Anna Tyack Tastes SAINT ANDRE DE FIGUIERE Here , Sat. 4-8 PM : Two dry Roses ( One V.V. Biodynamic ), One Vieille Vigne Biodynamic White, Two Reds

This was a grand tasting which inluded four dry wines from the Cotes du Provence area of southern France ( all from the Doamaien de SAINT ANDRE DE FIGUIERE ) as well as one grand Chinon, 2007 " Les Gravieres " d"amador Abbe de Turpenay 100% Cabernet Franc from COULY-DUTHEIL ( Loire Valley, France ).

The SAINT ANDRE DE FIGUIERE wines were the : 2007 " Francois " dry red blend, $17.99 , the Atmosphere2007 Vin de Pays de Var rose, $9.99 ( it sold like hot cakes ! ), the Vieille Vignes 2006 biodynamic, old-vines ( V.V. ) dry white Vermentino blend with Semillon ( it was my favoroite because of the myriad of flavors, textures, highs and lows and everything in between - wow - impressive ! , $20.99 ) ; and the V.V. Old-Vines 2007 dry rose, $22.99 which was so big and bold and intense that I felt it needed food and a meal to fully grasp/appreciate. Too bad I was not down at Lavandou enjoying it with one of their meals!

We had a grand tasting that actually started from noon through 4 PM with Arielle Monaco with wines from Australia and South Africa. We tasted the Zeepard Shiraz 2006 ( western Australia, from WEST CAPE HOWE, $14.49 ) and the LONGVIEW 2006 Adelaide Hills " Beau Sea " Viognier ( ON SALE for $10.99 , reg: $18.99 ) : and the KEN FORRESTER Petit Pinotage 2008 ( $9.99 ) from South Africa. They all sold really well, too.

Oh, I almost forgot to mention that our friend Tim and local rep for PEAK Organic Portland, Maine beer tasted out the " new " Pomegranate and Coriander Wheat beer ( sells for $9.99 a six-pack ) as well as the IPA that was just recently introduced at Tim's last tasting. I loved this new Pomegranate beer of Tim's : grand stuff, really - flavorful yet smooth and long and lingering in the finish.


Thanks Arielle, Anna and Tim : you guys are the best. We appreciate all your help at Cleveland Park Wines & Spirits as our customers do as well. Cheers, TONY

Jeremy W/HUGL, Arielle Monaco & Anna Of ST. ANDRE DE FIGUIERE Provencal Wines Sat, April 4th, 2009 Here At Cleveland Park Wines & Spirits Tasting

It was a great all-day Saturday in-store wine-tasting that we hosted on April 4th or was it the 5th, 2009? It was the first Saturday of April 2009, that much I am sure of.

We had Jeremy Sutton our rep from Kysela Pere et Fils et Fille there from 2- 6PM and he tasted the Spanish Garnacha/Grenache " Tres Ojos " , $7.99 ( great fruit and fresh, lively acidity that makes someone hungry soon ), the HUGL Austrian 2007 Gruner Veltliner liters ( $10.99 ) that is elegant, fresh, bright, smooth and easy-drinking that everyone falls in love with : and the two " new " KENNEDY POINT Kiwi Sauvignon Blanc, 2007 ( $16.49 ) without any gooseberry flavors - smooth and bright as can be - I love it , and the 2006 Syrah that has a small percentage of Viognier, ( sells for $26.49 ) and is forward, balanced and fresh and reminds me of very drinkable Cote Rotie or Hermitage. I was blown away by it and am thrilled to have it in our store now!

