Our Blog

 
     WE WERE OPEN! Yes, we were here to serve the community as it continued to snow and the wind pushed sheet after sheet of relentless snow blankets into my face as I walked to the store from the Kennedy Warren apartments. It was wild-  " sauvage " as the French say-wonderful and as it hit my face it melted cold and zingy and nice ... as long as one is not out in the elements too long!  

     WE HAD LOTS OF FAITHFULS come trudging in from the fierce elements shaking as much off as they could  and warming up as they began to shop. Either Chris or I offered them a sip of either the ANDRE BRUNEL red Cotes Du Rhone ( 2006-2007 , both $9.49 )  or the Col De Vents red 2007 Corbieres ( $9.49 ).It was totally fun and relaxed and informal and I think it all created a lot of good cheer and camaraderie   for the neighborhood here.

     IT WAS FUN to be here for all our regulars that were stir-crazy and willing to brave the elements, really. It did not let up until 5 PM and so we watched it outside around helping customers.

     SOMEONE FROM WTOP station broadcast yesterday that we were open for business. He had stopped by for something he needed and then was nice enough to mention that we were open so that others might come and get what they needed from us as many of the stores were closed.

     SOMEONE HAD A DREAM ABOUT CLEVELAND PARK last night. How do I know? Her daughter came to the store and asked me about our wines from Argentina. She told me that her mother had dreamed that she had purchased two good bottles of Argentina red from us and enjoyed them yesterday. of course this only being a dream she needed to actually buy the two wines to enjoy tonight os sometime this week probably still being snowed-in like so many of us. I loved hearing about this dream and she now has a good bottle of the SUSANA BALBO Cabernet Sauvignon Mendoza 2008 ( $16.49 ).

     WE ARE OPEN TODAY AGAIN Thursday February 11th, 2010  and ready to help you even though there has been so much snow already and more scheduled to come this Monday! Can you believe that?!?

     WE ARE OUT of a number of things and yet we still have a store filled with wines, beers, liquors and liqueurs ... COME BY and say hello and check things out and take a load off ...   TONY

 
      It's time to look to today, the present and the future and all that can and should and must happen as we welcome Chris Barker here to the store and to the Cleveland Park neighborhood. We will work to move the store forward and be more in-tune with the needs and fancies and desires of all those that shop here at Cleveland Park.

     Please let us know your concerns and questions about us and what we represent or do not represent to you. We are neighbors / we are an extended family and we are growing together I hope. Let us know if there are things that for you we should address to do our jobs better here. We will listen and we will adapt ourselves to your wishes and suggestions whenever possible.

    This January is all about real value to you : $10 'N UNDER WINE VALUES all January 2010! Join us. Each and every weekend I will open an assortment of whatever we have that is here. if we can we get any that you recommend as well.

    We will also start to look at some completely new selections for the store and especially some from Washington Sate. Any favorites? We are asking all our reps to bring us some of the Washington State selections as perhaps the next " Big Theme " tasting will be on Washington State wines. What do you think? Do you like that idea?

    Cheers and come by and meet Chris as soon as you can. Talk some California and Oregon and Washington State wines with him as that was the specialty of Dean & DeLuca.    TONY

     It's great to have Chris Barker come on board with his past wine experiences at Dean and DeLuca as well as at Trader Joe's. he's young and enthusiastic and excited to be here with us.

     Chris started in December of 2009 and we are going to work well as a team I believe. I want to give Chris a chance to help us grow in our California selections and expand what we are currently doing. We will bouce lots of things off of each other and see where things land.

    It all will be good : trust me.

     Cheers and Happy New Year and come by and welcome Chris yourselves.   TONY

     I hope that you all had a nice Thanksgiving with family, friends, neighbors and loved ones. The weather was not bad and the rain held off for us until later in the evening and so we were able to be outised some around the big fire I built on our deck. The turkey sure worked it's magic for me at least and I went back for two smaller helpings I must admit.

     The big surprise for me was that as I was the only one drinking red wine I poured myself some of the 2003 " Notarpanaro " rosso from Salento and made by TAURINO ( $19.99 ) and that it hit the spot in a big way for me as I poured my inyitial glass as I worked outside at lighting a fire with wet wood and kindling. That was a task in itself and the red wine was there for moral support. I had chilled it as it was already open. Yes, our rep Jody Jackman brought the sample bottle with her on Tuesday evening and I tasted it and loved it then. It showed beautifully. I had every intention of drinking some with my meal after work that evening.

