This photo above I took close-up of Max DiLenardo's wrist. I liked all the bracelets, especially that yellow one from Lance Armstrong! Max makes a great range of Friuli and Venezia Giulia dry reds and whites at fabulous values. We always have some of Max's wines at Cleveland Park Wines & Spirits.I love the dry Tocai white that they now call TOH. I also love the dry red blend RONCO NOLE that is a blend of Marlot, Cabernet Sauvignon and Refosco that Michael Downey introduced me to years ago and that we bought immediately back in 2001-2002 was it?
This was a great tasting and I mostly tasted the Italian wines with the Italian producers there : some for the very first time like Stefano Grandi of AZIENDA AGRICOLA CANNETA of San Gimignano ( SI ) Loc. S. Lucia, 27 - Tel : Fax : 0577 941540 - 53037 S. Gimignano ( SI ) P.IVA 00543640528 - canneta@gmail.com www.poderacanneta.it. I tried Stefano's Vernaccia dry white and he told me that Downey Selections was seeing what the reaction to his wines were before making a commitment to buy it and his other wines, too. I liked the Vernaccia and have bought and carried it since the this tasting so I know that they decided to buy them after this tasting.
I love this picture of Mauro and his daughter of ANTICHI GIOCHI in Piemonte, Italy. Two or three years earlier he came with his son that I met. I have blogged about Mauro and his excellent reds and whites as well as his two sweet red Malvasia wines : Voulet and Sulin. My favorite at this tasting I believe was the " Boci " dry red Monferrato blend of Nebbiolo, Barbera and Dolcetto. Check out the first blog on Michael Downey portfolio tasting as well as more recently after this one in July, 2010. I am adding these comments here now on Saturday, July 31st, 2010.
Here are the BUONDONNO dry red Chianti Classico wines of 2006 : a regular and a reserva.
Peggy Downey in the photo above chats with Mauro's daughter here while Mauro pours the various ANTICHI GIOCHI and the TERRE D'ALERAMO Cortese dry white and dry red Barbera.
I love this photo above of Stefano Grandi of AZIENDA AGRICOLA CANNETA of San Gimignano, Vernaccia white fame in Tuscany.
It's now Saturday, July 31st, 2010 at 11:28 PM and I have both the dry red and the dry white Vernaccia wines at Cleveland Park Wines & Spirits ( 3423 Connecticut Avenue N.W. Washington D.C. 20008 Tel:202363-4265 sales@clevelandparkwine.com www.clevelandparkwine.com ) to sell.
Peggy Downey above runs Downey Imports with her two children Brennan and Shannon now.
A Frenchman above making Italian wines in Oltrepo Pavese : go figure?!?
Rich and Doug above taste the wines of Mauro of ANTICHI GIOCHI.
Stefano of Sorisso restaurant ( in the photo above ) in Cleveland Park N.W. Washington D.C. that specializes in the food and wines of northern Veneto/ Venezia Giulia and Friuli where his father Pietro is from.
Guillaume of France is married to Shannon Downey and manages their warehouse. He's a talented photographer.
Bill McKinney above has worked for Michael Downey and continues to now even after Michael passed away at a very young age.
Estebe above sells both Spanish as well as wines of Argentina : here he tastes some of them.
These wines above of SANTA BARBARA ( Rosso Piceno DOC dry red a blend of Montepulciano and Sangiovese, www.vinisantabarbara.it, info@vinisantabarbara.it Tel: 071 9674249 Borgo Mazzini, 35-60010 Barbara / AN and 18 more, plus a grappa-style? ) represent great everyday Italian value and we always have some in stock at Cleveland Park Wines & Spirits.
Love the music provided by their friend above. A one-man show that adds quite a bit to these events - grazie ...
How about some CASTELLO DI POPPIANO above anyone? What great Tuscan and Chianti/ Chianti Classico values.
This was a dynamic, charged, friendly, fantabulous wine-tasting on a Monday late morning afternoon in Virginia. It was a sunny, beautiful day and clear and just nice to be alive. I think everyone was feeling good about the day and about tasting some wonderful wines from around the world, mostly Italian but including Uruguay, France, Spain, California, and more.
This was my third time I believe coming to one of these portfolio wine-tastings and this my favorite ever. I came to see my old friend Alessandro Furlan and started tasting with him. I loved the Franchiancorta sparkling wine from Lombardy that I started off with. That's what Alessandro gave me a taste of , the MONTEDELMA " Saten :, $42.99 ( which we currentlly have now ) and that set the whole mood for me.
We also have the POPPIANO " Terre di Poppiano " Chianti, 2007 ( $10.99 ), the Verdicchio dei Castello di Jesi 2008 ($10.99 ), the Collina la Mora Barbera D'Asti 2007 ( $16.49), the Andrea Oberto 2007 ( $19.99 ), the Podere Canneta 2008 Vernaccia di S. Gimignano ( $16.49 ), the " Toh " diLenardo Friuli white Tocai 2008 9 $13.49, the Dal Maso Ca Fischele Gambellara white 2008 ($12.99 ), the Il Grotta Del Sole " Coda di Volpe " dry white 2007 ( $14.49 ), the Rosso di Montalcino 2007 " Verbena " ( ON SALE for $27.99), the " La Rustia " 2007 Erbaluce di Calusa from Orsalani ($19.99 ), the Valpolicella " Cicilio Ripasso 2005 ( $22.99 ), the D&N Negroamaro 2007 ( $16.49 ) and the Uruguayan Sauvignon Blanc 2008 from Bodegas Carrau ( $13.49 ) .... and, of course, many more. I need more time to type them in.
All these winemakers and owners are now our Cleveland Park family and we work first with them and then add others. They become our core - our heart so to speak. Cheers, thanks and enjoy these photos that I had a wonderful time taking.
These photos are from the beginning of my tasting. The blog before this one are of pictures taken during the second half of my tasting this late April, 2009 on a glorious Monday. TONY