From 4-8 PM we had both Ariele Monaco and Anna Track of ST ANDRE DE FIGUIERE, Provencale wines come to preview the wines for our dinner at Lavandou on Tuesday, April 7th, 2009. We tasted the " Valerie " 2007 dry white that was clean, crisp and lively and very much a food wine with it;s mineral qualities : the " Magali " dry 2007 rose ( $13.49 ) that is as about as rose gets from anywhere - fresh, clean, distinct, appealing and versatile : and both the Vieilles Vignes(old vines ), organic dry white that is smooth and creamy and elegant and so nice with or without food ( medium-bodied, no bite - silky, soft and round on the palate ) and the " Francois " named after the winemaker. It's a red and it was nice at room temperature and even better slightly chilled. When chilled it reminded me of excellent Cabernet Franc and really flavorful, tasty beaujolais. I loved it and I sampled some of all of them later this Saturday evening here at home in northern Virginia.

We have some of all of these wines at Cleveland Park Wines & Spirits ( 3423 Connecticut Avenue N.W. Washington D.C. 20008 , Tel : 202-363-4265 sales@clevelandparkwine.com www.clevelandparkwine.com ) and you can call Mike Martin or Tony Quinn ( me ) for more assistance. You will enjoy them all for different reasons.

Come to the store and check them out and enjoy these pictures of our eight-hour tasting in the meantime. Cheers, TONY

Mardi Gras At Lavandou Provencale Restaurant Yesterday Afternoon, Tues. Feb 24th, 2009 Tasting The Saint Andre de Figuiere For Our Dinner

     It's always great to go and dine at Lavandou down the street from us 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 ) here in our nation's capitol. I was writing the store weekly email and thinking about how nice it would be to go get one of my favorite lunch meals : the stek frites and celebrate Mardi Gras with Florence Devilliers the owner. 

     I already had some people coming through to taste their wines with me like Marci ( Constantine ) and David Forziati ( Epicurean Wines ) that had a selection of Aussie wines ( BLACK CHOOK, WOOP WOOP &  SLIP STREAM ) for me to taste. We also had Jennifer Horsely of CLOS DU VAL come with Chrissy of Washington Wholesalers and together the three of us tasted  three CLOS DU VAL wines, one TALTARNI sparkling Aussie Victoria brut dry " tache " rose and one dry, French whites from the DOMAINE DE NIZAS, vin de pays D'Oc. I'm thrilled they had this dry white French country Sauvignon Blanc that I could enjoy while thinking about Mardi Gras.

     We were quite busy and in between I was typing away like mad here at my Apple computer trying to get written the store email. It's always a struggle and a rush to the finish where around 5 PM or so I finally toss the bag in and push the SEND button so that it is out of my hair and " out-there " somewhere in cyberspace!

     And then Chris Pigott our rep and my friend from Country Vintners distributors walked through the door asking me if I was ready to go and have lunch with him and owner Florence down at Lavandou?! Wow, what a surprise : I had completely forgotten about this luncheon to taste the seven wines of SAINT ANDRE DE FIGUIERE ( BP 47 - 83250 La Londe les Maures, France  Tel : +33 ( 0 ) 4 94 00 44 70  Fax : +33 ( 0 ) 4 94 35 04 46   www.figuiere-provence.com ) and work on our meal at Lavandou scheduled for Thursday, April 2nd, 2009 ( $69 plus tax and tip per person ). This will be quite the event and I was able to include the first notice of this in my store email when I returned and it got sent to every one on Mardi Gras day! Nice, that all felt good, really.

     As you can see here I was able to take some pictures at Lavandou of our wonderful luncheon with owner Florence. We had Francis our waiter pouring wines and serving us and it was quite the treat. The food was superb as usual with both Chris Pigott and me raving about it as we sat there at the back of the restaurant. Florence ordered for us ( we were thinking of foods that would be complemented by these dry reds, roses and white wines of SAINT ANDRE DE FIGUIERE ). As I said we had seven different bottles with us : three dry roses, two reds and two whites. We started with the everyday " Atmosphere " rose and then proceeded onto the others : a regular bottling and then a " vieilles vignes - old vines " of each red, rose and white. I loved all of them except the " vieilles vignes " dry red : it was just too bold and alcoholic for me. I could not wrap my tongue and palate around it this time. All the " vieilles vignes - old vines " are completely organic. This was something that caught my rapt attention from the get-go! Funny, over the years we have sold a whole lot of the SAINT ANDRE DE FIGUIERE wines from Provence - lots of all of these except for the " Atmosphere " that we began to sell in 2008.