     That did not happen as soon as I got home my wife said that he wanted to talk to me : he wanted to ask me if I wanted to go to a movie with him? Of course I did and so I quickly put the open bottle into the fridge. On the off chance that it was still good I poured a glass. My grreat surprise was written all over my face as I headed outside with the glass I poured. How could this be? How could I be enjoying this so much? Would it fall apart and show all the weaknesses in a few minutes as the chill faded?

    No, it continued to round out and flesh out and I enjoyed it more and more. This was my Thanksgiving wine ; wow, from Apulia southern Italy. You probabaly all have forgotten that years ago the TAURINO Salice Salentino red was one of the great discoveries of Italy? As a matter of fact it put all of southern Italy into serious contention/consideration for wines from this undiscovered-as-yet region of Italy. Heads and palates turned towards this wine and this area and a whole new industry in Italian wine was born. The Notarpanaro is their more serious/more expensive red and I strongly urge you all to rush down here to the store to buy a bottle so that you may all buy more before this tasty 2003 is all gone.

     Cheers, happy holidays ... continue to enjoy giving thanks this long Thanksgiving weekend!   TONY

     PS : Don't forget about our BIG THEME Wed. Dec. 2nd, 2009 ( 5:30=8:30 PM ) Bubbly/Sparkling Wine/Champagne Tasting of 44 Types from all over the world here in the store ( 7 tables/ 9 people pouring ) : the store will be packed! Be patient, pace yourselves and take your time. You have three hours. Never any charge. Bring family and friends and relax and enjoy and learn. Cheers,    TONY

     We're getting revved up for theis time of year that is the giving of thanks and the appreciation of family and one another and hopefully filled with good cheer and health and good will towards everyone, especially those closest to us.

     It's a bit soggy and damp and so we have lots planned now with things like our HARVEY'S Orange-Flavored Sherry that is On Sale for $5.99 that will make the cold and the damp take a side seat and let you and your family, friends and neighbors be center stage.

     Of course we have lots of " new  and exciting " wines for you all to consider as well. For eaxample this eveing from 5-8 PM we will have Ronnie Miller of Robert Kacher Selections come andf taste some excellent French red Rhones that will definitely warm us all up and give us thoughts of good meals and fires and areas in our homes to gather and be toasty and toast each other and the fact that we are gathered in one place together.

     You can see that I am feeling lots of good cheer. Let's share some of that together here. Come by and visit tonight. if you can't make it tonight come tomorrow for our tasting with owner Beth Ann, owner with her husband of Calypso Imports. She will be here Saturday from noon through 3 PM tasting an assortment of her excellent organic French Provencal, Italian Puglian dry Chardonnay and her South Australian Merlot, too. This will be fun : this will be healthy and you will all live longer if you can believe this by drinking these tasty, fun, flavorful and distinct organic wines.

     AND DON'T FORGET : We have our monthly BIG THEME  " Holiday Specials " Wine-Tasting this Wednesday, November 18th, 2009 here at the store from 5:30-8:30 PM. It's free, never any charge. bring some of your family, friends, neighbors, business associates - anyone you like - everyone is always more than welcome here.

     REMEMBER : BUY AT LEAST ONE BOTTLE to show your appreciation of these events. The wholesalers and the reps all have to give up their time, energy, experience, knowledge and samples of free wine to make these tastings the huge successes that they are each and every time!

 
     The I-Contact is Down and I want to get some information out to you all as quickly as I can! I hope that it will be up tomorrow as I have many things to write about here and in the email.
     Italy was great and I asked you all last week to drink Italian wines as I was still a bit jet-lagged and still very much clinging ferociously to the embers and the feelings and the great moments of that wonderful week that I spent in the company of my daughter with everything else being a fabulous icing on the cake!

     NEWS : We just had earlier Laurent Givry bring us the owner Jean Remy Rapeneau of the champagne house CHARLES ORBAN. It was great to meet him as Lisa Giufre had just been talking about him this past Saturday when she came here to do an in-store wine-tasting here with our customers. I loved both of his two champagnes that are RM ( Recoltant Manipulant ) as well as from the area of Troissy. The Rose sells for $50.99 and the regular clear non-vintage brut sells for $50. I was really impressed with the regular bottling as it was just about perfection to drink all by itself. It tasted sublime earlier this late morning as I tasted it. What a treat!
     The rose was a bit bolder, firmer and with a bit more edge and weight and with the weather being what it is today I preferred  the regular. We already have the dry rose and will shortly add the regular. The rose bottles are all signed by Jean Remy. Come by and treat yourselves today after work.
  
