Morgan Hartman With PICARDY Winery's ( Pemberton, Western Australia, 2005 ) Owners Dan & Jodie Pannell :Their Visit To Cleveland Park Wines & Spirits

I'm glad that in this picture above I got such a nice picture of both Dan and Jodie. It was great to have them here at Cleveland Park and to taste their current releases with them. It's always helpful to have a chance to taste with the owners and winemakers and to have them right there if you have any specific questions to ask them. I know I was really impressed with their Chardonnay on this visit : of all the wines it was the most evolved to my palate and the most ready to drink. Dan makes with his father wines that age slowly and gracefully and that really do benefit from waiting and not rushing to drink them immediately. I like that : I like it a lot. Be patient and you will be so well rewarded for your patience that you will not believe your taste buds' content when you finally try these classic, traditional-style wines that are made to complement the foods that they are served with and not replace them ( the foods ) entirely.



Here's a bottle before Dan ( in the picture below ) that he has already signed. Is this one for Matt and Janice? I can't read the writing on the bottle unfortunately : can you?




Here I take a picture of Dan and Jodie Pannell and Morgan Hartman and Theresa Morrison. On the round tasting table at Cleveland Park Wines & Spirits I have put out some of the PICARDY wines that we had for sale at the time. Looks like a bottle of the PICARDY Chardonnay was open along with a bottle each of the PICARDY Pinot Noir and the PICARDY Shiraz.




Dan gets ready to either open a bottle here or sign one : which is it?!




Here Dan is signing a bottle of either their PICARDY Pinot Noir or their Shiraz to both Matt and Janice while Morgan laughs at something or some comment that one of us made. We have so much fun when the owners and winemakers join us like this. I always try and pull my customers into these spontaneous meetings like these. In this case Matt and Janice just happened to be at Cleveland Park Wines & Spirits ( 3423 Connecticut Avenue N.W. Washington D.C. 20008 Tel : 202-363-4265 sales@clevelandparkwine.com www.clevelandparkwine.com ) at the right moment in time. They are such lovely people and really do love wine. They were probably going to share this with their son or with their relatives out in California is my bet.




This is a picture that was taken also by Theresa Morrison I believe of Dan And Jodie with our good customers Matt and Janice. I'm sure we had just finished tasting whatever wines that Dan and Jodie brought ot sample of their PICARDY wines.




It's great to be in this group picture with Dan, Jodie, Morgan and myself. Theresa Morrison featured in one of the other group pictures before probably took this picture of the four of us. Thanks Theresa. I guess you came to show me some of your excellent South African portfolio that you sell through Boutique Vineyards ( your own company )?





Enjoy these photos that I took when Morgan Hartman brought Dan and Jodie Pannell to visit us at Cleveland Park Wines & Spirits back in late 2005 or early 2006: I have to check the dates. In the meantime I'm going to download the pictures and go from there. It's been wonderful selling thier wine over the years : I loved my visit with Chris Pigott of Country Vintners last February 2008. We had a blast times ten if not more. It was enough to write an entire book filled with stories. Our visit to PICARDY where we saw Dan and Jodie and got to met their two children ( a young boy and an even younger girl ) was very special.

I will write more as I add these pictures. TONY

Jim Hutton Of VIAS Imports ( Fattoria Del Cerro, Colpetrone, La Poderina ) Visits Cleveland Park Wines & Spirits & Tastes " New " Releases May, 2009

It was nice to see Jim Hutton and Arielle Monaco as they came with the Italian brand manager for these wines that we tasted in mid May at Cleveland Park Wines & Spirits. Jim Hutton works for Vias Imports and sells us some of the finest Italian wines that we have at Cleveland Park Wines & Spirits ( 3423 Connectivut Avenue N.W. Washington D.C. 20008 Tel : 202-363-4265 sales@clevelandparkwine.com www.clevelandparkwine.com ).

On this afternoon Jim was showing the wines of : FATTORIA DEL CERRO ( 2005 Vino Nobile ), COLPETRONE ( Umbria ) and LA PODERINA ( Tuscany). I tasted a grand Montefalco 2004 Sagrantino, a red blend 2005 from Montefalco ( both from COLPERTONE ), the 2005 Vino Nobile of FATTORIA DEL CERRO and an unbelievable ( from an early sample bottle, the wine was still in Italy ) of the LA PODERINA Brunello di Montalcino that blew me away,around,up and down, thrashed-bashed me to the ground, beat -pounded me senseless and sung to me such divine, sweet ditties and lullabies that I was rendered dumb and speechless and happy as a baby after feeding. I didn't even have to be burped, I wanted to hold it all in - let nothing go, hold that " pause ", keep all this wonderment and bedevilment and fun to myself : all mine, all mine! Don't even think of it Mister! I loved it, and it was tasting so grand at such a young stage. Jim mentioned this at least twice as he said emphatically that it would be one that many could approach and really enjoy at a young age. I will have to buy some for the store : it's quite reasonable considering how much wine they could fit into that 750 ml. bottle. Cheers and kudos to all these three producers : classic Italian red wine that was all made to be enjoyed with food, family, friends, business associates and " new " acquaintances.

