the store from 5-8 PM ( everyone is welcome ) on Wednesday,May 6th, 2009. You don't have to call : it's free - just come and enjoy. We will be tasting the 2007 vintage and there will be some of the wine on-hand to purchase immediately. You can get those bottles signed by Katharina while she is at the store as gifts to yourselves or your friends. She can sign them to whoever you wish as a special touch.







Some of the 2007 vintage that Katharina will taste will be available when it arrives from Germany in another two months or so : maybe sooner. We can get that settled at the tasting this Wednesday. Everything will be at special prices for the tasting. The wines I will have here in the store have just arrived from California. This will be some tasting!

I took these pictures I believe before the digital cameras were really in much use. I still believed in the old-style and used mt trusty old cameras that were not digital. I am happy with the pictures and only wish that I had taken many more. I took pictures of these last night to include here from my book : along with Katharina's note to me after the tasting. It's in German and so you may all read it. I don't know exactly what she said : it starts : " To Anthony Quinn ! ... Thanks a lot ! " and she forgot to sign it I notice. Oh well, that's okay. I also looked at her card and notice only a phone and a fax number, no email or web page addresses back then. Wow, how quickly things have evolved. It's hard to keep up anymore.

It's been awhile as I look back on this wonderful event ( almost six years exactly as she came on May 21st, 2003 and we are now May 3rd, 2009 as I type this ) and try and remember all that I can. I do remember , of course, the excellence and the awe and admiration that these wines inspired ( as well as the rush of excitement ) and of course the grace, the refinement, the gentleness and the elegance of Katharina herself. I believe she told me that she had been studying law like her father before here : and that she was in one of our universities in North Carolin a was it? I just can't recall exactly.

Like so many of our guests at Cleveland Park she warmed quickly to us and to her surroundings as she I hope began to feel both welcome and comfortable. We were all gushing over her wines and their intricate and divine flavors and not over abstract points and scores. We sold a whole lot that day and that was not surprising if you had been one of the lucky ones of us to be there and to taste these wines.

I remember asking Katharina what she recommended that I buy for the store? I asked her about older vintages available to buy? I asked her what she and her family drank daily then at home? She responded that they were still enjoying very much some of the Kabinett wines from the 1070's and that they were still drinking beautifully.

I didn't have much of a chance to talk to her though as there were so many of us clamoring for that opportunity. That's okay : my job is to bring her into contact with our customers as we / I promote the people behind the wines and not the scores they receive. I do look forward to talking to her a bit more this time. We'll see.

I was trying to remember exactly how Katharina came to us on this visit? We do sell lots of German wines at Cleveland Park Wines & Spirits. I love them, really I do : they are amazing on so many levels. My problem with German wines because of the high quality they represent across the board is : how many can I afford to buy/ afford not to buy?!?

I think the wines were available through Valkenburg and through Billington Selections at that point. I know that I had bought some from our local Billington rep Tatiana Maria at that point. I also once had an amazing Valkenburg rep : he was so appreciative of what we were doing at Cleveland Park Wines and Spirits. I cannot remember his name just now but I will also find the page he signed in our guest book and include it here. I think he soon retired after our last visit but I did appreciate him and his style very much. It's nice when you meet someone that's in the business because of the pure love of wine and not swayed over to the lure of the money and the extra boxes to be sold as if it was simply just about units. I could see that he still had very much the love of wine that he carried with him. What's your name sir?!? I hope your interest readers is stirred as much as mine now?

I received recently an email from Master Of Wine Jay Youmans asking about J.J. PRUM as well as saying that he recently started to represent them. He asked a number of questions : one being whether we would like to host a tasting in our store with Katharina? It's all a bit sketchy now as I type these words. I'll have to read it again later.

What I know for sure is that we are thrilled to have Katharina back at Cleveland Park Wines & Spirits. We have always sold her wines before and after her 3003 tasting in the store. We were almost out recently because one of our customers loves the wines so much and bought most of what we have now, leaving us with just a few bottles.

I read Jay's email and scrolled down and saw that Katharina had emailed him and mentioned our store to him as being a big supporter of them. I loved reading that, made me feel really good. That, of course was the link that I feel brought Jay's email to us. Again, I love that. I love that Katharina remembered us and our tasting at Cleveland Park. I'm so pleased that with even the passing of time ( here about six years ) that our name should be remembered.

We have known Jay for years and supported him as he has supported us. It's been a good relationship all around. We also know owner Gus of Constantine wines ( we've bought Jay's BOGLE CA. wines for years from Constantine ) very well and do a whole lot of business with his portfolio because of his excellent sales rep Marci Weinstein. She has taken good care of the store and supported us when we ask her to be at the store and help us.

So : NOW we have a whole " new " chapter to write with Katharina Prum and her fabulous wines of JOH. JOS. PRUM. I can't wait to see her and to taste these 2007 Rieslings. For the time-being enjoy these photos. I think they give some sense of the great event this was back in 2003.



For more information go to : Katharina Prum Weingut JOH. JOS. PRUM Uferallee 19, D-54470 Wehlen, Mosel ( Germany ) Tel : ( 0 ) 65 31/30 91 Fax : ( 0 ) 65 31 /60 71.

I'm sure that now there is an email address and a web page. I'll include those soon. I do like the simplicity here of just an address, a phone and a fax.

Cheers, TONY

PS : I just wrote a poem inspired by Katharina Prum and her family's wines. Go to " chat[poetry.blogspot.com. Hope you like it. TONY ( It's 8:22PM now on Sunday, May 3rd, 2009 ).