ROZES Amazing and Unique White Port ( $21.99 ) Poured By Our French Rep From Brittany, Francois Hurtel In Early 2011 NEEDS To Be Experienced To Be...

BELIEVED!


The fact that this ROZEZ white port is made like no other that I know of or that I am told is made like no other, that it is deeper, darker, richer, more unctuous and golden and lulling and soothing and that one's tongue can more-easily float effortlessly on it's surface or submerge itself more completely into it's body and core and luxuriate more completely in it's depths : well, if this does not paint a special picture and make you want to rush over to our store Cleveland Park Wines & Spirits ( 3423 Connecticut Avenue N.W. Washington D.C. 20008 Tel:202-363-4265 sales@clevelandparkwine.com, http://www.clevelandparkwine.com/, anthonyquinn@clevelandparkwine.com , also now on Facebook at : Cleveland Park Wine & Spirits and on Twitter at : cpwinespirits )in our nation's capitol, then I don't know what will?

Did I say that it's amazing? Did I mention that each and every time that we taste it out we virtually always sell out before the tasting is over? Did I also say that it's perfect now as the weather changes and it gets a bit colder it now being the 30th of September 2011 the last day of the month? It's all true.

It's an experience in itself. It deserves to be experienced and thoroughly enjoyed. We sell it for $21.99 a bottle. It's worth every penny of that, too if not even more! The bottle, too is memorable and easily found as it's a ceramic squat white bottle : not easily mistaken for any other? I suppose that this was all discussed and carefully planned? Great marketing anyway you look at it.

Come on over to the store today as we have the better part of a case now on our shelves. I will ask our French rep from Brittany Francois Hurtel to come and pour it once again? Perhaps I can even persuade him to get his beautiful wife to come and help him pour as she, too has a beautiful smile and disposition just like that of Francois. What a team they make. Venez nous voir vous deux : vous etes magnifique ensemble. Merci et a la prochaine. Vous etes toujours bien venues chez nous a Cleveland Park Wines Et Spirits.

I should be speaking in Portuguese as ROZES is from Portugal. I did learn it fluently as a child in Rio De Janeiro in Brazil back from 1955-1962 when we lived there. And before Pele the most famous soccer player was yet famous he did on the beaches of the Copacabana teach me how to maneuver the soccer ball on the white sands when I was five and six years old! Oh darn it : I forgot my Portuguese since then and learned French instead. I will have to learn my Portuguese all over again and practice it when I drink next this bottle of MIOLO Lote 43 50% Cabernet Sauvignon / 50% Merlot ( not filtered ) 2004 from Brazil's Vale dos Vinhedos ( On Special for $19.99, reg : $24.99, 13.5% alcohol by volume ) with my wife and neighbors. Come buy a bottle of that, too when you buy your bottle of the ROZES unique white port. Cheers , TONY

DOMAINE De JARRAS 2010 Gris De Gris Verite Du Terroir Vin Des Sables LISTEL Estate, France( $14.99 ) / Pre-Pheloxera

This wine is unique/rare and delicious, too! We had Francois Hurtel taste it here the other evening at Cleveland Park Wines & Spirits.

Look at the beautiful deep rose/apricot/salmon color of it above : I love it! I really do like dry rose wines as well as do many of our customers. Justin just asked for one a couple of days ago and was happy to walk away with a French Cote Du Provence biodynamic 2009 On Sale for $13.99 that I get from our rep Charles of William's Corner imports as I am currently out of the Francois Hurtel selection.

With the warmer weather here in Washington D.C. and northern Virginia and the daffodils starting to bloom glorious " pops " of yellow on the banks of Rock Creek Parkway now ( I saw my first blooms yesterday and was shocked! ) it may be time to consider enjoying some more dry and flavorful roses. We have a really full selection at Cleveland Park Wines & Spirits ( 3423 Connecticut Avenue N.W. Washington D.C. 20008 Tel : 202-363-4265 anthony.quinn@clevelandparkwine.com, also now on Facebook at : Cleveland Park Wines & Spirits and on Twitter at : cpwinespirits ). We carry them year-round and love to recommend them depending on what we hear our customers are serving.

I would have asked Francois about his DOMAINE De JARRAS 2010 or 2011 dry Gris de Gris rose but alas VRANKEN/POMMERY that employed him up until December of 2011 has let him go. Bad decision if you ask me. he really did a great job selling to us in Cleveland Park N.W. Washington D.C. our nation's capitol. I will ask Sal Furfari our local rep from Bacchus about the DOMAINE De JARRAS instead. We may or may not carry it again. The work will have to start all over again as I am still feeling acutely the sting from hearing the news from Sal that Francois was let go. Oh well, we will see. I do keep an open mind about these type of things but the connections that are made between people is so important, especially today when the world seems to large and impersonal. Anthony ( TONY ) Quinn

ROZES Gold Label Portuguese Port Tasted With Francois Hurtel Of VRANKEN/POMMERY In 2011 @ Cleveland Park Wines & Spirits in N.W. Washington D.C.