Arielle that works now for Country Vintners ( used to be the Henry Wine Group ) will taste at least one of these ( I believe the FATTORIA DEL CERRO ) at her next scheduled in-store wine-tasting at Cleveland Park Wines & Spirits. I think that that is in another week or so.

I will add more info about all these wines as I have time. In the meantime enjoy these photos that I took while I tasted these really superb, traditional-style Italian reds from Tuscany and Umbria. Cheers and thanks for coming by Jim to taste me on these. I'm glad you now have a smaller territory and will be able to spend more time at Cleveland Park. I look forward to our next tasting : and to Arielle's next tasting that will be your selections of ALL VIAS wines. I know it will be a grand success. Take care, TONY


Enjoy, TONY

Anna Tyack of SAINT ANDRE DE FIGUIERE Here Tuesday March 3rd, 2009 To Discuss Dinner At Lavandou For Tues. April 7th, 2009

     Here are the pictures that I took of Anna Tyack ( Export Sales Manager " Vignoles & Signatures  www.vsclub.com  anna.tyack@vsclub.com Le Club des Grands Domaines, that represents SAINT ANDRE DE FIGUIERE )when I met her for the first time here at Cleveland Park Wines & Spirits Tuesday, March 3rd, 2009 in the morning. 

     It was fun to meet her. Our rep from Country Vintners Chris Pigott had told me about her and that she would be visiting the store. I had forgotten exactly when but here she was in the store looking at our group of winemaker/owner pictures hanging around our round tasting table. The visit was so much fun with Anna that I made it the lead for my store email that morning as I had to write about the dinner at Lavandou ( contact@lavandoudc.com  Tel :202-966-3003 ) call Florence or Francis anyway on Tuesday, April 7th, 2009 just down the street from us on the same block as you walk towards the National Zoo.

     Go to : www.clevelandparkwine.com to our web page and read that email that I wrote dated this same day ( it may already be on the Archives in the News section ). I'm not going to repeat it all here. You should also go to the previous blog I just recently posted on our Lavandou dinner with the SAINT ANDRE DE FIGUIERE. that blog and the pictures will give you a good idea of what to expect as Chris Pigott and I joined Florence for lunch that afternoon and tried all seven of the Provence dry reds, whites and roses from SAINT ANDRE DE FIGUIERE ( BP 47  83250 La Londe les Maures, Provence, France  Tel : +3 (0)4 94 00 44 70  Fax : +33 (0)4 94 35 04 46  www.figuiere-provence.com ). 

     Funny, on the map of Provence I see the town of La Londe where SAINT ANDRE DE FIGUIERE is located and just a little further down this road is the town of Le Lavandou : is that fate?!? It's good karma anyway, right?!?

     And then you add the energetic, lively, youthful charm and enthusiasm of Anna to this evening's equation at Lavandou and that will spell a grand, fun success and good time-good meal-good wine-good company time filled with so much cheer and goodwill that everything will be spilling over and there will be so many smiles to go around that we will not have room for them all by the end of this Provencal evening at Lavandou.

     Think of joining us and trying both these fine biodynamic ( all the old-vines/vieilles vignes wines are 100% organic- biodynamic )and fighting-organic wines of Provence along with Lavandou's excellent cuisine. Lavandou has been there now for seventeen years or more successfully serving our neighborhood as well as the Washington D.C. metropolitan area.

     Look forward to seeing you all at this wonderful experience to get the bad taste of Monday out of our mouths and to steel us for the rest of the week ahead.

     Cheers a tout le monde et a Anna et Chris, Florence et Francis et tout les autres. Look forward to wining and dining with you all. A notre sante.

     Also, today, Saturday, March 7th, 2009 at noon in Cleveland Park, Washington D.C. ( our nation's capitol ) it is a really warm, bit humid day and lovely to be outside in short sleeve shirts. Everyone is out - all the joggers and everyone headed to the National Zoo. Come yourselves and as you walk past us and Lavandou you've got just another couple of long blocks before you reach the Zoo and can see all the wildlife enjoying this glorious day. 

