SEIFRIED, GIBSON, CAVE SPRING, SAVANNAH-CHANELLE Owners, & Customers With Me March-August 2006 : Great Smiles - Great Moments!

Here are pictures of many owners and wine makers from GIBSON Aussie Barossa, South Australia Wines ( Rob Gibson ), Tom of CAVE SPRINGS in Canada ; Kelly and Michael Ballard of SAVANNAH-CHANELLE Vineyard in California's Santa Cruz mountains, and Anne of SEIFRIED in Nelson, New Zealand as well as one winemaker from Australia who's name I have to remember and include here? Is it Peter? I believe that it is ... as well as many of our regular customers. We are all smiling - very nice.

Theresa Morrison ( owner/partner of BOUTIQUE Wines South Africa & More ) and Sotiris Bafitis ( Greek Wines importer ) are also pictured here.


I think it is safe to say that at Cleveland Park Wines & Spirits that as the wine manager I run the store as if everyone is welcome from customer to winemaker, wine owner, rep, marketing director ... as if we are all in a sense one big , happy family. That's the only way that really makes any sense to me.

I'm going to make money for Cleveland Park Wines & Spirits no matter what so why not make everyone feel appreciated and welcome and comfortable at the store at the same time?

Why not include everyone when and where possible so that people all make as many lasting connections and impressions as possible? This all simply makes perfect sense to this artistic temperament of mine. I may be getting some bottle age on me but that does not mean that I am losing anything : rather I am polishing and continuing to hone my skills as an " enabler " of all those things including wine/food/people and art that pass through our doors in our nation's capitol here at Cleveland Park Wines & Spirits ( 3423 Connecticut Avenue N.W. Washington D.C. 20008, Tel:202-363-4265 sales@clevelandparkwine.com www.clevelandparkwine.com ).


















Enjoy these pictures that I have just taken photos of here to include quickly of pictures that I took before using my digital camera or just after starting. It's just easier sometimes to take pictures of pictures as I have so many now that it is hard to keep track of them all and I want to share as many of them with you now as I can. Cheers, TONY

Owner Peter Rumball Here ( 2006 Sometime I Believe ) Tasting His Aussie Sparklings Reds With Our Cleveland Park Wines & Spirits Customers

It was great to get owner Peter Rumball of RUMBALL Sparkling Aussie wines to the store to taste his selection of red sparkling wines made from both the Shiraz ( SB 17 ) and the Merlot ( M3 ) grapes. It was back in 2006 I believe and I will include that information shortly. I have it but am in a rush to get this out during the holiday season of 2008 ( it's Sunday morning, 10:13 AM on December 21st, 2008 ) and I want to share these pictures with you all now.























It was a great treat to finally meet Peter. We had already been selling his sparkling Shiraz at our store Cleveland Park Wines & Spirits ( 3423 Connecticut Avenue N.W. Washington D.C. 2008 sales@clevelandparkwine.com www.clevelandparkwine.com Tel : 202-363-4265 ) and I was finally, slowly beginning to really get a firmer grip on the whole Aussie red sparkling wine phenomenon/charm and overall fun taste!

I believe that we tasted three of Peter's sparkling reds ( or at least offered three for sale : the Shiraz, the Merlot and the half-bottles of the Shiraz ). We hads never had the half bottles before but they proved to be a good idea and with time quite popular with anumber of our customers here in our nations's capitol where we have people shopping at our store that come from all the nooks and crannies and more of our marvelous world.

Unfortunately it has now been awhile since we have sold the RUMBALL sparkling red wines. I just googled RUMBALL and see that the Country Vintners is still listed as Peter's wholesaler here in the Washington D.C. metropolitan area and yet I do not believe that they represent them any more. I will have to look more into this shortly as people still ask for the RUMBALL.

It's especially popular now according to what you told me three years' back Peter. You told me that Aussies enjoy their sparkling reds with Christmas turkey. What am I to do?!?! You also told me that sparkling RUMBALL red is also quite good with Eggs Benedict I believe. It may have been that other famous French breakfast egg dish with the whipped cream sauce that I cannot recall the name for! Argh!! Age, memory failures ; realities of life.

I have always liked the sparkling red wines with barbecued food such as the pulled pork and other meats that you can get at Tockland's or Bubbas. I also like sparkling reds with many chocolates. On top of that it is simply feastive and fun and tastes good, too with or without a meal.

Over the last eight years we at Cleveland Par Wines & Spirits have sold a whole variety fo them coming from Italay ( sparkling Veneto Cabernet ), Portugal ( )N SALE for $17.99 - funky, earthy dry, rustic Baga ), Latvia ( semi-sweet, $8.99 ), Otrepo Pavese ( sparkling Bonarda, Italy ), California ( my friend Jed Steele's CA. " Black Bubbles ", $20 Syrah ), other Aussie ( " LOOSE END, another good friend Rob Gibson's blend of Shiraz, Merlot and Mataro, $21.99 ) and more. We have all these at Cleveland Park Wines now and ready for the 2008 holiday season and New Year's eve.

Peter, I will call today my friend and Country Vintner rep Chris Pigott to see what the store is and if by any chance he has any more in stock to send me tomorrow!

We have been selling sparkling reds now for quite some time, way before they became popular recently within the last two years I would say.

