Peter Lehmann Barossa Australia, Here At Cleveland Park Wines, Wash. D.C. ( Through Janet Fennelly's Eyes ) : Wed. April 15th, 2009

Janet Fennelly and I bonded pretty much immediately. It was fun when Chrissy Carpenter of Washington Wholesalers brought her by earlier this morning. I was in a pretty bad mood because of some things that had just happened a few minutes prior at Cleveland Park Wines & Spirits. I did not know in what direction the day would go at this point and I was feeling uneasy. However, Janet and Chrissy made me smile and forget my troubles and I liked the wines anyway from PETER LEHMANN : I pretty much always have : ever since Robert Whale brought them to my attention so many, many , many years ago : way back in the 1080's! Those were the days when everyone knew and loved these wines and no one could seem to get enough of the " sticky " sweet, dessert Muscat that they make a dole out in half bottles to those lucky enough to get one. Thanks Robert for all your hard work in the past promoting PETER LEHMANN and in bringing these wines to the attention of the U.S. market.

As Janet nicely explained the HESS group helped get Peter Lehmann out of a stocky situation ( pun intended after what I had already said ) when it looked like he might have to declare bankruptsy and sell everything or go out of business entirely? I don't remember exactly : it's all a bit cloudy now to me. However the wines shined today with Janet and Chrissy. We tried all seven of these wines shown here twice in these photographs.

Janet showed first the repackaged dry white Semillon that Peter is so famous for. Remember the label on the old bottle with the woman and how the BATF decided that for modesty's sake that the dress on her had to cover more of her? Ouch! I do love all these labels, really I do. Perhaps I like the Cabernet Sauvignon label the best however with the woman and her dark hair. I blogged about a bottle that was given to me by my good friend years ago of this Cabernet when she worked for the Michael Franklin selections. You can use the search engine here to read that if you like.

As you can see I really do blog : these entries are a bit all over the place as one idea leads into another and makes me think of this or that wine/situation/person. date/ company, etcetera. It's all tied together : that's the beauty of wine - it brings people together and makes them smile.

I was taking pictures right and left, from above and from below and searching all the time to capture segments of this moment that was ours and ours alone and that we were learning to share together and learn and gain joy and pleasure from. That's a rare gift and one that does not come easy as all we think about often are the abstracts of the business with points and scores and selling units and boxes and number of lots and lots of cases to always improve on previous numbers and goals. Ouch! I hope I can do more than that in this glorious wine business, really I pray that I do and that I share this with others.

I loved the 2006 Cabernet Sauvignon today! It was my pick of the lot. I liked them all : I also loved the repackaged Semillon called " Layers ": it is so bright and fresh and mouth-filling in a thoroughly enjoyable way! I joked with Janet that Peter was losing his " big opportunity " by not making a Muscadelle dry white, or that he was missing the boat by not jumping on the grape-band-wagon of the Tempranillo that was spreading like wildfire across Australia. He should remove all the color and call his " new " white Temillon or Temprillon and add a splash of either Tempranillo or Semillon to it and keep the word " Layers ". Anyone been layered recently? When was the last time you actually were layered?

The label " Layers " I must admit publicly is nice but still a bit ambiguous. Without reading the description provided in the " new " pamphlet that Janet is working hard on to finish I will add my two-bits about this word : " layers ". Does it refer specifically to the grape Semillon that has suffered and died an ignoble death next to it's partner and ever-popular grape the Sauvignon Blanc? Does it imply that one will get layered more by drinking Semillon than Sauvignon Blanc? There might be some validity to this I humbly offer up.

I mean, the Semillon for me is quite rich and full and viscouus on my palate and it does almost give me a larger load of intense and lush and weighty flavors that could lull and charm and pacify and couch or bed me faster than the Sauvignon Blanc which has the opposite effect on me. With Sauvignon Blanc I want to hear the song " Saturday Night's Alright For Fighting ". With the Semillon it might be " Lay Lady Lay " or " Girl From The North Country " : both Bob Dylan songs. This is all fun of course. And I can't wait to see if the possible t-shirts proposal will become a reality. Ask Janet to tell you about that. I don't want to rob her or PETER LEHMANN'S thunder.

So, getting back onto solid ground ( excuse me for my earthy/pithy/risque slip into less charted waters there briefly - did you enjoy/like it?!? I hope so : there should always be a bit of us that is young, youthful, naughty and edgy ) I do really like the " Layers " Semillon and will carry it along with the fabulous 2006 Cabernet Sauvignon and also the Clancy's red. I have given Chrissy and order for these three to come to Cleveland Park Wines & Spirits ( 3423 Connecticut Avenue N.W. Washington D.C. 20008 Tel : 202-363-4265 sales@clevelandparkwine.com www.clevelandparkwine.com ) on her next order( first of May, 2009 ).

As I said the 2006 Cabernet Sauvignon was my favorite because all it's components were in perfect harmony with each other and the wine was drinking beautifully now and giving me no reason to tell anyone to wait any longer. It's fabulous now!

I liked all seven wines and we will have some " new " vintages of PETER LEHMANN shortly. I must ask Janet about the " sticky " Semillon? She has already volunteered to sometime in the future do an in-store wine-tasting at Cleveland Park. That will be fun when it happens. In the meantime Chrissy will do one soon I believe. Stay-tuned for more information on that. I will also add soon my comments on the rest of the wines tasted earlier today.

