THELEMA Rhine Riesling 2004 Tasted Late Afternoon & Again Late Evening, Saturday, April 25th, 2009

I just blogged about my day with a bottle of THELEMA 2004 Rhine Riesling yesterday, Saturday April 25th, 2009. By accident I put it on my chatart blog here on blog spot. To see the pictures and the full story just go to the main page of charwine and go to the right bottom column that says : View complete profile , click that and scroll down until you see my other blogs and click on chatart.blogspot.com to see the THELEMA Rhine Riesling, 2004 Steelenbosch, South African blog.

It's in anticipation of tomorrow : " Freedom Day " in South Africa, Monday, April 27th, 2009. Cheers everyone : and don't forget to come to our tasting of South African wines at Cleveland Park Wines & Spirits ( 3423 Connecticut Avenue N.W. Washington D.C. 20008 Tel: 202-363-4265 www.clevelandparkwine,com sales@clevelandparkwine.com ). It's free, bring some family and friends ! It's from 5:30-8:30 PM We are celebrating 350 years of wine-making in South Africa ( February , 2009 ) as well as " Freedom Day ".

ALSO : my goof Italian friend Alessandro Furlan ( of the Franco Furlan winery, Friuli, Italy ) will be in the store on Tuesday, April 28th, 2009 ( 5-8 PM ) to taste four of his Italian wine imports which includes the DEGANI Valpolicella as well as three other vineyrads from Franciacorta ( a sparkling wine ), a Docetto from Piemonte and a Rosso di Montalcino from Tuscany. JOIN US : NEVER any charge!

Cheers, TONY


UPDATES : The Big Theme South Africa Wine-Tasting At Cleveland Park Was a big success and all the THELEMA wines showed beautifully, including the 2004 Rhine Riesling pictured here. It had more fruit and was rounder and more forward in it's flavors than this bottle that we originally sampled. We are selling it ON SALE for $12.99 and that's quite the deal.

I was going to sample the last bit in the bottle and so I chilled it. I got home the next evening and found that my wife had enjoyed it before I arrived. She liked it : and that was now on a three-day old bottle of wine : not bad. Oh well, that will have to do. I would have liked to have taken a picture of it and it's color against the green bottle and label.

I have done better, I have taken the bottle outside and taken pictures showing our beautiful spring here with all the new green growth of leaves and shrubs, bushes; the azaleas in full bloom, the pink wygelea( spelling? ), sky, trees above our house. I even dropped the bottle onto the ground and hid it in a canopy of green vines and ground cover. I've even taken a picture with our terrier-mix dog and one of me reflected in our front door storm-door. I hope it came out?

It's bee a fun journey with this one bottle of THELEMA Rhine Riesling 2004 dry white.

I spoke to Marci our Constantine wine rep and she told me that I got the names of the father and son owners confused : Gyles is the father and Thomas is the son. Sorry for the confusion. I may not have your name spelled correctly Gyles ( it might be Giles? ) but when I met you you gave me your son's card and I thought it was yours. Sorry again for that. Oh well, all is green, lush and verdant here and growing like mad.

It's still South Africa month ( May 2009 ) at Cleveland Park Wines & Spirits and we are having a wonderful time talking and selling all things South African. Cheers, TONY

Brad McCarthy Of BRADFORD REED WINES, Charlottesville, VA. At Cleveland Park's Annual Holiday Wine-Tasting Wed. Nov. 12th, 2008 5:30-8:30 PM

To see such joy and happiness in Brad McCarthy in these photos on our special Annual Holiday Wednesday, November 12th, 2008 was striking to me. I could not get over how he beamed the whole evening. Put that together with his red sweater and you have a triking combination that shows in these pictures and showed throughout the tasting for anyone paying any attention at all!

His friend Dan who came to taste and be a part did tell me that he and Brad had enjoyed a couple of beers before the tasting. I would have never known, really. I was glued to Brad's smile and I was also intrigued by how he spoke with his hands, sweeping motions of the hands. I did not take enough pictures of Brad ; I wish that I had taken more. They would have helped complete the performance of his this evening. It will have to wait until the next time but then this evening was truly special and it's own and I am thrilled to be able to post and share these photos and stories with you all.

Brad only had two wines to taste this evening. I remember calling him and him expressing his gratitude that I had thought to include him in our Annual American Holiday tasting. I had originally talked with Christine Iezzi of Country Vintners and she had told me that Brad was no longer at BLENHEIM Winery in Charlottesville, VA. She told me that he had started up his own winery called BRADFORD REED WINES.

I did not know that, of course and asked what wines he was making. Christine knew all about it and i e would check with Brad and see if he was available to come taste. Fortunately for us all he was.

Brad bought grapes from BLENHEIM Winery and has used them to produce both the 2006 Merlot and the 2006Meritage. We only had the 2006 Merlot ( $27.99 ) in the store to sell at the time but took orders on the 2006 Meritage ( $27.99 ) which should be available any day now in our store.

It's Saturday night at 12:04 AM December 13th, 2008 as I type this blog. I'm not use that I will be able to post it tonight. I still have a lot to say and it will take time as usual for all the thoughts to congregate nicely in my head and allow me to record them here. It's bit of serendipity is : the collecting and recording of thoughts and observations and recollected stories and anecdotes. I also remember quite a few details as I look over the pictures before finally posting these blogs.

I remember thinking how delicious and ripe and lush and red bright ( like Brad's red sweater! ) these wines were! They struck me bull's eye right on my forehead and practically knocked me out! They were much lusher, fruitier, more modern in style than almost any Virginia wines that I had ever drunk before! I liked them, was immediately drawn to them! Wow! Impressive, seductive, unctuous - wonderful, spiel-binding! What was this?!? What was this intensity and ripeness all about?!? Not sweet oak, not nuts and honey and spiciness, no foxiness to found anywhere in these wines, no leanness, no sinewy, athletic tightness, no holding-back! No need of food! No wanting, no lacking, no having to fill in any holes or gaps! WOW! This was new, this was novel to me : unlike any other Virginia wine!

How did you do it, Brad?!? What is your secret!?! Lots of alcohol? Yes, quite a bit and yet I liked it and did not find it overpowering or what I thought of first. Not at all : it might have been a distant back-thought. It never occurred to me until winemaker Paul Robert mentioned it when he tasted it. I looked at him quizzically when he mentioned it.

I liked these two reds but they really did not remind me of Virginia wines and so I find this both a bit intriguing and disturbing for what it can mean. I'm glad to see it possible to make wines like these two but did not expect them from Virginia. We'll just have to wait and see what happens next.

Brad signed his bottles and drew animals on them : parrots, dogs, sand shoe crabs, etcetera. Bravo Brad! Nice touch. I just sold another bottle tonight to a young lady wanting to take a gift to a party tonight. I'm not sure which animal she picked to take?

In the meantime congratulations Brad and thanks for coming to taste with us. It was really nice to have you at Cleveland Park Wines & Spirits ( 3423 Connecticut Avenue N.W. Washington D.C. 2008 sales@clevelandparkwine.com www.clevelandparkwine.com Tel:202-363-4265 ) once again. You are always welcome anytime that you are free.

Happy Holidays 2008 to one and to all. I am sure I will add more to this blog. Enjoy it now in this form. Cheers, TONY