Tues.,May 24th, 2010 : Dirk Richter Of The Mosel's RICHTER Wines, Germany Here Tasting Wine @ Cleveland Park With Sotiris Bafitis Of Voila Import

I have now known Dirk Richter of his own family's vineyard in Germany's Mosel valley for almost ten years. Sotiris Bafitis my rep and the owner then of his own import company brought him by back in 2002-2003( ? ) : I can't remember exactly now the time. Anyway, that's when Sotiris represented the RICHTER wines of Dirk's family and they were sold to him by Langdon Schiverick that Sotiris brought by at least once to Cleveland Park Wines & Spirits ( 3423 Connecticut Avenue N.W. Washington D.C. 20008 Tel:202-363-4265 Tel:202-363-4265 sales@clevelandparkwine.com www.clevelandparkwine.com ) where I manage the wine department.




I have had Dirk in the store at least five or more times now and I will write a blog at chatwine.blogspot.com with more actual information on his most recent visit with Sotiris Bafitis last week ( late May 2010 on a Tuesday afternoon May 24th, 2010 I believe? ) and we tasted the current selections that are now sold through Voila Imports with Olivia and her husband at the helm.

However, being an artist this is my art blog and I took these pictures quickly as I tasted, chatted and caught up with Dirk that I had not seen for years. It was an entertaining as well as informative visit. Kirk seemed a bit pressed for time, perhaps a bit impatient, stern and definitely more business-like than social. I would have liked a bit more of the social as it has been so long and I like old memories to return and come alive for me as another way to re-nourish contacts and stir the soul and flame the senses ... I will buy your wines anyway because they are always excellent Dirk : you don't have to worry about that. I will give Sotiris the order really soon for June.

So enjoy these artsy photos that I have taken and I will comment a bit more on them as I have time.

In the meantime it is Tuesday, June 1st, 2010 at 8:59 AM here at home and I will post this now and return later today to add some more. I do think that the pictures speak a lot for themselves. Many of them are taken through my Reidel wine-tasting glass with Dirk's fine German Mosel Rieslings in them at the bottom, I love attaching the two - wine and the wine that he makes, the glass and the bottle and the label all together to show the relationship that they all share together. Cheers, TONY











These pictures that follow here look a whole lot alike but they are all separate shots and all reflect subtle shifts of expression as Dirk did move some as I snapped quickly away within a period of less than a minute I believe ...













I like how the bright white ceiling lights on our ceiling above are reflected on the Reidel win-tasting glass and how I use them to frame Dirk's face to separate it and contain it and make one focus more on it than usual. It helps me to see more details on Dirk's face.

Cheers Dirk and Sotiris and thanks for coming by. The wines showed brilliantly as usual and I look forward to having them back in the store as we have now been out for at least two months. Oops! I can remedy that, however and will ...

Zebra Bottoms & Panther BlackTop In Motion Sat. Afternoon May 22nd, 2010 In Washington D.C. : Lovely , Feminine, So Attractive ... Cascading Hair, Too

Who is she?!? Do we know her? May we get to know her? Passing through only?


This blog entry exists because between Frenchman Julien et moi we both realized that this young lady in our midst was striking and Julien wanted here to taste his dry white wines of Gascogny with him. It was all that I could do to simply get these quick snaps of my Canon digital camera made as she approached us in the store around the tasting table. I had to act quickly and quickly I did. I snapped five or six times and this is what I got : all within the period of less than a minute and during the time that Julien expressed to me in French that he wanted her to taste his wines!




I love this image above that almost breaks completely apart into it's various parts and becomes only disjointed pieces of flesh and clothing and shelving and bottles all smudged and transposed into something completely different from what it actually is. I love her dress here : fabulous - so thought-provoking too. Look at her left hand : hanging in mid air as if not connected to anything?



What to do?!? Act quickly and think of something to say with this young lady with her suitcase of twelve can of beer that she should come back and taste Julien's wines? Could I get that into a conversation with her when she did not know me from Adam and probably had no idea that I ran the wine department?!?




The picture above almost looks like a musical score of colored notes, doesn't it? It's almost like one of the " finding waldo " images, too.



I may have been talking to someone else when this all occurred : I usually am and I have no time to break away and ask her to come and taste with us. My mind was racing : I was charged to think of a way to accomplish this seemingly simple task and yet for whatever reason it simply did not happen. Not this time : my chance - our chance was gone on this early evening and I am sorry for that. But I knew I had some pictures to remember her by and how she caught both Julien's and my attention : not to mention the attention of every other male in the store at this particular moment in time!




