Kelly Bigel & Eric PLatt Pour CAPE MONTELLE W.Australia, STELLINA DI NOTTE Prosecco, STERLING CA. Organic , EDNA VALLEY VNYDS P. NOIR 6/10

STERLING Vineyards' Mendocino County northern California " organic " Sauvignon Blanc, STELLINA Italian Veneto N.V. Prosecco , Western Australian's dry white 2008 Sauvignon Blanc/Semillon Blanc Margaret River blend from CAPE MENTELLE and EDNA VALLEY Vineyard's CA. Pinot Noir 2007 were all tasted to me and Chris Barker the other day here at Cleveland Park Wines & Spirits by Pinnacle House's Eric Platt and his new assistant and our new wine rep Kelly Bigel.

It was good to revisit all of these three wines which we have sold before except for the organic STERLING VINEYARD'S Sauvignon Blanc which now comes with an attachment ( is it a reusable tote bag? I believe that it is ) that you will see hanging in it's thin, flat box and hanging on the bottle's neck.

WE also tasted the EDNA VALLEY 2007 CA. dry Pinot Noir and this bottle seemed clearly off to me and I asked for another bottle to retry. Kelly has since brought another bottle for Chris Barker for me to taste at Cleveland Park Wines & Spirits ( 3423 Connecticut Avenue N.W. Washington D.C. 20008 Tel:202-363-4265 sales@clevelandparkwine.com www.clevelandparkwine.com ) and it was the wine that I expected, balanced, with some bottle age and maturity and an excellent medium-bodied dry, bit pithy and earthy Pinot Noir that will shine when paired with a meal now. I will buy it again for our store as it has done very well in the past for us. Kelly will come to the store and taste these with our customers sometime soon I hope. That will be a good tasting.

I liked all of the wines except for this EDNA VALLEY Pinot Noir 2007 ( check my recent blog about this here to read more about that ) and I know that in the coming months that we will work with all of them depending on what we need most at any given point and time. I do like selling organic wines and this Sauvignon Blanc from Mendocino County in northern California is showing really well now and is balanced and refreshing and in no way heavy or too oaky. I like it : so does Chris.

I liked the sparkling Prosecco and we will talk to both Eric and Kelly and see what we can do as it has a nice package and a very smooth and pleasing soft touch and flavors.

However s you scroll down you will see that the rest of this blog is about my artsy photos of Kelly and the bottles that she held for me to show off different elements of the wines, their colors, of the bottles and their labels and of course of the beautiful Kelly as well.






Enjoy these pictures for the way I have constructed them quickly and how the various elements play off one another. I hope you find it all pleasing and stimulating and that it makes you want to go out and take some of your own photographs, find these wines and someone to share them with?!? Cheers, TONY

P.S. It's now Sunday afternoon here at home on July 18th, 2010 at 3:29 PM on a hot, sunny, still humid day.

Danielle Clowning For Canon's Eye! Fun! June 2010 : Just About Fun, Tasting Danielle's Wines & Snapping Away To Capture The Moment, Nice ...

Some things should be just about fun. Though our meeting was focused around wine I simply enjoyed myself taking these pictures of Danielle that has clearly from all the pictures taken and posted become one of my very favorite subjects to snap my Canon digital camera pictures of. She gets into the playful mood of all of this and follows the camera's lead and eye.




Danielle pretty much knows now that I take pictures any opportunity that I get and that I see " opportunity " in many a moment though it may seem " downtime " or inconsequential to many I see something in it. It may be fleeting and act as a " filler " for background to better describe another moment or a series of moments.




I love the idea of working in a " series of moments " to better capture and recollect / remember and tell a story of sorts. The viewer has to take these various pictures and make of them their own stories. Those are the best for me : the pictures are there to inspire and fire the imagination, the thoughts, the mind, the eye, the blood, soul and guts, of course : can't forget the guts, the pith, the marrow, the core ...




Being an artist I am attracted to beauty of course as well as charm, laughter, smiles and enthusiasm. I thrive on these and find them everywhere and in everyone. It is more obvious in some and in others it takes more patience and effort to see them. I like these challenges.




Thanks Danielle for being such a great and inspiring subject. I appreciate your patience with me and this artist's eye of mine that roams and rarely stops or pauses. As a result some of the pictures are a bit out of focus and blurred. They can still be quite effective and pleasing and so I am thrilled to include them as I continue to tell our story of you tasting me on wines, opening bottles, tasting our customers, too : and me always with my handy and loved Canon digital camera at finger's touch ready to snap away some more and capture something special. Cheers, TONY




Go ALTA VISTA dry Argentinian rose! Love the color, love the intense and satisfying flavors, too. It sold very well for us and we are currently out. Do you have any more Danielle?