We have bought the red and white bottle of the ROZES Poruguese port but never the gold bottle. Why is this? I will have to confer with Francois Hurtel about this? I simply cannot remember why now as I type this late on / or now really early on Friday morning here at home on September 30th, 2011 as we all get ready to usher in the month of October, 2011 and say " good bye " to the month of September. It's 12:10AM now on Friday morning and I am getting ready to go on upstairs to bed and get a good night's rest as I have a very busy end to this weekend which will stretch way into late on Saturday night when I close the store at 9PM. Yikes : that's two long days still to go. Oh well, I'll make it, really I will.

I just found out that Francois Hurtel no longer works for VRANKEN / POMMERY : that they let : " him go, and in December in the holiday season and with his wife pregnant " a friend related to me this past week at Cleveland Park Wines & Spirits ( 3423 Connecticut Avenue N.W. Washington D.C. 20008 Tel:202-363-4265 anthony.quinn@clevelandparkwine.com also on Facebook now at : Cleveland Park Wines & Spirits and on Twitter at : cpwinespirits ). SHOCKING! And according to this person : " and he hit all his numbers! ". That means he matched all his goals that they wanted.

From my humble perspective of having been in this business now for thirty-plus years : I buy from the people that I like to do business with. I liked doing business with Francois. He was always direct and helpful and met me " in between " where we both could to help one another out. He was and is a " straight shooter " and I will have to look closely at whoever comes to our Cleveland Park N.W. Washington D.C. neighborhood here in our nation's capitol next year. I will probably not have the same connections or feeling of confidence/ of having worked well together with whoever this might be that I have nurtured and built with Francois for years ever since he came to us many, MANY moons ago with the PIERRE FERRAND cognacs.

Oh well, I was going to ask Francois about the " gold " ROZES as I cannot remember much about it now. We may sell it, we may not. I LOVE the " white " bottle and will continue with that. NOW FRANKEN/POMMERY will have to work quadruple hard to keep their wines at Cleveland Park Wines & Spirits in 2012 comme vous avez vraiment tromper quand vous avez metez Francois a la porte. Pas bien ca. vraiment pas bien messieurs. Est ce que il y a quelq'un chez vous qui peut bien repondre a cette unjustice grave?!? J'attends votre reponse ... It's now Sunday night here as I post this on January 29th, 2012. Cheers et merci Francois pour tout ce que tu a bien fait pour nous.

Beautiful golden color to this port above. Being an artist I notice things like that. Anthony ( TONY ) Quinn

More Of Tony In His Art! " Saxing Off " / An Etching I Did Years Ago In Paris, France ( 1979 ) Based On A Drawing I Did In The Paris Metro Of A Sax

Musician ... this headline should finish. I wonder what wine he drank while playing in the Paris metro system? Should have asked him...

I meant to put this on my chatart post and put it here instead. I did this etching in Paris, France back in 1979 I believe from a frawing I did of a sax player in the Paris metro. Hope you like it. These are some of the experimental prints I made of it trying to decide how to print it eventually. Hope you like them. You may enjoy just about any wine as you look at them and study them and arrive at your own conclusions about what works and what does not? Cheers, TONY

Encore Plus D'Art De Antoine " Just Missed The Boat ! " / A Black-And-White Etching Done in 1978 @ Atelier 17 of William Stanley Hayter/ Qu'Est Ce Que

Vouz Voyez ? the headline above should finish ...

I did this black-and-white etching very early in my career in Paris, France : 1078 I believe? It was a intricate etching with lots of lines and lots of suggestions of animal forms dissolving into a background of earth, sky and water : all things coming together. I had a whole lot of fun with it and my imagination really began to work overtime and I liked this : made me work even harder and smile to myself inwardly even more. I was pleased, I was compelled, I was driven , I was dedicated to this pursuit of mine and it was rewarding me inch by inch, line by line, and really small bit by small bit. Great! Of course I did not really know any of this at the time. It would come gradually, it would come later. I would realize some of this as I looked back years later very much as I am now.

