Alessandro ' Sandro ' Furlan's Name Comes Up Multiple Times During Andrea Fossi's Recent Visit And Tasting At Cleveland Park Wines Spirits This Late November 2014 : Both Andrea And Alessandro Are True Friends And I Wish I Could Spend More Time With Them!

This picture is Alessandro seen through my glass of the VERBENA Brunello Di Montalcino that I was drinking during the previous tour that he had taken time out of his busy schedule to take my daughter and me around in Tuscany to visit one of his fine producers, the wife tasting with us, and her husband busy at the time picking olives to make their first-season's batch of Tuscan extra-virgin olive oil that year, was it 2009, I believe so? Grazie Alessandro for this, too. So much to be thankful for. Glad I am finally sharing some of this here where it all started back in the mid eighties.

This is more a blog to say ' caio ' to an old friend that stepped up to the plate for me a year ago when my family was in Tuscany, Italy visiting our son in Florence, and he took a whole day off to take them on a tour of Tuscany, picking them up at a local train station there in Tuscany one morning and driving them around in his car to show them a town that made excellent Tuscan extra-virgin olive oil  as well as many other fine products, met the owner and had a personal tour , guide and explanation, that may have often been translated into English by Alessandro? I am not sure I was not there.

This was last year's Thanksgiving break back here in the United States and so I was stuck here busy at work managing the Cleveland Park Wine And Spirits' store and selling lots of wine, recommending often those that I purchase from Alessandro through the Michael Downey Imports' portfolio that is quite extensive and quite excellent. Over the years I have met many ' new ' owners and winemakers of Italian wineries that are imported here by the Michael Downey portfolio.

I continue to call it the Michael Downey Italian portfolio because he was the founder and sadly passed away sever years ago with his wife Peggy and his two children , Brennan and Shannon keeping things going.

But it is when I worked with Michael Downey back at the Mayflower Wines And Spirits that I met both Alessandro and Andrea that came from Italy from their wineries : Franco Furlan / Castelcosa in Friuli,

 and Fossi in Tuscany

 to both learn English and have a retail experience in a boutique wine store in our nation's capitol specializing in Italian imports brought here by Sidney Moore's father Aaron Millman and his wife Helen Millman. Aaron had honed so many of his wine skills while previously working for the Milton Kronheim Wholesale company many moons ago. He also must have learned how to taste wines as part of the Consortzio of Chianti Classico wines in Florence while living there and a member , too of the Consortzio/ Black Rooster / Galo Nero fame?

Anyway, I have gotten to know both Andrea and Alessandro now for many years, seeing them now and then briefly and I am thrilled to have this relationship that still endures and grows and stays strong after so many moon's passing. That means a whole lot to me.

Then other day when I asked my wife more about their day with Alessandro and found out that Alessandro paid for the meal , a long and very satisfying luncheon; well, that stood out for me. I wish that we had paid and not Alessandro. But I am touched, deeply touched, and I am all the more happy to sell and recommend his Italian wine selections that I buy from Brennan Downey when I can. That is very special indeed to me and always makes me happy. Grazie mille times for that Alessandro, you did not have to do that, and I do  appreciate it, really I do.

I am sick as a dog with a bad cold here at home and when I rose I started to compose this and remembered that my wife had pictures that she took of this their time with Alessandro and have asked her to send them to me to include here where appropriate. I will also ask my brother-in-law to do the same with the pictures that he took. That will make this day, their day, the four of them with Alessandro come even more alive.

Cheers and stay-tuned for more shortly. I will post this now ' as is ' and add a bit later. Caio e prego e a presto Alessandro!   TONY   Sunday a 12:03 PM here in northern Virginia on a beautiful day today. I like it, will step outside now for a few breaths of fresh air and then come back inside as I do not want to get any sicker, just better.

In The Mid-Eighties When Larry Jennings, Iris, Leon, Moe Parzoe, Anthony Quinn ( Me ). Sidney Moore Margolis, Michael Downey And More Worked @ The Mayflower Wines And Spirits Wine Store In Washington D.C. Northwest, 20016 I believe : Photos Of That Time In My Collection I Would Like To Share Now Here : Enjoy!

Winemaker Andrea Fossi Comes To Cleveland Park Wine And Spirits To Taste Cureent Vintages Of His Superb Italian Reds : Primitivo From Puglia, Italy And Vino Nobile From Tuscany : Join Us, Never Any Charge, Friday, November 21st, 2014 From 5 to 8 PM.

