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Driving California Wine (pictures): Day 2: Kunin Wines, Grassini Family Vineyards

My apologies. The web hosting for my site changed today, and with it a whole bunch of details look a mess. There is also a challenge on linkage. Currently if you type “WakawakaWineReviews.com” to get here, you won’t. You’ve got to add the “www” to the start of it. I think that’s just silly though, so I’m getting it fixed so that either will work. In the meantime, please link with the www included. Thanks!

Now photos!

Thank you to Seth and Magan Kunin.

Thank you to Andrew Levi and Mandy Grassini.

Thank you to Dan Fredman.

Some of these pictures taken by Katherine–thank you!

Copyright 2012 all rights reserved. When sharing or forwarding, please attribute to WakawakaWineReviews.com

Driving California Wine (pictures): Day 1: Visit with Angela and Jason Osborne, A Tribute to Grace

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Thank you to Angela and Jason Osborne for hosting us, and sharing Grace with us. Everything about the evening was wonderful.

Thank you to Katherine Yelle for first making, and then bringing homemade meatballs on our 9 hour drive from Flagstaff to Santa Barbara. I can’t even say. So good.

Katherine also took many of these pictures–Thank you.

Dear Archie dog, you’re a gem.

Copyright 2012 all rights reserved. When sharing or forwarding, please attribute to WakawakaWineReviews.com

The Move From Arizona to California, in pictures (briefly)

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In one 24-hour period I just went from the following in Arizona (full disclosure: these pics I actually took two weeks ago just prior to my trip to New York. Trust me. I drove through this same scene last night after landing in Phoenix from New York).

To this afternoon, with Katherine, the following in California.

(Have I mentioned there is no water in Arizona?)

Quick version of the story: we’re happy. Also, how smart am I? To drive across the Mojave Desert I brought Katherine, and she brought homemade Spaghetti and Meatballs.

Tomorrow: photos from an amazing visit with Angela and Jason Osbourne of A Tribute to Grace. It was honestly one of the most wonderful experiences I’ve had. They’re beautiful people, and the wines are more appropriately named than I could explain. Write-up to follow.

Cheers!

Copyright 2012 all rights reserved. When sharing or forwarding, please attribute to WakawakaWineReviews.com

New York’s Own Channing Daughters 2008 Meditazione

My last day in New York scheduled a drive out the South Fork of Long Island to visit with Christopher Tracy, a man inspired by the wines of Friuli (not to mention Blaufrankisch–I love Blaufrankish), and the wine maker of the winery Channing Daughters. However, at the last minute I had to cancel due to a mix-up with the car rental company. Disappointed not to hear more about Christopher’s work in person, I set out to find at least one of his wines in New York City.

Slope Cellars in Park Slope solved my problem by carrying the 2008 Meditazione, a Friuli-inspired white wine blend created with 30 days of skin contact, co-fermentation, and barrel aging. In other words, a New York State orange wine.

Channing Daughters 2008 Meditazione

click on comic to enlarge

Channing Daughters’ 2008 Meditazione is a strange, intriguing, and highly textural wine. The blend brings together Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay, Friulano, Muscat Ottonel, and Pinot Grigio in a full maceration production process. As has been discussed here previously, the extended skin contact chosen in producing this wine allows tannin effect on the palate. The result of which carries a wonderful tongue grip tickle sensation in the mouth.

In producing this wine, the blend of grapes changes from year to year depending on the best balance for the particular vintage. The grapes are de-stemmed and then co-fermented in an open top fermenter, without pump over. The wine is left this way with full skin contact for periods varying from year to year. In 2008 the wine was left on skins for 10 days (in 2009 for 30 days). After fermentation is complete, the wine is moved to a mix of new and old Slovenian oak for 18 months of aging before bottling. With its tighter grain, Slovenian oak introduces lesser tannin or flavor influence to the wine, while still providing some of the complexity and layering offered by its slow introduction of oxygen to the juice as it ages.