Peter, your sparkling Aussie reds have always been excellent but also on the more expensive levels of around $30 for the 750ml bottles and around $2o for the 375ml bottles. That's okay ; the quality is in each and every bottle. Very consistent and delicious.






















It was a great pleasure to have you at our store Peter. I certainly hope that we meet again and that we will sell your excellent sparkling Aussie reds once more. If you read this please do get in touch with me and let's put our two heads together and get back on track with RUMBALL at Cleveland Park.

When you came we had quite a nice little crowd that came to discover RUMBALL from ex-ambassadors to struggling documentary people to professors, etcetera. I love seeing you Krishna in one of the photos! You , too Clark!

In one of the pictures if you blow it up on the screem you will see a picture behind the group of Chris Pigott facing the camera in back of a stack of wines, head-down looking/working on his lap-top computer, doing wine-sales-business quietly, constantly, intently while the tasting went on. This is his habit and it works quite successfully, too.

It was because of Chris that we got to have you Peter tasting in our store. He contacted me, told me about the times you would be free to be here with us and we set it up. We have organized countless tasting this way, Chris and I and they have been resounding successes for everyone involved from producer, importer, retailer and customer. We have all come away winners. What more can you ask for ? And personal, close and intimate, too. That's good business, that's my kind of business.

You surprised me, too Peter as the only wine owner/maker that has ever not wanted to sign the bottles here in our store as gifts. I can't remember what you said exactly, was it presumptuous or vain - something like that. You were kind enough to sign the bottles anyway and for that I thank you.

We still have sitting on top of our bubbly display a signed in gold-ink bottle of RUMBALL ( it's empty, you poured it and I had it in the store-front window facing out onto Connecticut Avenue N.W. Washington D.C. for a few months ) and each and every time I see it now I think of you and of RUMBALL and Australia. I refuse to throw it out : it's signed after all!

I had a wonderful trip to Australia this February 2008 with Chris Pigott of Country Vintners. We did not stop in to see you. That's too bad. It will have to wait till the next visit whenever that may be. Being in Australia ( driving past the wake/funeral of actor Heath Ledger in Cottlesloe Perth western Australia as we arrived and knowing I had two glorious weeks still to go - WOW! ) has left an indelible/positive/fantastic memory for me to revisit now for years to come - with countless stories , tales and fantasies to spread.

    I'm looking at the bottle signed by Peter on the 24th, 2006. The SB17. Dusty, a great memory!

Cheers and Happy New Year 2009 - may it be a great one for each and every one of us. Come again soon. TONY

Erin Hollrah ( Brand Manager ) Of LOOSE END, Barossa, South Australia Wrote On 3 / 14 / 2007 The Following

Erin Hollrah ( brand manager ) of LOOSE END ( Rob Gibson's " other " label besides GIBSON wines - Light Pass Rd. P.O. Box 867, Tanunda 5352 Barossa Valley South Australia Tel : +61 885 624 332 ekhollrah@gmail.com ) wrote after her March 13th, 2007 visit to Cleveland Park Wines & Spirits ( 3423 Connecticut Avenue Wines & Spirits 3423 Connecticut Avenue N.W. Washington D.C. (202) 363-4265 sales@clevelandparkwine.com www.clevelandparkwine.com ) some pretty inspiring words. I'd like to share them with you all now.

But first I'd like to say that I last saw Erin earlier in this year 2008 when she brought owner Arya Campbell of LAUREL GLEN by the store to say " hello". Erin was waiting in the car while Arya rushed in to say hello to me. I was impressed. Let me explain.

When I got to the store on Tuesday morning ready to begin work on writing the store email I saw that Arya had stopped by the day before - my day-off. She left her card I believe and so I decided to call her. I left a message and she called me back! She said she would try and stop by and damned if she didn't two or so hours later! That's what I call spur-of-the-moment-thinking and things connecting as a result!

It was great to see you Arya. Thanks for taking the time to return. As a result of that and other efforts of yours I have promoted more actively your family's wines in the store. Today, Friday November 21st, 2008 I sold the last five bottles on the shelf of the Chilean Cabernet Sauvignon " Chevere " red. My customer was delighted to see them on the shelf and cleared me out for the moment. It's really a small world. She had discovered them about six weeks ago on our shelf and the friend she gave them to was delighted!

Anyway, as we said " good bye " I realized that Erin was outside waiting for you and so I rushed outside to say hello to her. I took too much time and I apologize for that as you had many other customers to visit that day. Oops. I do get excited!

Erin , these words of your written with a red pen are great and inspiring so I will include them now as we head into the 2008 holidays with Thanksgiving less than a week away. These are your words :

" Love it here! Lookin' forward to a wild tasting in the fall... until then, embrace what it is to be at a Loose End :

To be at a loose end is to have no plans, which is a wonderful thing in our busy world. This provides us with the opportunity to be spontaneous, creative or even mischievous !! " I agree wholeheartedly with all of this Erin, Thanks for sharing this with us. I will take it to heart immediately. I should also say that now in 2008 you continue to work for LOOSE END but that you also rep for Country Vintners and sell the LAUREL GLEN wines among many others, too. Can't think of a nicer/talented person up for the job !

It's a mystery and wonderful how so many things are so amazingly interconnected isn't it?!?

Cheers to you Erin, Rob ( Gibson ), Arya and all your families. Happy Thanksgiving 2008 to all, 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