These are some of the wines I sold and enjoyed drinking, too while working at the Mayflower Wine And Spirits. I got to know both Andrea Fossi and Alessandro Furlan. This is the 1959 Chianti Classico from Andrea and his father, the Reserva , 12.7 alcohol by volume.  he dry white AI di CASTELCOSA bt Franco Furlan / Alessandro's father / , too ... and I have my own home-made vinegar in them now. Andre Fossi will be in the store, Cleveland Park Wine and Spirits tasting his wines on Friday, November 21st, 2014 from 5 to 8PM  JOIN US< NEVER any charge! This will be great, trust me. We had the FOSSI Chianti Classico wines going back to the 1958, and we would regularly taste them with our customers. What a great and special treat that was. Cheers,   TONY   11/ 16 / 2014

• Jandir Passos, Vinicius Vellozo and 2 others like this.
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  Paul Jameson I remember the '58 Fossi. Found my notes. Bought at Eagle on 8/12/78 for $9.99. Opened 10/21/78. On the scoring system I was using then, I gave it 12 1/2 pts, which rated as Very Good.
  
  I had a second bottle of the '58 on 10/3/79, and my notes read, "Perhaps it has been open too long, but tastes considerably more past peak than when I had it a year ago. Still quite nice."

  10 hrs · Like
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  Anthony Quinn Thanks for these notes Paul! Come by and see Andrea at the store. We will have his excellent Vino Nobile open for you to try, and the 2010 magnum of Primitivo, $16.99 a bottle is sublime!

  10 hrs · Like
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  Anthony Quinn Glad you like this Karen, Sonia e Vinicius! Great memories. I still have the 1961 here at home to enjoy, Cannot wait for that, may enjoy it with Andrea, we will see what his schedule is on this Friday evening? TONY

  10 hrs · Like

This is from this year's Michael Downey portfolio annual tasting and I asked everyone to gather around for this picture. Andre is in the center in the red shirt and we also have other winemakers/ owners pictured here, too : in Virginia in north Arlington on a nice day : what fun! WE have Mauro of his own Piemonte winery pictured, we have a fine Virginia winemaker and owner pictured above squatting down on the far right , we have a French winemaker pictured on the far left that makes fine wines by Piemonte with the Pinot Noir grape and not the Bonarda grape!

I scanned these just now, the TAI is from Friuli, Italy, I do not know the vintage of it, It does say on the neck label : Grande Intenditore, , I do not know what that means? What fun, come meet Andrea Fossi here at the store on Friday, November 21st, 2014rom 5-8PM. Cheers!

Rediscovering the Mayflower Wine & Spirits Through Sidney Moore's Monthly July 1984 4-Page Newsletter Written And Mailed To Customers Through The Mail : Imagine That, No Email, No Internet back Then! ENJOY!

Notes from Tony Quinn ( me ) and Sidney on the back page. It was folded in two and mailed monthly, and you better not mess with Sidney when she wrote these newsletters or there would be hell to pay! Trust me, it's been awhile, but I know what I am talking about here. Cheers to you Sidney!   Anthony ( TONY ) Quinn 8/21/2014   Happy Thursday everyone, enjoy this fun stroll down memory lane here ...   TONY

I'm AMAZED Tonight @ The 2010 D & N Primitivo Dry Puglian Italian Red From Andrea Fossi For Only $10.99 A Bottle @ Cleveland Park Wines & Spirits In Northwest, Washington D.C., 20008! WOW, I'm Blown Quite Literally Away Tonight, Sunday, December 15th, 2013 Here In Northern Virginia @ Home!

This has been quite the experience! What can I say? Where do I start?!? I took the just-opened bottle over to my Swedish blond neighbor that likes dry red wine that was making a Swedish vodka version of their mulled wine with herbs and spices and her youngest daughter opens the door and has an orange in her hands that she's already pushed some cloves into for mulling the wine and vodka that has to sit for quite some time before consumption. She was just helping her mother prepare this Swedish concoction.

She had been out earlier as the sun had finally broken through the thick clouds above and the skies were blue and there were very few clouds as I raked the leaves from our lawn and we spoke. Lights had been just restrung on our azaleas out front and they were " ON " and working, with " new : ones having been just strung by my wife.

I told our Swedish neighbor that I would bring her over some dry red wine to enjoy. I asked her if she would be home or if she had a game as she was a coach at our local high school. " Yes " she would be home so I opened a bottle of the Andre Fossi D & N Primitivo Puglian Italian dry red 2010, $10.99 a bottle, and walked it over to he house ready to pour her a glass.

