Years At The Mayflower With Sidney Moore & Michael Downey

It was a fabulous time for me at the Mayflower Wines and Spirits from 1983-85 I think. I'll have to check my notes about the exact times. I loved them overall and really grew my knowledge and experiences of wines in general and specifically Italian and French wines. The Mayflower was above all else an Italian specialty store. Aaron Millman after leaving working for the Kronheim distributors had with his wife Helen started the store in a location just across the side street there by the Mayflower Hotel in N.W. Washington D.C. off of Connecticut Avenue. I did not know that store but often heard about it during the few years I spent at the Mayflower.

Before the Mayflower Wines and Spirits I cut my teeth at both Rex Wines & Spirits and then at Colonial Liquors. I b.s.'ed my way into a job at Rex Wines & Spirits back in 1981. I had read an ad in the Washington Post newspaper saying that they were looking for someone. I was at that point living in Crystal City just returned from Paris, France. This was in August of 1980 that both my fiance and I returned to the United States. I was working waiting tables and remember fondly the one Sunday morning that I had cleared $100 in tips, sore and aching feet but still feeling on top of the world! That was something for me then.

When I went to meet with owner Alan Sahm I knew only about French wines and just the barest smidgen about California wines and yet I somehow talked the talk and looked the part and was hired. That , too was quite a feat for me. I had never worked in a wine shop before this and it was all brand, spanking new for me. It's where I met Harry Moore, son of Sidney Moore. Little did I know then that I would be working in a year and a half for both Sidney and Mike!

At Rex Wines & Spirits I met many people but the most interesting to me was Dan Kravitz the wine manager. Dan now has his own import company called Hand Picked Selections and he's doing very well and my only regret now is that I hardly ever see him. I think the last time was back in 2003 at Cleveland Park Wines & Spirits where I manage the wine department with Mike Martin. At Rex Wines & Spirits I met a whole slew of people working there : Larry Jennings( we worked later with Larry at the Mayflower ), J.R., Patrick( he did not either trust or like me, I'm not sure which ), Herbie ( the store manager that called every male customer " gov'nor " as he would greet them, Ricky Sahm and his brother, Noel, George ( an older man with a mustache that always wore a dark blue hat, Anne and I am sure many more that I cannot think/recollect their names. It was quite the long , narrow crusty old, vintaged wine store. It also had a great reputation back then along with the Mayflower and A& A and Macarthur Beverages, Calvert Woodley, Bells, Scheiders, Harry's Liquors , Continental ( Bobby Kacher started there ), Pearsons, Morris Miller, Circle and more. Washington D.C. was thriving back then as a center to buy both wines, spirits and beers. There was lots of selection and the prices were some of the very best on the East Coast then. It was thrilling to be working in this bustling environment.

Rex Wines & Spirits was long and narrow and the front was where the store was and the back for storage. The back was as long if not longer than the front. I remember feeling swallowed walking through the back and looking up on either side of me and seeing cases of wines and Spirits stacked high up all around me. That's where Larry and J.R. and Patrick worked with others, too.

I had to learn pretty much on my own. None of this group had the time or the interest to help me much. That was okay. I was fresh and excited to learn, eager and willing to pay my dues. I remember Alan Sahm getting us all together and asking us about working on the 4th of July? I was still naive and principled and I immediately raised my voice in protest saying that working on the 4th was unpatriotic ! I am sure the others all scratched their heads in a collective disbelief and thought I was being idiotic! Perhaps, but I still feel this way now in July, Wednesday the 23rd, 2008 to be exact as I finish this and head off to work at Cleveland Park Wines & Spirits. Stay-tuned, more to follow. Cheers,, TONY

Don't worry, this is all leading up to my experiences at the Mayflower Wines & Spirits I assure you. Before I do leave though I do want to mention that it was here that I learned about " bumpers " and " knotty-head ". Do you all know what these terms refer to in the wine/liquor world?

When I Really Began To Learn About Italian Wines

This was back in 1983 or so when Michael Downey came down to Colonial Liquors where I was then the wine manager for a Mr Singh. It was my first experience of working for an Indian. I had about a year there and was thrilled to be considered for a job at the Mayflower Wines & Spirits. I really wanted to get away from Colonial Liquors. I did learn a lot the year I managed the store. I met one of our best friends while there and a couple others that are still really dear to me even though I do not see them anymore. The bond is still there as far as I am concerned with them, waiting to be tugged on again to bring us back in contact with one another.

But this blog will be devoted to exploring the memories and stories, many wonderful that I spent in the employ of both Michael Downey and Sidney Moore. We sold some wines together the three of us. We all had our own way of operating and we three were quite successful in our own ways. So here's to lots of fun times spent in and out of the store. Get ready to hear some really amusing stories. Cheers, TONY