     For lunch Florence selected a delicious Fruits de Mer Cassoulette ( some lovely shell fish and dazzling big shrimp in a red spice and garlic and zing and zang and zest wine sauce! So much like great comfort food : put it completely at-ease and relaxed us thoroughly followed by an equally impressive duck ( canard ), medium-rare and so smooth, tasty and silky. Wow, it was so tender and appealing. Lovely. Chris Pigott and I could not enjoy ourselves enough!

     I first learned about these wines back in 1999 or early 2000 : I think it was 1999. Back then I had just began my year back in retail at MacArthur Beverages ( Addie Bassin's on MacArthur Boulevard ). Jocelyn Cambier brought them by the store to taste and I got a chance to try them with him and was quite impressed. Owner Francois might have been with him on this visit - I think so but cannot be completely sure. I do know that I did meet Francois as he came later here to Cleveland Park Wines & Spirits to taste me on his family's " new " releases.

     So, to get us all up to speed : I have/ we have been selling these excellent Provence wines from SAINT ANDRE DE FIGUIERE now for the last eight years or more and very happy with them and the comments we hear from our customers that have bought and enjoyed them with family, friends and colleagues.

     And then it may have been sometime last year ( or was it two years ago? I will have to check my notes and calendar ) Magali came with Chris Pigott to taste here in the store with our customers. That sure was both a really fun and successful wine-tasting ; we made lots of " new " converts to SAINT ANDRE DE FIGUIERE and sold lots of Magali's wines, too, especially her excellent dry rose named after her. It turns out that a number of these wines are all named after the family members. Francois has the regular-bottling of dry red named after him and I really enjoyed that yesterday at Lavandou. I think it will show beautifully with the food Florence selects for the meal.

     At the end of our tasting with Magali Chris Pigott asked me what I recommended for a local restaurant ( close by ) for him to take Magali? I immediately thought of and recommended Lavandou. As lick would have it Florence was there and they were able to taste her on Magali's dry rose. I had hoped that Florence would be there so that together Magali and Chris could get some business with Florence. It was a perfect fit these wines, really. The rest is a glorious history : they both went and had a delicious meal there and got to meet Florence and Chris started some business there as a result. What else could you want?!? Not much ...

     So we are off to a great start : I think we will have four wines, maybe five of these for the dinner : the Atmosphere, the regular bottling of each the dry red ( Francois ), rose ( Magali ) and white ( Valerie ) and the Vieilles Vignes dry white. I will include prices and vintages soon. For the meantime I want to get this blog posted so that it will/ may encourage people to come here to the store to buy the wines as well as attend our meal at Lavandou for $69 plus tax and tip on Thursday, April 2nd, 2009.

     When Magali came she left me with the lovely book that is pictured here on the table at Lavandou with the wines and food. Thanks Magali. I'm glad I had it to take to our luncheon yesterday and I was able to give Florence ( Devilliers ) two copies of the brochures that you included within saying : " The Angels' Pledge". She was most happy to get them. 

     Lavendou is here on Connecticut Avenue N.W. Washington D.C. in Cleveland Park. For more info on the dinner call : 202-966-3002 ( to sign up for the dinner ) and also go to : info@lavandourestaurant.net.

     I will get a new shipment of the SAINT ANDRE DE FIGUIERE wines on Thursday, March 19th, 2009. This spells some great times for us and great wines, too! Come check them out and try them on for size, fit and feel on your palate. You will be happily surprised with both the excellent quality and the pricing, too.

     Cheers et sante et a la prochaine, venez nous voir - come and see us all real soon!   TONY