The flavors of the 2008 Meditazione are dusty and yellow fruit focused, with layers of nut, white pepper, and touches of honey. The wine begins tight in the nose and mouth with distinct textural layers that open to reveal more dried yellow fruit and skin notes with time in the glass. There are flavors of pickled lemon (salt with citrus), dried white sage, and lightly smokey elements. I couldn’t help but keep returning to the glass with this wine. It is strange, in the most wonderful way, showing the qualities associated with orange wines but with its particular grape combination carrying its own unique presentation of bouquet and flavors. The alcohol level comes in at good balance with 12% alongside medium acidity and tannin, and an ultra-long finish. I had to chase it around the block.

Enjoy!

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Christopher, thank you for making the time to meet with me. I apologize for the mishap, and am happy to know I can look forward to meeting you in person later in the year. (Also, Ben at Slope Cellars asked me to say hello.)

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Thank you to Ben at Slope Cellars for the help in locating Channing Daughters Meditazione, and for the great conversation. I enjoyed meeting you.

Slope Cellars, 436 7th Avenue, Brooklyn, NY 11215. 718-369-7307

Copyright 2012 all rights reserved. When sharing or forwarding, please attribute to WakawakaWineReviews.com

A Life in Wine: Spending Time with Levi Dalton, aka. The Psychic Sommelier

Thank you to Eric Asimov for mentioning this piece in the June 20, 2012 edition of “What We’re Reading” in New York Times Diner’s Journal.

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A ways into the movie The Shining, when things have really begun to unravel for the father-writer played by Jack Nicholson (at least partially because of his nightly run-ins with the devil bartender apparition), the little boy rides down one of the long hotel hallways of the grand hotel only to meet up with two little girls in blue dresses offering warning. The boy’s life is of course ever changed by the horrors instigated by the spirits of the grand hotel, but his time there is characterized by free reign of the hotel itself–every aspect of it open to him, including a kind of spiritual channeling of the other worldly energies present.

The strange circumstances of The Shining are, of course, meant to be horror entertainment, but also stand as hint to the reality that some of us have greater access to the intricacies of place than others–be it merely literal lock-and-key entry into the backdoor domains of a large hotel, or also the vibes of the universe not always admitted to or accepted by others.

Some people say, the longer a Sommelier celebrates a place in the business of serving and pairing, the more often he or she becomes able to anticipate what a customer will choose before they actually order, or to nail a perfect match between food and beverage without yet having tasted either. Shown through such ability is a blend of nuance and knowledge that characterizes an on going study not only of wine at large, or food flavors, but also human nature. It also reveals an interesting sort of sensory intuition.

This last week I was lucky enough to spend time with New York Sommelier Levi Dalton, and so, too, hear about his various experiences in the wine world and how they have helped him develop this type of sensory prescience.

Levi Dalton: Working in Wine

Known as a brilliant go to expert of Italian wine, Sommelier Levi Dalton has helped develop the wine programs at several restaurants, including the now closed New York favorites, Southern Italian focused Convivio, and Northern Italian focused Alto. However, by his tenure at Convivio and Alto with Chris Cannon, and working alongside chef Michael White, Dalton had already sharpened his skills at restaurants in Boston, Miami, and New York. But, for Dalton, his time with Cannon and White offered an experience of being fully believed in. Cannon saw in Dalton the talent he has for synthesizing unique food-wine experiences, and invited him to develop a distinctive program for the wine to go with the foods White produced. As a result, Dalton helped broaden the customers’ palate for then-lesser known grapes such as Frappato or Aglianico, and introduce a public to the phenomenon of orange wines.

Prior to his work at Convivio and Alto, Dalton worked for Daniel Boulud at Cafe Daniel, first in Miami, and then in New York. The establishment carried a prix fixe menu for which Dalton would often design wine pairings. Through the experience, Dalton learned a particular view of meal design. Daniel Boulud encourages Sommeliers to look ahead to the final wine in designing the pairings menu. That is, he stresses the idea that the final course is the grand finale, and previous courses, including wines, work to showcase this last experience even while also celebrating each step of the way on their own. To put it another way, in this view, pairing wine and food courses should not be thought of separately but instead as a dance along the full course of the meal.

