Captain Australia ( Nick Stacey ) Here Saturday, April 26th( 2-5 PM ) With Rep. Jeremy Overman: Now Jeremy Returns Friday, August 15th, 2008 To Taste

     It's 3 PM here at Cleveland Park Wines & Spirits and we welcome back Jeremy Overman who sells us some of our favorite Aussie wines ( LONGVIEW, Adelaide, www.longviewvineyard.com.au ; WEST CAPE HOWE, Denmark, western Australia www.westcapehowewines.com.au ; PICARDY Vineyards, Pemberton western Australia www.picardy.com.au - www.countryvintner.com.au ; LOOSE ENDS, Barossa, South Australia www.countryvintner.com.au ) and now INTRODUCING : VINACEOUS South Australian wines ( www.vinaceous.com.au ). Today Jeremy will pour the " Snake Charmer " 2006 Shiraz ( 14% alcohol ) Limestone Coast, South Australia. Come try some here in the store now with Jeremy. I'm sipping it now as I write and I've just told Jeremy that I think it's a little warm. I really like it, I wear it well or should I say it wears me well. We weather each other quite well. I like the lush, thick texture that just stays nicely there somewhere in my middle palate somewhere, effortless, silkily, enticingly, just there to fill and please and comfort me. It's got a great comforting/ warm taste. Just the right balance of warmth and bright toasty berry cherry flavors that wrap themselves nicely with draped softer tannins and lilting, slowly moving waves of red Shiraz flavors on the calm of my stomach and palate: much like it was last week wave running with my daughter driving ( me the passenger ) on the sound of the Outer Banks, North Carolina. It was marvelous, much like the feeling I have of peace and comfort here as I type away like a happy madman here in the office. I recommend highly this Snake Charmer. It has charmed me as you see. I like that. I surrender happily with a smile, too. It sells for $23.99 and is worth every penny if not more! Next week we will receive the " Red Right Hand " red blend of Shiraz, Cabernet Sauvignon and Tempranillo from Vinaceous, also at $23.99 a bottle. There will also be two others arriving later : four wines made under the VINACEOUS name. STAY-TUNED!

     In case you don't know Nick is the one with the flag draped over him! He's also the one with the black shades.

     Jeremy is also tasting the delicious KILDA South Australia almost-completely-unoaked Chardonnay at $7.99 a bottle.

     Here are some pictures from the tasting with Nick Stacey and Jeremy Overman last April 26th ( Saturday ) here in our store where Nick was nicknamed " Captain Australia ". I think Jeremy liked the idea, too and decided to done the Aussie flag as well. Nancy, our customer here then was quite amused as you can see by her expression. Pictures of today's tasting will follow shortly. The afternoon is young yet, it's only 3:42 PM now, still quiet here in the store, but we're ready. Enjoy, cheers,   TONY

Two Great Beach August 2008 Bubblies : ( DON CONDE ) Penedes, Spain And The French Blanc De Blancs Brut (P IERRE LAROUSSE ) : BOTH ) Only $9.99

     It was great to take these fabulous bottles of value and great taste bubblies with us this past week to the beach in the Outer Bank of North Carolina. They both only cost $9.99 here at Cleveland Park Wines & Spirits ( 202-363-4265 ). The prices may go up eventually but for the time being they remain at $10 a bottle. They are both quite smooth, bright, fresh and almost creamy and lush and almost as light as a souffle on the palate. They graze over the tongue and touch, tickle and excite but never weigh heavily or are ever cloying. They both focus on the balance of the components and are very pleasing to sip with or without a meal. 

     DON CONDE brut ( dry ) is located in Spain's Penedes area, Arvisa Sant Sadurni D'Anoia to be exact. It's a methode traditionelle at 11.5% alcohol. The brut ( dry ) PIERRE LAROUSSE (  11.5% alcohol is made in the Caves of Wissembourg, Alsace, France and is also a blend of grapes. Both are available through the Country Vintners in Ashland, Virginia.

     Here are some pictures that I took this past week at the beach in the Outer Banks ( August 3rd-10th, 2008 ). Again they are my more artsy photos that I like to take to create new levels I hope of sensory experience and ambiance. I hope you enjoy them.

     While downloading the photos I decided to download some of my watercolors in black and white as well as in color using also oil pastels. I was inspired by the views that were many and glorious from our upper balcony both looking out at the beach and the sand and dunes as well as backwards to the sound, too. I take a lot of creative license and recombine, distort, rearrange and re-propose what I see as my eyes scan from left to right and then back again and again and again before I settle for the slightest of moments here or there - perhaps, oui, yes, no - non,... a bit everywhere. They are all available for sale just drop me an email at : thewineguy@gmail.com and I will provide prices. Wine, art and food and good people and a beautiful slice of paradise : what else could anyone want?!?

     How do you like the fancy plastic, bevelled Champagne flutes we found in our rental beach house? I sort of like them. They did the trick for us and we did not have to worry about breaking them! Cheers,   TONY

Hammer & Sickle Russian Vodka ( hsvodka.com ) Rep. Mathew Maguire Here Saturday August 2nd Tasting Customers from 4-7 PM

     It was great to have Mathew Maguire here a couple of Saturday's ago ( August 2nd, 2008 ) tasing his new HAMMER & SICKLE Russian 80 proof vodka. Mathew tells me that a number of the clubs and bars are working with the Hammer & Sickle. For more local info about where to find it contact Mathew at : mathewmaguire@klinspirits.com.

     We had a great tasting with Mathew on Saturday. I tasted it both by itself and mixed and enjoyed both. More important our customers liked what they tasted for the most part. It sells for $29.99 and we are happy to have it here at Cleveland Park Wines & Spirits. Call us for more info at 202-363-4265. It's here now.

     Here are some of the more astsy photos that I like to take of both Mathew and the bottle/fancy red packaging, too of the HAMMER & SICKLE. Cheers,  TONY

Message In A Bottle August 3rd-10th, 2008, at Rodante, Outer Banks, North Carolina

 

     We're just back from our fabulous vacation at the Outer Banks of North Carolina, August 3rd-10th, 2008 with our family. We had a marvelous time chilling, relaxing, vegging, reading,I did lots of my art( watercolors and oil pastels combined as well as black and white watercolors), chatting, snoozing, napping, eating and drinking and at the end watching the 2008 Beijing summer Olympics. Exciting and soothing/calming times. I took lots of artsy photos with the wine bottles, glasses and wines inside both for more moody, thought-provoking, fantastical effects. Half the time I was not sure what I would get : that was much of the point. I'm pleased with some of them. Here are some for your introspection/reflection/deflection. 

     What message is in these bottles? What do you see in them/ through them? What feelings come through the glasses and what images are mirrored in the surface of these wines?

     Pictured here are the bottles of the 2005 Chateau LA MOTHE DU BARRY Bordeaux Superieur - made by owner/winemaker Joel Duffau in Moulon, Gironde ( 100% Merlot grapes ), $11.99 - imported by Elite Imports that goes down really smoothly now : and the Atmosphere everyday bottling of dry Provencal rose from Domaine Saint Andre de Figuiere ( imported by Country Vintners , Ashland, Virginia ). Both drank beautifully at the beach and both are recommended and available at Cleveland Park Wines and Spirits in Washington D.C. Call : 202-363-4265 for more information. The watercolor here in black and white is one of the twenty or so that I did from my deck on our upper level looking out at the beach and the sea, sand and beach beyond.

     Enjoy. Cheers, it's good to be back ....  TONY