What an infectious smile you have my dear ...


P.S. : As an artist I also love the contrast in these few pictures that I took in quick succession that go from serious and pensive/thoughtful/quizzical/perplexed and beautiful to smiling and bright and beaming, animated and instantly beautiful.
Voila! Vous-avez tous maintenant, n'est ce pas vrai?!? Je croix que jai tous et de la chance de voir encore ces fotos ... et de finir avec ce fotos de toi et ton sourire vif, brilliante et belle. Comme Jacques Brel dit dans sa chanson : " Je viens pour le gaz ... " ... sans doute ...

How To Pour & Open Bottles Of Wine/ ALTA VISTA, Argentina, MONTE VELHO, Portugal, LIECHTENSTEIN, Austria / Getting Into The Moment , June 2010

Danielle shows us these Portuguese/ Austrian/ Argentinian wines. We bought the ALTA VISTA dry Malbec rose from Argentina and she poured it a week or so later for our customers in Washington D.C.




I got really into recording the moment as I tasted and only really thought that the Austrian Gruner Veltliner was the bomb! Oh well, it was too old, that's all. Cheers, thanks Danielle.




I have posted these pictures here in mat art blog because I was having simply too much fun taking pictures of Danielle as she posed and smiled and got into the mood of the moment.

The wines that I tasted were from ALTA VISTA winery in Argentina ( we tasted the Classic dry white Torrontes 2008 as well as what I believe was a single-vineyard - or was it a reserve bottling of Torrontes 2008, too? We also tasted the dry Malbec rose ALTA VISTA 2009 ( $12.49 ) which we bought are are already sold-out of now in the store. It's already Thursday, July 15th, 2010 here at home in northern Virginia at 12:17 AM as I get ready to post this art blog of mine.

These wines of ALTA VISTA were originally shown to me and to Mike Martin many years ago by Jay Youmans. We bought his twenty-five case deal way back when and sold them all really well, even the ultra-premium dry red. We sold some of every wine that was then available. We will sell them once again as I am sure that Danielle will show them to us as she has time.

I got to finally meet the French owner of ALTA VISTA at the Wine Spectator Grand Tour Wine-Tasting and I mentioned that Danielle said that he would be there that night and that I should meet him if I could. Well we did meet and we had a wonderful rapid French conversation about his excellent wines, Jay Youmans, life, art, women : and he smiled immediately when I mentioned if he knew Danielle : " bien sur " he said, or something to that effect. I tasted his ultra premium dry red this evening and must not forget to ask you about it Danielle?



We also tasted the LIECHTENSTEIN 2007 Austrian Gruner Veltliner dry white that I said was past it's prime and not showing well at all.. And for an excellent red Danielle poured Chris Barker and me some of the Portuguese 2008 MONTE VELHO which we have already sold at Cleveland Park and which I like and am always willing to buy again.




Enjoy these pictures and stay-tuned for more. Cheers, TONY




Danielle takes her job very seriously and does an excellent job showing and tasting us on a wide variety of the Dionysos Imports portfolio. She will be in the store this next weekend as we bring July 2010 to a close ( I think the 24th - 3-7 PM Saturday? ), and then again later on Wednesday, August 18th ( 5:30-8:30 PM ) when we taste some excellent Greek wines that is a specialty of Dionysos Imports. Join us for both, there is never any charge. For more information call Chris Barker or me at : 202-363-4265.













Being an artist I am very interested in taking these artsy photos that are very visual, fun and I hope that really do capture a big part of the moment that we have enjoyed here together at Cleveland Park Wines & Spirits in Northwest Washington D.C. in our nation's capitol. Hope you enjoy them, too.








Look at the incredible deep and rich red color of this Malbec rose of ALTA VISTA! Makes me want to go out in search of a bottle even late as it is now at 12:40 AM to purchase a bottle to enjoy tomorrow. I'll have to order some more from you Danielle. Maybe we can have you pour some more of it along with other ALTA VISTA wines at your next in-store/wine-tasting which is just a little more than a week away? We'll talk about that soon.





Thanks Danielle, you really got into the moment of pouring and displaying the bottle, the label and the wine to best advantage. You're always a great sport about all of this and I do appreciate it. You've become someone I can count on to help as my " art muse " carries me along. Cheers, TONY