    Cheers,  TONY

Holly Kopika Brings Us Current Releases Of PETER LEHMANN , Barossa , South Aussie Wines To Taste Wed. Oct. 15th, 2008

Holly Brought us six of the current releases from the famous and fabulous PETER LEHMANN in the Barossa Valley, South Australia portfolio of the HESS CA. Collection.




We have represented ever since years ago Robert Whale brought us a half bottle of the ' Sticky " Semillon that quickly became back in the 80's a " must have " in any fine wine store here in the United States!




I am sorry that Robert lost the line and I must say that my enthusiasm and or eagerness to buy them from someone else pretty much killed the deal for me for many years afterward.



Robert actually brought Peter himself here years ago. It must have been in 2001 or so : I can't quite remember now and will have to consult my guest book that all owners and wine-makers kindly sign for me when they visit and I take their pictures.




I am really sorry to see that I have not posted this blog yet as it is an entire year since Holly's visit with these marvelous, distinctive and impressive wines from the Barossa Valley where I also love selling Rob Gibson's wines and now those of Daryl Groom as well. And of course I cannot forget Lindsay of the STANLEY-LAMBERT collaboration ( he and Jim made some really solid, value-oriented wines like the dry Semillon and the Thoroughbred Cabernet Sauvignon that we have enjoyed selling now for several years - especially the reds that had some nice bottle-age to them ) in the Barossa as I also like very much what he is doing. Of course there are also others that I should mention as well.




There's wonderful history tied up in all of this as well as connections and relationships and people that either make or pay for the wines themselves to be made : as well as those that export or import them here to our shores in the United States.

I believe in supporting and acknowledging all of this history because it is often why the wines themselves or the conversation is started in the first place. Someone always comes before and their contributions must be acknowledged as they helped to pave the way as Robery Whale did when he started this all up with one other Aussie way back in 1985 was it when that year the United States only bought less than ten thousand cases for the whole year from Australia! WOW : how things have changed since then and now things with the terrible drought have changed things all over again. That and the big companies like the Foster's Brewing Company buying up so many of the large wine organizations like PENFOLDS and LINDEMANS and ROSEMOUNT. Where are they now? I don't hear much about them anymore and rarely get requests for them.




I am eager as one small store to try and keep alive all the small wineries and growers like GIBSON and LOOSE END and GROOM and many more. They need our help to stay alive in these difficult times ( as does PETER LEHMANN ) and I want to be there in the front of the line lending my help!

Holly, come by and see me and I will give you an order for January of 2010 to bring some of these wines back to Cleveland Park as we are currently out. We did love that new Semillon white wine blend that we just recently sold out of " layers is it or something like that? It doesn't quite make up for that wonderfully evocative/provocative exposed nipple on the lady on the old Semillon bottles ( nothing ever will ) but is sure was nice and smooth and bright and delightful to enjoy all by itself or with a meal ...

In one of these pictures with Holly and me I see David Enright behind us , our rep for Grapolli imports ( mainly Italian wines ) that is from Perth Western Australia. Interesting touch ...




Now , getting back to Holly Kopica and the PETER LEHMANN wines that she brought : 1) 2005 Semillon, 2) 2005 Cabernet Shiraz, 3) 2005 Shiraz, 4) Clancy's 2005 red blend of 37% Shiraz, 36% Cabernet Sauvignon and 27% Merlot , 5) 2004 " Eight Songs " Shiraz and the 6) top of the line red simply called " Peter Lehmann ". I liked " the lot " of them and will have to see now what is currently available as it is a year later.

The wines are well-made/focus/defined nicely/balanced and displaying a certain high level of finesse and character across the board. We will continue at Cleveland Park to buy the ones that fit-in with whatever else we already have and that represent the best value at the time. I cannot fault these wines. HESS Selection/Collection has enabled Peter and his staff to continue producing really thought-provoking wines from Barossa. The money has made it so that he can continue doing what he does best : focus all his energy and attention and creativity on making some of the best wines that he can in the Barossa. I applaud this effort of his and am glad that HESS has helped him to keep his vision alive.

Having said all of this I still am torn. Let me explain further. Oh, I forgot to mention the big newspaper article that British writer Jancis Robinson wrote on Australia perhaps eight months ago? I've got to look at it as I believe I still have a copy at Cleveland Park Wines & Spirits. I don't want to comment further on this article until I look at both the headline and read it again. Stay-tuned for that.

