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     This is a BIG THEME Wine-Tasting that has evolved beautifully over time and that started when I saw our local rep here Sal Furfari from Bacchus Imports. We were talking about business and he and I mentioned our Vine Connections rep Morgan Hartman. I said : " Let's do a Vine-Connections Mini-Wine Tasting with Morgan?" Sal loved the idea and so I sent Morgan an email right there on the spot asking her to be our guest. She checked with her boss and it was all quickly approved. Morgan comes to us all the way from Florida and always stops in always tastes wines with our customers here even though it is not officially her account. We have known Morgan now for many years. She's arranged to pour some great Argentina wines of SUSANA BALBO as well as LA POSTA and more. Her sister and Sal will be here to help her pour these wines as ell as the excellent sakes that she represents from Japan.

     The Alfredo Bartholomaus the owner of Billington Imports came by with Jody Jackman our local Winebow rep and we decided to pour also with them the CATENA and the COUSINO-MACUL wines of Argentina and Chile becasue Alfredo is from Chile.

     This then evolved with Nich Stacey of the WEST CAPE HOWE Denmark, western Australia winery coming to pour a selection of them and also his VINACEOUS reds made with South Australian wine in western Australia by Micheal Kerrigan. Go figure!

     I go back a long way with everyone involved and so it will be a fun and casual and rather impromptu tasting that just seemed to piece itself together over time.

     SO : this Big-Theme is one os improvisation, serendipity and many things being able to coexist and live toether in harmony and peace and love.

     This may be one of our greatest BIG-THEME Wine-Sake Tastings Ever! Join us, never any charge and everyone is welcome. All wines will be ON SALE for this evening. Join us and bring family and friends, etc. Mark your calendars and MAKE THIS A GREAT EVENT. You won't be sorry, you will be delighted.

     JOI US. Cheers,  TONY

     Here are some quick notes and observations of the sample wines that I tasted : many of them were really well-received by family and friends and we will be selling them here in September and that is something for you all to look forward to. We tasted many Greek wines in prepartation for our BIG-THEME Greek Wine-Tasting that was a huge success this past Wednesday here and that's even with the bad weather and the start to Reastaurant Week. I feel really good about this. I even feel better with th response that we got that many of the wines far-exceeded the expectations of our customers that did not really know the wines of Greece. They were pleasantly surprised and many bought wines, too.

     We had people here that were Greek and that's especially nice. I heard two women speeking Greek with our guest star Greek Wine-Personality Sotiris Bafitis. One was from Crete and I am not sure about the other. The one from Crete was here becasue I spoke with hes son the night before as we both walked out the front door of the store and I told him about the tasting and he immediately seemed interested, his eyes lit up and he smiled and immediately said that one of his family members was from Greece! So father, son and mother all showed up. I loved this : becasue this is what these tastings is all about : getting interested people to attend and then others to be drawn-in briefly to have a " new " experience and one that is positive and memorable.

     Enjoy these pictures of some of the Greek wines sampled in the Outer Banks, North Carolina, cheers,  TONY

     I should have been doing this all along. Now each Wednesday we will copy the Tuesday store emails that I write and send around 5 PM to the NEWS section on our HOME page below. I hope that you find this helpful as I cover many categories here each week.   

     So, even if you do not receive our store emails each Tuesday you may now count on finding them here each week on our web page. Cheers, hope this helps,  TONY

     Join us later today ( Fri. July 23rd, 2010 5-8PM ) for Wines Of Uruguay and Wines of Italy with Brennan Downey. Tomorrow, Sat. from 3-7 PM we have Danielle Davidowitz here tasting Wines of Portugal. Join us, never any charge.

    It was great to get Daniel Hubbard here to taste a selection of his excellent wines on Saturday, July 10th ( 3-7 PM ) as he knows them so well. He breathes them in and out like air and it's a natural for him, really. We have a selection of his wines here now including the PETER JAKOB KUHN 2007 Rheingau Trocken Riesling 2009  ( $21.99 - a favorite of mine from Germany ) : as well as the LETH Gruner Veltliner Lagen Reserve Wagram Austrian dry white ($17.99 ) and the LETH Roter Veltliner, too for a bit more. Daniel tasted all three the other Saturday here and they all sold well.

     We hope to have Daniel back really soon as he has many more excellent wines for us to share with you from him. Cheers,   TONY

     Our Winebow rep Jody Jackman was nice enough to come and do a fun summer/hot weather theme store front display wine window this past Tuesday, July 6th, 2010. The wines that we are featuring are : HIGH NOTE Malbec from Argentina ( $10.99 ) as well as the CLEAN SLATE off-dry German Riesling ( $13.49 ) and the ROOT:1 Cabernet Sauvignon and the Carmenere dry Chilean reds ( $10.99) that are made from wines on their original root stocks. All these wines represent really great wines values and we have sold them for years now. Laura Catena is involved with the HIGH NOTE Malec and it has been a huge seller/big winner for us here for many years now. Come check them out. Cheers, all are good hot weather wines that may be chilled slightly.   TONY

     It was great to meet Bibiana Gonzalez Rave the Colombian wine-maker of  LYNMAR ESTATE wines in Sonoma/ Russian River Valley, CA. here with Kay Mallon of Winebow Imports tasting here four  current releases, two of which we bought : the 2006 Russian River Valley Pinot Noir ( ON SALE for $32.99) , and the Russian River Valley Chardonnay ( $32.99 ). The other two : the Quail Hill 2007 Chardonnay and the Quail Hill Vineyards 2007 Pinot Noir were also excellent but I think that we will look again at those in the fall when the weather turns cold and we can sell them at their higher prices.
     This was a treat and you can find the first two wines here after July 15th, 2010. Cheers,  TONY