These blurred pictures pretty much tell a story all by themselves. They speak to the frenetic quickness and transiency of these split seconds. I like how some of them almost break apart and become like pieces of a puzzle in their blurred and split shapes and forms : like the way the skirt or dress become like the stripes of a zebra. It's fascinating how the eye of my Canon camera captured these images as I am sure I moved and moved the camera to capture what I thought might be interesting pictures and angles. Of course with my camera down by my waist and pointing towards her as she approached and then passed me I had no idea exactly what the camera would freeze in these quick snaps of the button by me? How could I ? I was not looking into the view-finder of the Canon. That would be too obvious and would ruin the mood and the naturalness and the care-freeness of the moment : these fractions of seconds captured to be seen later.

I like how the strong ceiling lights break down the strong colors and wash/whiten them out a whole lot in some of these images ...




That's good : the unknown and the anticipation of seeing what I had snapped later : all very good. Don't get it all at once : be patient and enjoy in steps or stages what I have done with the help of my trusty Canon camera. I like this : I am intrigued and in awe and wonder and appreciation for what I am able to do with the help of my Canon camera. We work well as a team.




Julien and I worked well as a team here, too. We both understood, we both appreciated the moment and did not want it to end so quickly. What to do?!? Stand back and watch and appreciate and absorb as much as possible as quickly as possible and burn it quickly into the memory membranes of our brains. That's asking a whole lot as so much was happening at the time. I'm thrilled to have these pictures to bring back this quick five minutes or so in both Julien and in my life : five minutes shared by the two of us. Almost as if we were conspiring together here and if we had only had more time, more wits about us!

Julien, I'm okay with the outcome. I hope that you see and enjoy these pictures sometime soon and remember. Cheers and enjoy whatever story that you may make yourselves of these pictures when you see them. A la prochaine fois Julien et merci pour le degustation de vos vins de Gascogny au magasin a Washington D.C. il y a trois jours maintenant, C'est bien Lundi soir le 24 Mai, 2010 a 9:55 PM maintenant chez moi en Virginie et demain je recommence mon travail a Washington D.C.

Enjoy, TONY

P.S. Being an artist I am exercising my artistic impulses and responses and mean this in complete appreciation of this young lady's beauty and nothing more. Please accept it if you someday see it and be flattered by it and hopefully not annoyed. Maybe our paths will cross again sometime and I can show this to you to get your reaction.

Jasmine Hirsch( Hirsch Vineyards ) Of Cazadero, CA Draws A Map For Me : Love Her Concentration, Cool Exterior Demeanor 5/19/2010 : Moods Of While Writing-Drawing& Bustle Inside

I need to comment on these photos that are of the art of Jasmine as she calmly and serenely draws a map for me of California's wine country where she is from. I snapped away at the end of our tasting of her two Chardonnays and two Pinot Noirs. I started to like what my Canon digital camera was capturing shot after shot and so I kept going quickly and I really like this series that I took of her all within the space of five minutes or less.

She's absolutely beautiful here in her calmness and peace and concentration and " her world ". that she is trying to visualize first in her mind I believe and then trying to recreate here on this sheet of white paper for me and others to enjoy later.




I will continue this later today but in the meantime enjoy these images. Beautiful, even if I do say so myself. Calming, too ... TONY


















These are my four quick portrait blue ink sketches that I did of Jasmine and then took these pictures for my souvenir so that I could then give them to her as my gift. Cheers, TONY

2010 Cleveland Park Wines - : DONATI Family Vineyard Wines : Red 2006 " Claret " San Benito Paicines Cab. Sauv./Petit Verdot & Malbec, & Merlot 2006

This blog entry is as much about the pictures that I took of these DONATI Family Vineyard Paicines San Benito County CA. 2006 dry red as well as the " Claret " red DONATI Family Vineyard red blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Petit Sirah and Malbec wines as it is about the wines themselves. I obviously really liked the 2006 Merlot and enjoyed both it's luminous, viscous color as I did it's taste and flavors. That's good : my attentions were clearly split and I had to compartmentalize the experience that I was undergoing, caught up in and moved along as if I had gotten myself into a stream and it carried me along of it's own volition, whim, speed and pace.




This is as much for the artist as me as it is for the wine. I had a great subject here with the color and the label and the wine bottle, Reidel wine-tasting glass and all the light reflections and luminosity. Looking at these pictures I am moved and inspired by the velvet touch, the contrasts of elements and textures and the richness of the colors and the closeness and proximity to these various parts that come together rather seamlessly to make a vibrant whole.




I love the darkness and the shadow and muted lights of the picture above, I like, too how the ceiling light looks so luminous and green as it comes through the green glass of the bottle DONATI Paicines San Benito Merlot 2006.

This picture above has. demands to be enlarged on your monitor as there are small spots of different colored light as well as the red and flow of the wine as see with the ceiling lights shining on and through and off of it. It's quite an interesting fraction of a second moment with wine and it's almost immediate enjoyment the subject.






