David Bryant, Bug-Eyed At Dinner At Ristorante Albergo, Barbaresco, Piemonte Italy Late At Night With Owners/ Winemakes And Randy, Geof, Chris Pigott

Finally, I think that I have got it right! It took me awhile to figure out my pictures in this earlier blog. You can there see lots of the same pictures over and over again. Enjoy!
Here is the picture taken by me outside the Ristorante Albergo in Barbaresco, Italy in 2005 the week of the Italian wine expo in Verona( the last week exactly ). We were visiting our Barbaresco and Barbera producers here ( Funtinin( Barbera ) in the yellow sweater and to his right the Barbaresco producer ), Geoff of Chef Geoff restaurants, Randy of Whole Foods, Chris Pigott of Country Vintners , and me ( not pin the picture because I took it of Cleveland Park Wines And Spirits , Washington D.C. N.W. ). What a blast! There will be more pictures to follow. I do love the shot here of David in the center with his eyes so wide open !

This picture is of importance also because some of David's ashes will be flown to Piemonte, Italy and buried in Vayra's Barolo vineyard not far from here. Fletcher told me all this yesterday at the store when he made a delivery. He promised to send me a more complete story by email soon. It turns out that this Barolo vineyard is one of David's favorite; perhaps as much for the site and place as well as for the wine. I will get the name of the exact vineyard and include it later. The rest of the ashes will be buried in August I understand at the National Cemetery here in Arlington, Virginia. It's a beautiful cemetery with a view of the Potomac river below and Washington D.C. just across it.Cheers, TONY

Pictures Of Italian Trip With Owner Alois Lageder and His Wife, Friuli, Italy

These pictures of David Bryant with Alois Lageder and his wife in their courtyard in 2005 are perhaps some of the best I took while there for the week of the Italian wine expo in Verona that year. We only made it to the last day ( Saturday of the expo when everything was coming to a close ). We had just enjoyed a marvelous meal inside of juicy red meat and a big salad and were now ready to see what the rest of the day held for us on this beautiful day in the lower foothills of the Dolomiti mountains at Lageder's estate. Lageder did not have a table at the expo and so he had buses to drive you back and forth. As I have already mentioned we drove in David's legendary rented Hercules Fiat minivan.

There is also a picture taken by me ( most all the pictures I have taken ) outside the elegant ( fancy ) restaurant in Barbaresco called TRE STELLE I think? Look at the picture and see what the sign above David ( in the middle with a priceless look on his face ), Geof Tracy ( chef ), Randy, Chris Pigott and Barbaresco and Barbera producers who's names escape me just now! Sorry. Too much to remember at times. It was a fabulous meal as you can see by everyone's faces. We dined in style and ate and drank the very best that Italy has to offer. Thanks David. You will be missed.

As you can see I am having real problems downloading these pictures that I cannot see with just numbers on my screen - argh! Sorry! I still have to find the photo of us in Barbaresco so that will come shortly! However, from seeing these same pictures of us : David, Alois, His wife, me and Chris Pigott you can see the animation in our gestures and expressions and see how happy we all seem on this beautiful day in Friuli, northeastern Italy. Cheers, TONY

Importer, Educator, Wine Afficionado David Bryant Passes Away Friday, July 4th, 2008

As I mentioned in the first blog here David Bryant took a small group of us to Italy a few years ago, I think in 2005. I'll check my notes to be sure. It was an incredible trip. This blog will primarily be about that trip but it will include " other " Italian stories and vignettes, too. This one will be about David and the time I saw him at Sutton Place Gourmet on New Mexico Avenue sometime perhaps in 1993-1994 I am guessing? Anyway, it's a story about Italy and David but about olive oil, extra virgin Italian olive oil - Tuscan to be exact. It might even been about the great Poggio Lamentano Tuscan extra-virgin olive oil that the Mayflower Wines & Spirits imported years ago in the 80's. That was an incredible time of three years in my life that I worked at the Mayflower Wines & Spirits with owners Sidney Moore and Michael Downey, both big fans of David's. On our trip in Italy David often alluded to some of the incredible moments he had spent together with Michael in Italy. You could see / hear that it was like ambrosia for David to remember these moments and he'd become even more alive and animated. Michael, too passed away a few years back. He, too was taken from us all at way too young an age.

David, you will be missed. I knew you were sick and I remember leaving a message for you several month's ago on your phone and I never got a response. You may have returned my call to Cleveland Park Wines & Spirits where I manage the wine department but I never got the message. This is of course one of those moments when we all say to ourselves that we wish that we had called back until we finally got through to you. I'm sorry now that I did not. Our precious time ran out, too soon for you our friend.