Why do I say this? I mention it because it occurs to me now. I moved on pretty quickly to many other etchings in Paris, France. I would often go back and re-print a plate. Pretty much all of what I have printed I would categorize as " Artist's Proofs ". I like this : I know it is much harder to sell and probably nowhere as profitable. Certainly it is much less marketable. I get that that, I really do. But I am and always have been very much about the raw inspiration at any given moment. That to me is the " germ - the truth, the closest thing to being as honest as anyone can be at any one given moment ". Wow, that's all a tongue and a mind-twister. So be it : I'm happy, I still believe this and only time will prove me right or wrong : all depending on one's point of view : or the collective " point-of-view " of one large sea or sky or cave of opinion/ likes and dislikes.

SO : enjoy this one print that I pulled of this etching done many years ago in Paris, France that I started when I first went to print at William Stanley Hayter's Atelier 17 at 10, Rue Didot in the 14th arrondisement of Paris, France back in 1978 I believe. Cheers and please comment and tell me what you all see below in the " comment " section at the end of this blog? I would love to hear. Cheers et a la prochaine. Anthony ( TONY ) Quinn

My " The Beggar Woman "/ Etching Artist's Proofs Done In 1988-1989/ Metro Trocadero/ I Drew Her Each Morning/ ZUCCARDI Argentina Wines Oct. 2011

I had learned about wine in part already with my father as we would visit the Nicolas wine shops at first. Then we discovered Steven Spurrier's Caves De La Madeleine and his Acedemie Du Vin. When I turned 21 my parents gave me a class there ( the first wine class offered there ) and I was allowed to come on a trial run. Patricia Gallagher was not sure that the older men would like me and welcome me to the class? So it was a test to see if I passed? According to my mother I passed with flying colors and was invited back! I like that, I like it a lot.

Anyway, at some point while learning about wine with my father I also started to draw the musicians and the people in the Paris metro. I was fascinated by this one particular old beggar woman in the Trocadero metro and I drew her many times and this etching is the result of those drawings.

This etching represents the life as I envisioned it of this old beggar woman from being a young girl to a young lady to finally coming to beg in the Trocadero metro.

The walls of the metro represent the people like me that are almost machine-like and indifferent and cold and simply pressing on to get to their destinations. Not pretty, not right. Something wrong with this picture isn't there? Should be fixed, shouldn't it?

Anyway, I wanted to share these artist's proofs with you and get your impressions?

On wine, last night my wife and I enjoyed some Argentina dry white and red : she the ZUCCARDI 2010 Torrontes white and me the ZUCCARDI Mendoza Malbec 2009 dry red. Also tried over the weekend the ZUCCARDI 2007 Cabernet Sauvignon and the 2008 or 2009 ZUCCARDI Tempranillo, They were all so different and opened slowly and gracefully. I liked the Cabernet the best, then the Tempranillo that needed the most time. I liked the least the Malbec becasue I thought of it as columns of flavor and I will check it tonight, a day-old and see if my impressions change. Cheers, Anthony ( TONY ) Quinn

" The Lover " Black and White Monotype Etching I Did In Paris, France, 1978-1979 / Celebrating Today 2/7/ 2012 31 Years Of Marriage!

I did these two prints awhile back in 1980 and unfortunately I hardly ever printed these plates. That's too bad. I should have made more copies. these are perhaps the only two copies that I ever made. How is this possible? I cannot remember the specifics at all : a bit shocking now as I look back on it as my wife and I celebrate our 31st anniversary today here in northern Virginia. She has already gone off to work and I am headed out really soon as well. We did meet in France and I made these prints at Joelle Serve's Atelier 54 where I was an instructor there for her and was able to print for free in exchange. It was a great arrangement and I do believe that I stepped up to the job and met mostly French students wanting to learn how to etch. I loved the experience and think of it fondly always.

I also think fondly on our 31 years of marriage and that we had so many wonderful times together in Paris, France as well as a bit of traveling, too. Those were some glorious days, our first days together before marriage and a family. There have , of course been many to follow with our marriage and starting our family.

I did this etching - the plate that is - a zinc plate with one of those grease red pencils that makes rather blurred and hazy markings that leave a whole lot of room when one wants to print from them as to interpretation, mood, areas to focus on, areas to diminish. It leads to only monotypes and I love that, too. Each should be an " original " , much like our marriage and the both of us, the two " solids " in our lives for so many years now.

I would have liked to have pulled more prints from this zinc plate. Oh well, I really do like these two blacks and white that should be kept together and enjoyed as a pair. Cheers on this Tuesday, February 7th, 2012 here in northern Virginia at home at 8:35AM as I get ready to really start my day and celebrate fully our anniversary. A bientot et a la prochaine fois ... and here's to many more, too. Anthony ( TONY ) Quinn