What did I think of this DONATI 2006 Merlot? I feel that I must have liked it because I took pains to photograph it and not the DONATI " Claret " San Benito 2006 dry red blend. I will have to find my notes on it soon. I have them at Cleveland Park Wines & Spirits ( 3423 Connecticut Avenue N.W. Washington D.C. 20008 Tel : 202-363-4265 sales@clevelandparkwine.com www.clevelandparkwine.com, Facebook at : clevelandparkwine&spirits ) where I have now been the wine buyer for more than ten years in Washington D.C. N.W. our nation's capitol.

It's now months later and I find that I did not post this blog at the time that I posted these pictures here and kept them into a draft form. It's Friday night, October 15th, 2010 and I am glad to finally get to this. It makes me want to try these two 2006 DONATI San Benito CA. reds all over again. That would be fun, that would be closure. New vintages are probably already out. I will ask my local rep about this.

I will report on this farther. In the meantime enjoy these pictures visually and I hope that they make you want to try these wines again or for the very first time. Cheers, TONY

Charles Of William's Corner Imports Pours A Fabulous Yves Guegniard " La Bergerie "Cremant De Loire Dry French Bubbly @ Cleveland Park Wines/May 2010

I absolutely loved this Yves Guegniard Domaine De La Bergerie dry, fresh, lively, complex and richly-layered, multi-dimensional dry sparkling wine from the Loire Valley in France. It's a cremant de Loire and it will be at Cleveland Park Wines & Spirits next week and will write more about it when I am back at the store on Tuesday, May 18th, 2010. I am home now on Saturday night May 15th, 2010 at 11:44 PM.

Thanks Charles for bringing it by for me to taste the other day. I really like it and am thrilled to have it soon as we have no sparkling wine from the Loire Valley at this point. Cheers, TONY




In the meantime enjoy these photos that I have included here of when Charles opened and tasted me on this excellent Yves Guegniard Domaine De La Bergerie cremant de Loire sparkling French bubbly. I believe that it will sell for somewhere in the twenties and it's worth every penny of it.

It will be fun to recommend to our customers as something special and fun and " new " for most of them. It's memorable and got such character and vibrant personality, too.






Made by Marie Annick and Yves Guegniard this dry blend of Chenin Blanc and Chardonnay grapes comes from Domaine de la Bergerie @ 49380 Champ-Sur-Layon, Maine et Loire : home of the great Savennieres dry white Chenin Blancs as well as some of the Loire Valley's greatest sweet Chenin Blancs, too ( like the Coteaux Du Layon wines ).

I could not stop thinking about that it was Charles that was pouring the wine for me : a sparkling wine. He made the sparkling wines recently for Patricia Kluge at her Albermarle Virginia vineyard KLUGE and I still have a few of the bottles that he made signed in our store Cleveland Park Wines & Spirits ( 3423 Connecticut Avenue N.W. Washington D.C. 20008, Tel:202-363-4265 sales@clevelandparkwine.com www.clevelandparkwine.com ). Charles really knows his stuff.






I put this blog into my chatart blog spot because I am an artist and I mostly took these pictures with my artistic eye and so it was less about showing labels as it was about showing the product and the bottle and the Reidel wine glass and all the marvelous bubbles that escape magically into the tall, thin, sleek form of the Reidel champagne/bubbly glass : a celebration always of sorts from the most basic and simple to the most sublime and ridiculous.




I hope that you all get caught up in this mood and moment and seriousness next to frivolity and explosion of hundreds of small circles-pops of bubbles and movement of Chardonnay and Chenin Blanc liquid to let the trapped air rise on up and rejoin where it once came from months and perhaps years before. The circle of life, the continuum, the dance, the release, the pleasure and the follow-through of things happening in a natural order. Like riding a running, excited river or stream in a kayak or canoe and having the sun beat down all round and the splash of bubbles and spray and wetness and joy wash up and hit you as you taste and swallow slowly this Domaine De La Bergerie cremant de Loire sparkling wine ...




Enjoy the ride. It starts here as the bubbly is poured. Gotta love that. I certainly did.




So beautiful to witness now : a moment or two or three or four or more all trapped/paused/captured here for all of us to witness as never before. And all with the help of my closed artist's eye that I positioned so so that my Canon's eye could be open and see this for us all. Cheers, TONY




Charles, Nicolas, can I please have some more? It sure would taste good on this Sunday afternoon here at home with my wife and son in northern Virginia at 12:30 PM on May 16th, 2010. A bientot et merci aussi Marie-Annick et Yves Guegniard. Venez nous voir au magasin Cleveland Park Wines Et Spirits a Washington D.C. notre capital Aux Etats Unis. Soyez toujours bienvenue chez nous ... TONY