My Mayflower days were formative and lasting and I remember them fondly and will be adding here even though the store is " long-and-gone " I still have strong ties to some of the people like Andrea Fossi and Alessandro Furlan from Italy that came to learn the business and English here in the United States back in the mid eighties. I have been thinking of them both a whole lot recently as they have been dear friends and Alessandro even spent a day recently with my family : wife, daughter and brother-in-law talking them around the town of Monte Carlo. They loved it, they loved being with Alessandro that took time out of his busy schedule selling and promoting Italian fine wines to show my family some of what makes Italy and Tuscany so very special. ...
At the Mayflower then we used to sell the Monte Carlo dry white for $3.49 a bottle. Everyone loved it, everyone came from miles around to buy it and often in a case of twelve bottles. It was frequently featured in one of the monthly six-pack samplers. Sidney wrote of it all the time.
And Jim Stutsman brought me a bottle with a note to Sidney that he had written to her of a bottle that he had found in his cellar, still unopened, of one from the eighties! Wow, now that's " some history! " I wonder if she ever tried it?
And then when my daughter and I were in Tuscany back in 2009 at MONTELLORI vineyards with the owner and the winemaker/restaurant sommelier there on the property ) having lunch we spoke of the town, region and wines of Monte Carlo ( and I was able to share this story from the Mayflower Wines & Spirits and Helen and Aaron Milman living there in Florence and importing the wines, knowing Andrea Fossi's dad and Andrea, too, and Alessandro as well ) ... as the sommelier-winemaker was from Monte Carlo! Wow, what a small world this really is that we live in : so many degrees of separation. I have never been to Monte Carlo but still have a sense - a degree of " knowing it ". and that comforts me, I like it. Cheers, I am thinking of you both Andrea and Alessandro. I wish the best for you and for your families in these challenging times! Anthony ( TONY ) Quinn, Sunday morning here in sunshine and blue skies with no leaves on the trees, December 15th, 2013. Caio e mille grazie e a presto! TONY
Franceen our customer that we have known for quite some time and that's an organist on the weekends here in Washington D.C. at church has come to like very much the D & N Primitivo that we buy from the Michael Downey portfolio that Michael's son Brennan sells to us and that Andrea Fossi of FOSSI Chianti and FOSSI Vino Nobile. The other day she came by and asked me for some more. I said that we were out and at that moment " a light went ON " in my brain, I smiled and said to Franceen : " Wait a minute " as I rushed to the magnum section to retrieve a bottle from our shelves. I showed it to her, she smiled and said : " Okay . " Franceen took the bottle from me and walked to the check-out counter and all was well. She bought a couple of magnums till the fifths of it came back and all has been fine since. I like that. I just shared the story with Andrea through email. I hope it brings a smile to his face as it does now to mine as I type this on Saturday afternoon after getting some of our outdoor lights on our azaleas lit for the holidays. I also raked : it's been the perfect day for being outside and so I maximized on this opportunity. Cheers,happy holidays Franceen, Andrea, Brennan and extended families... Anthony ( TONY ) Quinn 12/15/13 I just put a leg-of-lamb into the oven and it's from Australia so here's another SHOUT OUT to WEST CAPE HOWE, VINACEOUS, LONGVIEW, PICARDY, HAY SHED HILLS, LOOSE END and GIBSON, HUGH HAMILTON and so many " other " fine Aussie wines like GOTHAM ... TONY @ Cleveland Park Wines & Spirits, Washington D.C. 20008, Tel : 202-363-4265, anthony.quinn@clevelandparkwines.com in our FABulous Cleveland Park neighborhood selling FABulous Italian wines like those of Andrea Fossi and Alessandro Furlan! Caio Andrea, caio Alessandro, caio Miriam, caio Salvatore ...
Franceen our customer that we have known for quite some time and that's an organist on the weekends here in Washington D.C. at church has come to like very much the D & N Primitivo that we buy from the Michael Downey portfolio that Michael's son Brennan sells to us and that Andrea Fossi of FOSSI Chianti and FOSSI Vino Nobile. The other day she came by and asked me for some more. I said that we were out and at that moment " a light went ON " in my brain, I smiled and said to Franceen : " Wait a minute " as I rushed to the magnum section to retrieve a bottle from our shelves. I showed it to her, she smiled and said : " Okay . " Franceen took the bottle from me and walked to the check-out counter and all was well. She bought a couple of magnums till the fifths of it came back and all has been fine since. I like that. I just shared the story with Andrea through email. I hope it brings a smile to his face as it does now to mine as I type this on Saturday afternoon after getting some of our outdoor lights on our azaleas lit for the holidays. I also raked : it's been the perfect day for being outside and so I maximized on this opportunity. Cheers,happy holidays Franceen, Andrea, Brennan and extended families... Anthony ( TONY ) Quinn 12/15/13 I just put a leg-of-lamb into the oven and it's from Australia so here's another SHOUT OUT to WEST CAPE HOWE, VINACEOUS, LONGVIEW, PICARDY, HAY SHED HILLS, LOOSE END and GIBSON, HUGH HAMILTON and so many " other " fine Aussie wines like GOTHAM ... TONY @ Cleveland Park Wines & Spirits, Washington D.C. 20008, Tel : 202-363-4265, anthony.quinn@clevelandparkwines.com in our FABulous Cleveland Park neighborhood selling FABulous Italian wines like those of Andrea Fossi and Alessandro Furlan! Caio Andrea, caio Alessandro, caio Miriam, caio Salvatore ...
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