Go to : Janet Fennelly ( US Brand Development Manager ) of PETER LEHMANN ( Barossa, South Australia ) 312 West 90th Street, New York , NY 10024 janet.fennelly@peterlehmannwines.com www.peterlehmannwines.com ) for more technical information.

Janet wrote in our guest book : " One of the most entertaining and enjoyable sales calls I ever experienced! Thank you for the laughs. Looking forward to seeing you sometime soon. " signed Janet Fennelly

Cheers, TONY











Enjoy, a great California gal with four children living in New York with curly, silky red hair in store repping for Peter with Chrissy Carpenter! Cheers, TONY

Dan's Excellent CA. R.B. COHN Selections Tasted At Cleveland Park Thurs. Feb. 19th, '09 With Chrissy Carpenter & Us - Good Wine

Dan came to me with Chrissy of Washington Wholesalers. They had four R.B. COHN CA. wines ( 15000 Sonoma Highway, Glen Ellen, CA. 95442   800-330-4064  Fax: 707-938-4585   www.brcohn.com ) for me to try : one white and three reds. And try them I did : that's what I do. It's my window of opportunity to see what's " out-there " as I like to put it.

On this late afternoon on Wednesday February 18th, 2009 ( I believe ) I was quite exhausted from trying so many wines already. I had had more than enough by now. Mike Martin who works for me asked me in the office who they were and what were they doing here at Cleveland Park Wines & Spirits ( 3423 Connecticut Avenue N.W. Washington D.C. 20008 Tel : 202-363-4265 sales@clevelandparkwine.com ) ?

I had glanced briefly over the office ledge and out onto our floor and seen Chrissy from the sides of my eyes. I recognized her immediately before ducking back down. I was working on something in the office and I needed a moment to collect myself before going out to say " hello " ; or before Chrissy poked her head around the corner of our office and looked inside to make us aware of their presence. Wither way it sometimes buys me an additional couple of minutes or more which I often need to compose myself. Here I am willingly admitting to all my office secrets. Please don't tell anyone else will you ?!?

Chrissy has been bringing me recently some fun American wines, mostly from the west coast in California, Oregon and have there been any from Washington State? I don't think yet, no, none yet. But there is still time isn't there Chrissy?

I exited the office and went out to say " hello " and to meet Dan. Even though I was quite tired I began to taste ( at first with a plastic cup ) ; and then realizing this opportunity that I was about to let slip away and through my fingers without the proper attention - well, I excused myself to get my camera and a proper Reidel wine glass. I'm glad that I did.

I really liked the white. It was balanced and well-made ; and although not a wine I would order myself ( or buy in a store ) I had to admit that it was an excellent example of grape and state and style with enough butter and oak balanced nicely to appeal to a whole lot of our customers here in Cleveland Park in Washington D.C., our nation's capitol.

The first red CA. Cabernet Sauvignon ( 2006 Silver Label , North Coast, $23.99 ) I did not like at all. I found it lean and in pieces and out-of-balance. Dan had just finished telling me at least once that it was the " best-seller " in the R.B. COHN portfolio. Anytime I hear this I pay special attention and try and figure out why it's the best-selling in any particular portfolio.

I told Dan that I did not like it at all and I explained how I was finding the wine at this particular point and time, at least for me. He was polite and offered that it may have been unduly shaken while riding around all day in Washington D.C. in Chrissy's car. I said that I would be willing to retry it later. And we moved on.

The next wine I tried was the R.B. COHN Merlot Sonoma Valley, 2004 (  $31.99 ) and I liked it so much better than the previous Silver Label 2006 Cabernet Sauvignon. I could actually picture myself drinking it and enjoying it, perhaps even more than I was willing to admit I guess because it is, after all , a Merlot!

Then Chrissy poured for me the estate-bottled Cabernet Sauvignon 2005, $65.99  " Olive Hill " Sonoma Valley which I also liked quite a bit. I would buy three out of the four I had just tasted ( I still had not inquired for the pricing ) , especially if Chrissy came to our store to pour them with our customers one Friday or Saturday? Will you Chrissy?

Then I went back to try the one Silver Label 2006 Cabernet Sauvignon that I had really not liked at all. I had been taking pictures all along and I got some nice ones I believe/hope. I was shocked to discover that the wine had opened and rounded-out/filled-out and was showing both more elegant, enjoyable berry-grape fruit as well as balance. The wine had come together in this fifteen minute period in our store and I was pleased to be able to tell both Dan and Chrissy that I was changing my opinion of this wine.

It's important to go back / return to something and check it out once more if not twice more. Things sometimes need these extra chances. We are denying ourselves of the pleasures that they can afford us if we limit ourselves to simply our first impressions. Yes, first impressions are essential-vital and important ; but sometimes they need to be amended or re-affirmed. I'm glad that I did here.

It was a successful, revealing tasting for me and though tired I was still happy to have availed myself to this opportunity that presented and plopped itself this late afternoon right into my lap.  I like what both Bruce R. Cohn ( founded by Bruce the proprietor in 1984 ) and Tom Montgomery ( winemaker ) are doing here with their wines.

Thanks Chrissy and Dan. Come again soon, both of you. How about the next time though you both end your day at Cleveland Park and taste your wines with our interested and loyal/regular customers that come to us just for this sort of opportunity like you have just given me?

Dan, when you were about to leave I asked you to sign our guest book and this is what you wrote : " Tony, Thanks for the tasting! I think you have a photographic talent !! I wish you all the best ! " Dan Campbell. Thanks Dan, I appreciate that quite a bit, really. You're the first to mention this like this in writing.

Cheers, and until our next meeting. TONY