Moving, then, later to work with Cannon and White, the customers were able to develop their own prix fixe menu from a range of choices. But, what customers often chose for food would readily upset the order of traditional food and wine pairings. Customers were asking for what they wanted. It’s simply that the ordering sometimes presented a particular challenge for a Sommelier. That is, if customers chose a food traditionally paired with reds to start, and then something like seafood, for example, to follow, then the second course would apparently pair with a white wine. The problem with this, of course, is that starting with a red can often over power the palate for the subtlety of a white, thus leading to the white not showing as well as it would on its own. In addition, the menus White developed often offered courses that are simply challenging for wine pairing. With the trust Cannon had placed in Dalton, he was able to develop a wine list that showcased wines unexpected in traditional pairings that could work to celebrate the meal as a whole, not just individual courses, and solve the difficulties of unusual foods, or, traditionally out of order courses.

In this way, Dalton’s work at Convivio and Alto effectively put him in a position of carrying, and thus promoting lesser known wines. Such a reality sounds exciting to many Sommeliers that dream of developing their own wine program. The additional truth of such a situation is simply how to make it work. The job of a restaurant is, after all, to serve (and develop) its clientele so that it can continue. Many venues instead choose to stick with wines that they know mainstream customers want. That is, wines currently established with good sales in the market. By doing so such venues save themselves some of the time of explaining the wine list to customers on the floor, and the risk of wines not selling simply because they’re not recognized. Taking Dalton’s approach pushes on other demands. That is, a restaurant (or shop) willing to take the risk of lesser known wines also steps into the demand of educating its public. The Sommelier is required to invest time in bridging the gap between customer knowledge and the unusual list items. The restaurant must be willing to make sure its serving staff has at least basic understanding of the wines so that they may best present them to the customer. As Dalton describes it, much of his time has been spent reflecting simply on how to make this work. That is, on what it takes to recognize a customer’s palate, and from that information get them to try and order something new that they still can enjoy. One of the simple ways he found to broach the process was just in thinking on how to form the wine list in an accessible way. As an example, instead of listing the wines simply by region or price, the wines can be organized by style and depth so that customers immediately have more information towards what they are looking for.

Dalton’s investment in wine education does not hold just at unusual grapes or wine types, but extends to lesser known producers as well. He is drawn to seeking (though not exclusively) lower production, lesser known wine makers with good quality, and interesting approach. Then he seeks, in his work, to help develop their name, and thus also their success. By exposing the public to lesser known wine makers he hopes to help people, that are still under exposed in wine, step into a higher level of success.

Dalton’s interest in helping lesser known wine makers succeed would seem to parallel his own experience in the wine world with becoming a Sommelier simply through hard work, and persistence. Dalton stepped into the New York wine scene at a time when French Sommeliers were still the easy norm, then went from working with Daniel Boulud and his team of French Sommeliers to being “the tall white guy” at the exclusive, formal Japanese restaurant, Masa. In both places, his skills were apparent and appreciated, yet his appearance and background stood out as distinct from the assumed atmosphere of the restaurant. To add to it, Dalton very much worked his way up into becoming a Sommelier, starting as a bus boy for a restaurant where he also did bottle stocking for their bar. To move up over time to Sommelier, Dalton worked a lot of extra hours, doing more than required by his particular job in order to convince people he was worth the risk of promotion.

Still, it is in his time at both Cafe Boulud and Masa that Dalton experienced serving styles that, though contradictory, still influence him. At Cafe Boulud, the presentation worked not just for eating but as a kind of welcoming entertainment. On the other hand, at Masa the focus was on a sort of strict formality meant to offer warmth and comfort through its cultivation of presentation and etiquette. It is this combination I find in Dalton’s demeanor–a vivacious (and slightly goofy) push to entertain overlaying a steady, and quieter generosity of spirit.