Her daughter opened their front door, saw me and shouted : " Mom! " and she appeared and I cam in with the bottle and asked her if she wanted me to pour her a glass? She said sure , that my timing was great, that she was drinking some whisky and that she would save the glass and enjoy it with her pasta meal that was almost ready now. She told me to disregard the two magnums of TURNING LEAF red I spied ( I shuddered seeing them - not a good reaction on my part - sorry! ) that she was going to use to mull her Swedish version of glog. That was reassuring.

She sipped Andrea's wine and immediately announced that it was : " Good. "

I left and returned home, our son returned from work and I got the cheeses - goats' and milk blended together as one, goat's cheese as another, with some smoked salmon and crackers, too - Stone Wheat Thins I believe? It was all good. I poured my wife a glass a after she worked some more at our X'mas decorations with the fir cones, etcetera she sat down. I already had Jim Stutsman's " Winter Sampler " c.d. that we love playing and so everything was set to start our evening with a Australian lamb dinner, some AMABIALE 2005 Vintage French champagne with our D& N 2010 Italian Primitivo, too : avocado salad, white rice ... what a treat to start our 2013 holidays together as we were all now reunited as our son was just back from his sophomore semester in Florence, Tuscany, Italy! What an opportunity, we were all jealous, really jealous. Oh well, we were all happy for him.

The D& N Primitivo showed well from the very first couple of sips, it was still formulating, still coming into focus, but even the first sips were very pleasant if not quite focused, firm and truly expressive. I was remembering the last time I had sipped it at Cleveland Park Wines & Spirits in Northwest, Washington D.C., 20008 and how impressed I was then?!? I was impressed.

I was busy with dinner and the hors d'ouevres  and so it was only when I sat down finally that I could focus on the D & N Primitivo. Oh, I also had to snap some pictures of the bottle and the wine on our table with the cheeses, the smoked salmon and also with our Christmas tree!

The D & N Primitivo was slowly " crystalizing " and coming more and more into focus : it was growing and blossoming, and with the Australian lamb it was pretty amazing. I was enjoying sipping it with the bites of juicy and flavorful lamb that had that incredible grease flavor that shouts out around the edges of my plate so beautifully, so distinctly!

Funny, as I type this now an hour or so later after our meal I can still taste the very last lovely vestiges of the wine and it's long, lingering flavor mingling still with those of the roasted Australian leg-of-lamb! Nice.

I liked the wine the whole way through our meal. It worked majestically and never failed, always managed to fill in any spaces left open by the lamb, the ripe avocado and wine vinaigrette salad dressing and the white rice. It was a great match, and when I remember that this 2010 D & N Primitivo from Pulgia southern Italy only cost $10.99 a bottle, I was amazed and impressed! Wow, what an incredible deal!

No wonder our customer Franceen likes it so much and continued to drink it in magnums when we sold out of the 750ml bottle size, 14% alcohol - and you do not taste it - a completely " value " inexpensive dry red! She was right, it really is impressive, so appealing, so rich, so round and full and flavorful, and balanced and " fleshy : through-and-through! Thanks, grazie Andrea : you have done good Andrea, really GOOD!

So, I think I have said it all. I enjoyed drinking the last of it while listening to my Apple i-pod with Peter, Paul and Mary's " The Wedding Song ", and then to Joni Mitchell's songs : " For Free " and then " The Circle Game ".

A perfect evening that is still giving. Cheers, happy holidays 2013 everyone , have agood one, have a great one, share it, and come to our store Cleveland Park Wines & Spirits at 3423 Connecticut Avenue N.W. Washington D.C., 20008 Tel : 202-363-4265  anthony.quinn@clevelandparkwines.com and buy some fifths and some magnums.

Supprt Andrea Fossi and his family, DRINK LOTS OF FOSSI Chianti and Vino Nobile and also D & N Primitivo, too! Cheers,   Anthony ( TONY ) Quinn  Sunday night in northern Virginia on December 15th, 2013. Cheers, sante, grazie , caio ....      TONY

Finding Andrea Fossi Of FOSSI Chianti and FOSSI Vino Nobile Di Montepulciano, Tuscany, Italy : & D & N Primitivo & Sangiovese, Puglia, ITaly : What A Great Pleasure! DRINK FOSSI WINES!!!

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 ...

Thinking Back Fondly Now On Sunday Morning, December 15th, 2013 As They Bury Nelson Mandela , Also On Our Good Friends Andrea Fossi & Alessandro Furlan, Their Friendship, Our Days Together @ The Mayflower Wines & Spirits In The Eighties In Washington D.C., Northwest, & Of Monte Carlo, Jim Stutsman & The Owner & Winemaker-Sommelier Of MONTELORRI Winery! Cheers 2013 Everyone!

   

  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 ...