However, I am torn because Robert Whale is still out there with his Robert Whale Selections selling Aussie and Tasmanian and Kiwi wines and he, too needs my help promoting his wines and keeping his cold-climate dreams and wines " alive and well in the U.S. market. Being a small store I have only so much room and so much money to buy the wines that we stock and sell. I have known Robert much longer than either Peter Lehmann or Holly and so my allegiance is first to Robert and second to PETER LEHMANN if you don't add in the GIBSON and the LOOSE END wines. Yikes, it's all a lot to consider. I have to try and balance it all and keep a good representation of these wines as stay true to my oldest contacts and relationships.

We are all getting some " bottle age " on us now and the world is changing so fast that it's hard to keep up, really. I like to say that I am growing younger with age ( with the proviso that I stop at 22 years-of-age, of course. I certainly feel young.

I certainly still feel empowered and passionate about all that I am doing on a small stage in Washington D.C. at Cleveland Park Wines & Spirits. It's humbling and heart-felt and an old-style/old work ethic of doing things I say with modesty and no offense to anyone else - with knowing those that I have grown up with, respecting them and trying to include them and their wines as often as I can in a sign of both appreciation and recognition for what they have already done and what they once meant to this grand wine world of ours. It may now be spinning out of control and totally skewered towards abstract and superficial values of money first with number of points scored and number of boxes or cases sold secondly. The " dream and the vision " seem less about small ones that were born, nurtured and loved and paid for with a few peoples' hard sweat and blood and toil and now more with vast companies making decisions from offices and cities far-removed from the place of inspiration and the lands that produce the wines. Sad, deeply disturbing, sad, sad, sad. What are we letting ourselves become for the absolute pursuit of money?

I have never met the owner of HESS Collection. I hear from Holly that he is a bit of a visionary? Holly makes it sound as if I would like meeting him : that we have some things in common? He has never responded to my previous blogs here at : chatwine.blogspot.com. I think I even emailed him and got no response. That might have tipped the scale a bit in his favor if I had. Maybe he never got it? Who knows anything anymore in this cyberspace world of ours of our own creating?

So Robert Whale and Rob Gibson, you still for me win and represent the " lion's share " of my thoughts and energies and money. I choose to spend more of my money on you both. Peter, I am sorry for this. It is nothing against you. You dis come to the store so in a broad sense you are a part of the larger Cleveland Park family that is so important to me. I will not forget you or your fine work and contributions. But I will not be able to as much for you because of everything I have already said here.

So Robert and Rob you had better get a hold of Arielle Monaco our rep at the Country Vintners in Ashland, Virginia ( home of my alma mater Randolph-Macon College where I majored in English literature ) and tell her that I need to order more of your wines ASAP before including some of these excellent PETER LEHMANN selections from the Barossa Valley.

Imagine that, someone that is still principled and not doing it all just for the money? Must be mad/ lost his mind, wouldn't you venture? Fou, loco, insane, sangle ...

... and lovin' it. I have never felt more vital or alive or artistically-inspired/fired and " with mission " to keep alive all so much of the glorious wine world that still survives if only barely. I'm here for them and I say that I and they will not " go gently into that good-night " ... and " will not stop for death " t even though as Emily Dickinson says " it kindly stopped for me ". I will be damned if I stop for it : I/ we have way too much to get right and straighten-out of this huge jumble and mess that has become the corrupted wine world largely - blindly/sadly ... dastardly.

I'm surprised that all of this has poured out of me just now. But as we near the year 2010 ( it's Monday, December 13th, 2009 now here at home in northern Virginia at 8:49 PM ) I am trying to organize. galvanize/steel myself for the battles, wars and skirmishes that I see up ahead awaiting me and that I must deal with eventually or simply bail and sell my soul - both not being options for me now or ever.

Cheers, I'm feeling so much better now having laid my cards on the table so to speak. How about a glass of the Clancy or the GIBSON Shiraz or some LOOSE END sparkling red to celebrate all that is and has been great in this vast and magical and wondrous wine world of ours? TONY




It was great to see Holly once again who now works for the HESS Collection of wines which now owns and promotes the PETER LEHMAN Barossa, South Australian wine portfolio. We have represented them over the years and did a big business with them when they were represented by the Robert Whale Selections portfolio. They are excellent and showed really well this last Wednesday and we will get an order of them here at the start of November in another couple of weeks.

By the way, in all of this Holly has done an excellent job in keeping me mindful of PETER LEHMANN and the fact that I should always have some on our shelves because of Peter and his hard work and the excellence overall of his selection of wines produced. Thanks Holly ...

Happy New Year to one and to all ...