     Gracias Bibiana e hast luego, Vaja con Dios ....    TONY

      This will be a great wine dinner with the FOXEN WINERY and CORDUROY Restaurant, NICE LEGS Imports and Cleveland Park Wines & Spitits. All the wines may be purchased at the dinner at SALE PRICES . FOXEN WINERY is located in the Santa Maria Valley and we are pleased to be pouring five of their wines ( Burgundian style from a small boutique winery ) with the fabulous food of CORDUROY. Please call to make your reservations at 202-589-0699. Corduroy is located at : 1122 Nonth Street, NW.. The price is $100 a person. Join us on Friday, June 30th, 2010  at 7 PM. Here's the menu:

                                PASSED HORS D'OUVRES
 
                                      Chilled Burdock Soup
                 
                                        Sardines Rillettes
  
                                  Scallops Tartare with Ikura

                     With : the FOXEN WINERY Chenin Balnc 2009

                              FIRST COURSE

                    Crispy Soft Shell Crab with Ver Jus

         FOXEN VINEYARDChardonnay Bien Nacido Vineyard, 2008

                           SECOND COURSE

       Seared Ivory King Salmon with Truffled Local Bean Salad

                FOXEN WINERY Pinot Noir , Santa Maria 2008

                        THIRD COURSE

   Charcoal Grilled Niman Ranch Pork Belly with Summer Vegetables

       FOXEN VINEYARDS Pinot Noir, Julia's Vineyard, 2008

                      FOURTH COURSE

        Pennsylvania Lamb Rib Eye with Garlic Creamed Spinach

      FOXEN Volpino, Sangiovese /Merlot Blend, 2007

                      STRAWBERRY  SORBET  to finish ....

     SO CALL SOON : 202-589-0699. Seating is limited and selling out quickly ...  

     JOIN US - it will be great to see you. Cheers ....    Anthony Quinn

     I am feeling especially inspired today at 1:41 PM on this beautiful bright, hot, bit humid, sunny and hazy afternoon as we are here to think about what it means for us on Memorial Day and try and include the vets and the active servicemen of our armed forces and all that they have done for us over the years as we enjoy family and friends and our meals together. I would normally be home myself doing this and am torn by this but then it's good to be here for you all that need some last-minute beer, liquor, liqueurs and wine to put the final touches on your celebrations!

     Ravi is running a 25% OFF on certain liquors that are on our counter at the store.

     Santos has some excellent beer like the New Jersey EXIT ! Bayshore Oyster Stout ( On Special for $10.49, 1 pt. 9.4 fl oz. www.exitseries.com, Cherry Hill, New Jersey, 7% alc. by volume ) is " beer brewed with oysters " and Tim our Legends rep tasted it this past Saturday, May 29th, 2010 ( 4-7 PM ) and it impressed me no-end! I really liked the weight, the flavor, the balance, the cream and yet the bite and the spice and the mouth-feel all in one. We have the other EXIT beers as well. Come and check them out.

     I served the FUZELO Portuguese  Vinho Verde 2009 with  great sparkle ( $8.49 ) and really nice mouth-feel and flavor last night to my daughter and wife as we sat at Wolf Trap listening to the President's Band play some excellent American music to rouse the spirits, elevate the soul, warm the heart and make us think about what Memorial Day really means to all of us. The wine was perfect and had lots of spark and charm and brightness and sparkle, too. Great summer value. Come get some now here for today.

     Cheers,   TONY

     People seem to be finally on-board with dry roses from around the world. We always carry a selection made in Europe, the United States, South Africa, and more. We just brought a great Portuguese Duoro dry 2007 rose that is still quite bright, full-flavored and freshQUINTA Do CARQUEIJAL that we are able to sell ON SALE for $5.99. It's a great value as it will complement many foods in this warm, sometimes humid weather and with a good chill is a steal for only $6 a bottle.

     We also have some of the " new and exciting "  OWL COLLECTION " Fiefs Vendeens " Loir Valley, Mareuil J. MOURAT ( $16.49 ) dry and more elegant, more-polished dry French rose that is bottled in the same bottle-shape that was discovered on their property and left there by the Romans a very long time ago. This adds some history to the event as you share some with family and friends perhaps this Memorial Day weekend. It's a very elegant and polished dry rose with a more soft peach, flower-rose-petal taste that will be nice all by itself as well as with some salmon and other delicately-smoked fish, even turkey... and many other things, too.

      And for some pure fun we have some of the SAN GIUSEPPE Original Pink Veneto Pinot Grigio rose( $14.49 ) that has the most delicate blush color of the three roses. It will be lovely outside this weekend if the weather becomes close to unbearable and you all still want to be outside. It's a fun, classic package that dates back to the twenties perhaps of art deco and earlier?

     Come check some things out today ( Thursday, May 27th, 2010 ) and beat the rush here tomorrow and on Saturday for Memorial Weekend celebrations.

    Both these and many of our others will be nice to enjoy even outside with this persistent humidity tugging at our pants and trying to make us break into a sweat.

     Cheers, come see us : we have lots to celebrate this Memorial Day weekend and to get you ready for the summer and Father's Day which is right around the corner.

     WE will also be receiving an infusion of wines from the Downey Italian portfolio later today as well as some excellent Vinho Verdes tomorrow from Dionysos Imports. Vinho Verde dry white. slightly sparkling and with lower alcohols is a great way to go to help ward off the heat and the humidity that plagues us here anually in Washington D.C. and the surrounding areas.   TONY

     This is a great time of uneaviness here with the weather and nothing seems to be dependable anymore where the weather is the theme. We have to be more steady and more reliable where the warm weather is our concern. This is why we are trying toi have more of our everyday wines available and having more of them in stock constantly as not to disappoint you when you come by. Please let us know what you want and we will try and accomodate you. Thanks and cheers,  TONY