     Come tomorrow and Thursday ( Nov. 11th and 12th, 2009 ) to get in on our 20% OFF on 12 or more still wines available here in the store already ( no special orders please ). This includes ports, sherries, madeiras, sakes, marsalas, box wines as well as still wines in any size bottle, Mix it up and have some fun and SAVE lots of money.

     ALSO : On any still wine over $20 a bottle SAVE 20% OFF the sticker price whether or not it is already ON SALE or not : everything in still wines over $20 a bottle included as well as the above items of ports/sherries/marsalas/madeiras/ ...

     See you tonight I expect,  TONY

 
     The I-Contact is Down and I want to get some information out to you all as quickly as I can! I hope that it will be up tomorrow as I have many things to write about here and in the email.
     Italy was great and I asked you all last week to drink Italian wines as I was still a bit jet-lagged and still very much clinging ferociously to the embers and the feelings and the great moments of that wonderful week that I spent in the company of my daughter with everything else being a fabulous icing on the cake!

     NEWS : We just had earlier Laurent Givry bring us the owner Jean Remy Rapeneau of the champagne house CHARLES ORBAN. It was great to meet him as Lisa Giufre had just been talking about him this past Saturday when she came here to do an in-store wine-tasting here with our customers. I loved both of his two champagnes that are RM ( Recoltant Manipulant ) as well as from the area of Troissy. The Rose sells for $50.99 and the regular clear non-vintage brut sells for $50. I was really impressed with the regular bottling as it was just about perfection to drink all by itself. It tasted sublime earlier this late morning as I tasted it. What a treat!
     The rose was a bit bolder, firmer and with a bit more edge and weight and with the weather being what it is today I preferred  the regular. We already have the dry rose and will shortly add the regular. The rose bottles are all signed by Jean Remy. Come by and treat yourselves today after work.
  
     Come tomorrow and Thursday ( Nov. 11th and 12th, 2009 ) to get in on our 20% OFF on 12 or more still wines available here in the store already ( no special orders please ). This includes ports, sherries, madeiras, sakes, marsalas, box wines as well as still wines in any size bottle, Mix it up and have some fun and SAVE lots of money.

     ALSO : On any still wine over $20 a bottle SAVE 20% OFF the sticker price whether or not it is already ON SALE or not : everything in still wines over $20 a bottle included as well as the above items of ports/sherries/marsalas/madeiras/ ...

     See you tonight I expect,  TONY

     We have some exciting new updates happening here this weekend. We have Michael Kerrigan here of HAY SHED HILL in the Margaret River of western Australia coming this Saturday to taste some of his Aussie wines : Chardonnay, Semillon, Cabernet Sauvignon, Shiraz and maybe more. This will be a fun tasting beacause other Aussies will be here like the owner of PIKE'S. We will also taste the Vinaceous wines, too that we love so much from  Nick Stacey. There are three reds and one white. And then there are some " last-minute " guests, too from Australia and New Zealand. The place will be hopping! This is an exciting time here at Cleveland Park Wines and it has basically all just fell into our laps. Come to the store on Saturday to check theings out.

     THEN ON MONDAY : Come by to meet and taste with owner Peter of LONGVIEW Vineyards from the Adelaide Hills in South Australia. He will be here from 5-8 PM to taste a selection of his wines. This will be ane exciting weekend that we extend into Monday.

     Cheers and stay-tuned for more info tomorrow here the same spot, same time. ....   TONY

     It has caught me off-guard and I am rushing to get things downloaded here for you all. I will be working on this every day to get things as they should be and all the info that you might want to have from us at the tip of your fingers.

     I am learning the ins and the outs of this new system so please be patient and bear with me. Thanks for all your continued support especially now when things are really rough for all of us.

     I have just worked on the calendar of events and downloaded our three end-of-year BIG THEME wine tastings from Portuguese wines in October to Holiday Wines in November to Bubblies/ Sparkling wines / Champagnes in December.

    We have lots planned and I have to get hopping now to get all this information to you.

     Let me know any of your thoughts and come by and check us out as we have been tweeking the store here, there and everywhere for the last few months. Almost everyone is pleasantly surprised when they see the transfprmations big and small.

     Cheers ....  TONY

 
     Geronimo thinks this is better Far Niente California red.