Levi Dalton: Going Back to Timberline Lodge

Raised initially in Oregon, Levi’s parents worked at the ski lodge at Timberline ski area on Mount Hood, the same building in which the movie for Stephen King’s The Shining was filmed. With his mother working as a cocktail waitress, and his father a short order cook, Levi grew up with ready access to the restaurant, but also a lot of time freely out on his own. The area was quiet enough it was safe for a kid to be out without a baby sitter. As a result, Levi often spent his days following around Walt, the facility maintenance man, as they went below the main building to fix the boiler, or go unstop a hotel room bathroom. He also spent a lot of time visiting his parents in the restaurant, hanging out in the kitchen, or watching the action on the restaurant floor.

Later, after he and his parents moved to California, work in a restaurant was an obvious go-to job for high school. He already knew how restaurants worked. At 15, then, Levi began his career working as a bus boy in a family focused restaurant in Oakland, also stocking the restaurant bar between shifts. It was yet another experience for him of restaurant life as a kind of extended family–cooks would take a nap in the restaurant between shifts, they’d have dinner together at the end of the night, and make sure he got home safe too. During this time he regularly worked on the wine side of stocking the bar, then going home after to read about the bottles he saw. The interest paired well with his general views of culture and growing up. That is, in Levi’s view, part of ones job as a young adult was to learn your way into a sort of overarching cultural knowledge studying what wasn’t ready at hand. Connected to this too was an understanding that wine simply was part of culture. It wasn’t that wine stood out as special. It was simply that to understand culture one must also understand wine. As a result, even in high school Levi spent portions of his free time reading wine magazines to educate himself towards adulthood.

Later, moving to Boston for college, he took on a waiter job to help cover expenses. A business class luxury model restaurant-hotel, The Federalist, had just opened at a time when, thanks to wine auctions, it was possible to drop a few million and establish a world class wine cellar over night. Levi was able to land a wait job for the Federalist, and spent his time going in early to help stock the wine cellar so that he could study the bottles they had in the cellar. As a waiter he found that it frustrated him to be unable to answer any questions the customers may have. So, if any such questions came up he took note of them and then would study the subject after going home that night. Between his desire for serving the customer, and his determination to learn the cellar he was soon promoted to restaurant Sommelier, and found himself leading wine classes for the other serving staff. The time at The Federalist established an impressive foundation for Levi’s palate, as the experience meant he was regularly tasting wines still seen as pinnacles of wine history, including the obvious examples of decades old Bordeaux.

From The Federalist, Levi was asked to help the restaurant’s sous chef to open a brand new restaurant, with Levi developing the wine program. It was there that he began the experience that would help ready him for his work ordering and selecting wine, beer, and spirits later at Masa, or at Convivio and Alto.

Though it took him years to take the leap, Levi has since gone on to write about wine on his own blog http://soyouwanttobeasommelier.blogspot.com/. (It was actually through his writing there that I first found anything about Levi Dalton, though it was later through twitter we became friends (pun purposeful, of course).) Asking about the delay between his clearly having established substantial knowledge in wine and his starting to write about it Levi answered honestly. He explained that in reading what others wrote he consistently thought that as much as he’d like to write he probably couldn’t. It appeared to him the person he was reading was simply smarter and more articulate than he took himself to be. He was finally gently pushed into starting to blog by being asked by numerous other people to write guest posts and articles on wine. Finally the request came enough Levi decided to take the risk and produce his own work.

He said the lesson there, and, from his story about working in wine, I take it in more than just writing too, is that when you find something you want to do, just stick with it. Don’t talk yourself out of something, just because you think someone else is better.

***

Thank you so much to Levi Dalton for taking the time to meet, and talk with me. I’m very grateful.

Copyright 2012 all rights reserved. When sharing or forwarding, please attribute to WakawakaWineReviews.com

NYC in pictures last 2 days: just a few randoms and a getting ready for the next phase

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Somehow the last two days of my trip I ended up with only these three pictures.