The last time I really thought about you in any detail was when Paolo the owner of ISOLE E OLENA came to our store to do a tasting. Our local rep Chris Pigott from Country Vintners dropped him off and I wondered why you were not there in person with him. You had originally perhaps two years before brought Paolo to the store. I have pictures of that and I will have to include them here on this blog later. I missed you at our last marvelous tasting with Paolo and his " new " releases at the store. We sold quite a bit of his wines that Saturday afternoon and I think that he enjoyed himself a lot.

At Sutton Place Gourmet I had taken Ugo Chiolo of the Piemonte region of Italy to meet you and taste his new releases with you. Ugo makes a series of wines : Dolcetto, Nebbiolo, Barolo, Freisa sparkling, touch-fruity red, Arneis white, Grappa and more. I was working for Wines Limited at the time and that's when I got to know Ugo. Anyway we tasted you on one or two of Ugo's wines and you tasted us on one or two, maybe more of Italy's excellent extra-virgin olive oils. You gave us a " mini " lesson in olive oils. I think Ugo already knew much of what you said but to me even though I had spent years selling these high quality Itlalian olive oils at the Mayflower Wines & Spirits it really served as an excellent " refresher " course for me. Thanks. I've got these pictures by my side of us at Sutton Place Gourmet with you. You look so young, your hair so curly, a gentle smile in a couple, intentness of purpose in tasting both olive oil and wine in a few of the others and one looking Ugo directly in the eyes as you make some point or other which of course was important at the time. What was it? Was it about the history of the vines, the olive trees, the history of people and place, specifics about a certain local or custom, even a colorful story of years ago that still rings loud and clear and makes us all pick-up our ears and smile from one to the other in acknowledgment and appreciation both ... that common thread of truth and shared experiences common and profound to us all? You were a source of many stories and histories. You liked to share them. You'd tell them with punctuation, pause for effect and a touch of both highs and lows in your voice to signal appropriate excitement and accents of gravitas when merited.

So anyway David though you are now gone I will continue to share these few " David " stories where I was a part/involved - sometimes in a big way and sometimes only marginally as an interested spectator.

I do remember one of our last conversations over the phone. It was very much a warm, heartfelt conversation where we somehow naturally just shared mutual appreciation and respect for one another. You talked about my art, about the way I welcomed and made people feel at home when they visited the store ( how much you liked bringing them to the store, about mutual friends in Allesandro Furlan and Andrea Fossi : and I talked about the great trip to Italy that you had hosted and which I had so many wonderful memories that I would relive from time to time and always feel better for it.

Thanks David, stay-tuned for lots more. Get a comfortable seat wherever you are. We're going to have more fun you and I and the other three driving madly, insanely through Italy this time on my stories and prose and vignettes in that Hercules Fiat van. And even though my words might be a bit crazy and hard to follow at times we will not be in danger of an automobile accident! Cheers, we made it, what a trill ride it was thanks in large part to you. I still remember that magnum of PAOLO COPPO sparkling Piemontese that we had in the town of Barbaresco in the restaurant called Steele or Stiele was it? I'll have to look it up. You did not sell it here in the U.S. but you said you wanted to make the trip memorable and share a range of the great things Italian, not just those you represented. Kudos to such fine sentiments, they were appreciated by all of us then and now. TONY

I Visited Italy Finally A couple Years Ago!

     I went with David Bryant and a small group of guys : three others to be exact - Chris, Randy and Geoff. We had a blast. We travelled around in a Fiat Hercules van with David our host doing most of the driving. It was pretty insane. We often were the meat in between the buns of the sandwich : i.e. the buns being the other two cars driving in opposite directions. David in his quest to get to our destination as fast as possible would pass the car in front of us and for that split second or two/three the three cars would all be lined up precariously side by side with the chance that something really big could go wrong if anything went wrong. Luckily for us it did not! We survived. We thrived. We told David of our fears and he stopped driving so fast. We saw some great vineyards and met some really special wine owners/ makers. 

     We landed in Milan and immediately drove to the small town of Bardolino on the southern tip of Lake Garda. We thus began a great week and a half that would take us through Veneto, Friuli, Alto Adige and over to the Oltrepo Pavese area and into the Piemonte. It was great to see both the Barolo and the Barbaresco areas and to stop and meet with all these wonderful winemakers and see where they live and work and their inspirations. We met their families, dined with them, shared both food and wine and bonded. This page blog will be all about those memories and bonds and other Italian inspirations, too. Sit back, relax and enjoy as I unfold this complex tapestry of sights, sounds, tastes and liquid delights - Italian for all our enjoyment, thought and stimulation. 

     It's bee awhile but both the pictures and souvenirs I have will bring these memories rushing back in fragments and with both highs and lows and everything in between voltage/power and zing!   Cheers,  TONY