Here are some of the photos that I took of the bottles, the wines in a Riedel glass and of Holly and me. As you can clearly see I like experimenting with the pictures that I take. Being an artist this is definitely part of my artistic expression through words and the images/ photos that I take to capture a bit of the story/ the history/the various elements that all tie into the blogs that I write. I hope you enjoy them.Cheers, TONY

Brad McCarthy Part Owner/Winemaker Of BLENHEIM Vineyards, Charlottesville, VA. Visits Cleveland Park Wines/Tastes With Our Customers 2006

     It's always a pleasure to have Brad here in the store. He's witty, irreverent, spur-of-the-moment-bit-hippy? in his demeanor. He catches me off guard, he makes me think. He's bluntly honest about the Virginia wines and how difficult it is to make wines in Virginia. It's brutal - everything is virtually against you - all the time, you sweat bullets each and every day according to Brad! Wow, sounds like nobody in their right mind would want or care to make wines in Virginia. Why bother , according to Michael Ballard who did once at RAPPAHANOCK Vineyards before selling it and buying the old CONGRESS SPRINGS winery in the Santa Cruz Mountains, CA. which he renamed after his two young daughters Savannah and Chanelle. He admires those that do but is happy to have less stress making wines in California now where Nature and other factors conspire less to make it so difficult to make wines in Virginia! I must say that I agree with Michael : I admire those that persevere and make wines in Virginia. I'm glad to have them so close as it's nice to support local efforts and strive to go green and greener still and even MORE GREEN!

     Brad smiles about it all. he's paid his dues in lumps and he's survived to make really fine, classic-style wines at BLENHEIM. I need to buy some more : Brad call me and let's talk turkey! It's almost time. I need some of your Cabernet Franc for one and some of your dry Chardonnay, too.

 

     The first time I met Brad he calls on his cell phone and when I answer he says : " Dude! Sorry, I'll be a bit late " or something like that or perhaps that he needed me to chill his whites. I cannot remember anymore. It's been two years since we first met when Christine Iezzi of Country Vintners delivered Brad to Cleveland Park Wines & Spirits. 

     Christine has a big help in bringing Virginia and it's excellent wines and winemakers/ owners to me and to the store. More on all that later when I have time to include those stories. I actually met Christine many years ago back in the early 90's when she and I both judged blind the " new " Virginia releases at the Jefferson Hotel with others like Bob and Fred Luskin, Tom Hanna, Mary Watson, Pierre Estoupey ( spelling? ), Tom Rodriguez and many more. Those were fun tastings sitting around the round tables as flight after flight of Virginia wines would appear.

      Anyway, I remember distinctly the " Dude! " The other day I'm reading one of the " Zits " cartoons in the Washington Post newspaper. My wife and I have a teenage son and we love Jeremy the teenage son in " Zits ". One of the last cartoon strips Brad of " Zits " had the word '" dude " used pretty much in ever cartoon frame and you must see it! It made me think of you Brad! Cheers to you and your zest for life dude! By the way, in the " Zits " comic strip I have seen a couple of them where the parents are enjoying a glass of wine and I love that!

     Brad will be back here this coming Wednesday, November 12th, 2008 for our monthly " Big-Theme " American Holiday wine-tasting with four other local ( Virginia, Maryland ) winemakers / owners to taste his new BRADFORD REED " King's " Merlot 2006 ( $27.99 ) that he made with grapes that he purchased from BLENHEIM VINEYARD ( Charlottesville, VA. ). He used to be the winemaker and past-owner at BLENHEIM and has just left I believe recently to make his own wines under the label BRADFORD REED WINES. There will be very shortly a " Meritage " 2006 released in a week or two, just a bit too-late to sell on Wednesday but Brad will bring a bottle or two of it to taste customers on and pre-sell for the holidays. Join us this Nov. 12th, 2008 here at Cleveland Park Wines & Spirits ( 3423 Conn. Ave. NW, Washington D.C. 2008 202-363-4265, sales@clevelandparkwine.com  www.clevelandparkwine.com  and ask for Mike Martin or me ( Anthony- Tony-Quinn if you need assistance or want to order any of Brad's wines in time for the holidays ) if you have time.

     Here are some pictures I took of Brad here at Cleveland Park Wines & Spirits back in 2006 on one of his first visits to our store here in Washington D.C. I will add to this, flesh it out more as I have time but I want to post it now in time for our " Big)theme event coming up that Brad will be an important part of. Thanks for joining us Brad. You are always welcome anytime here at Cleveland Park Wines and Spirits in our nation's capitol! Cheers,   TONY