What a time in New York. I realize I’m honestly sad to leave, even if also looking forward to a wealth of travel. There are so many warnings about New York to receive, even from people living there. And I got them–people told me what to be wary of–but the truth is I just felt at ease, even if also on point, and people were so generous with me. Walking through Clinton Hill and Bed-Stuy in Brooklyn locals were regularly calling out “Hello Beautiful” or “love that dress.” The people I met with engaged me simultaneously as a guest, and a friend. I left feeling as though I have a wealth of people I can’t wait to get back and have more time with. And the wine, oh the wine. And the food. Also, the food.

So many write-ups to follow. I was lucky enough to spend several hours each interviewing several people about their unique lives and roles in wine–Steve Morgan about his work as Sommelier for Tribeca Grill curating the largest wine list collection of Chateauneuf du Pape in the world, and largest selection of Zinfindel in New York; Levi Dalton whose work as Sommelier has led him from the halls of the massive hotel seen in The Shining to developing his palate at a world class cellar in Boston, expanding his experience in Miami, and finally deep into New York; and Melissa Sutherland whose political work in D.C. layered against her childhood experiences of wine as always present for a meal led her to work in wine retail and wine branding. Between the three of them I’ve spent days now thinking on the idea of how we bring less understood, but still excellent wine to an audience that might otherwise seem unprepared for it. Each of them offer unique insights into how we make wine for those outside the wine industry work; how we make it beautifully discoverable. But also how this side of the wine world, the side meant to bring wine to consumers and customers, really is a sort of supernatural demand–a kind of ‘talks to god/is a psychic’ prescience that both anticipates the customer or public demand but also helps generate it.

Over the course of the week I tasted a range of wonderful wines. Manincor’s Langrein-based rose’; a traditional Rioja that blew my mind and sat me down; the lovely Friuli white blend by Sacrisassi; a couple of other unusual Italian reds; and a desert wine from a wine maker known for making great Marsala. Finally, my trip ended with a tasting of a Friuli-inspired blend made with 30-days of skin contact and co-fermentation from Long Island’s own Channing Daughters–what an unusual, intriguing find.

In the middle of my New York write-ups I’ll also have at least one “And Now for Something Completely Different” that arose from me randomly meeting Jeff, a fiction writer that does volunteer tutoring with young people in their own writing and publishing efforts.

These will all appear over the next month intermixed with pictures from my trip to California, and then the fishing grounds of the biggest salmon run in the world–Bristol Bay, Alaska.

My trip out of New York takes me back to Arizona briefly, where I’ll pick up my car and then almost immediately drive into Santa Barbara to talk to wine makers, visit wineries, and taste both Bordeaux varieties, and Chardonnays, Rhone blends, and some other surprises. Katherine will be with me for that trip.

New York, thank you. I feel like I just left a place when I wasn’t supposed to. I look forward to being back again soon.

Thank you too to the wine selections at Tribeca Wine Merchants, Italian Wine Merchants, Astor Wine, and Vine Wine who together all kind of royally screwed my whole “no really I don’t need to buy any wine while I’m there” plan.

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Thank you especially to Birk O’Halloran.

Thank you to Levi Dalton, Steve Morgan, Dan Petroski, Tara Carille, Janice Cable, Bahara Brown, Melissa Sutherland, Peter Liem, Christopher Tracy, Rocco Spagnardi and Brooklynguy.

Love to Jen Chapis, and Jordan Jenkins. What a wonderful break in the midst of this rush of discovery to have time with longer term friends.

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New York in Pictures Day 6: Andrew in the Subway; aka. ​I traded a bottle of sherry for a cd in the subway at the Metropolitan stop.

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In Williamsburg, Brooklyn, there is a smaller size wine shop with great selection called Vine Wine. (This is not really a story about Vine Wine.) I visited the bottles for over an hour then walked back to the subway.

My visit here in the city is almost coming to a close so I’d been reflecting on what I’ve enjoyed so far. Earlier in the day I’d walked by a violinist on the corner in the NYU neighborhood (near Astor) and been struck by how talented she was. It was a pleasure to hear her, but I didn’t stop. Then coming down the stairs in the Metropolitan station I heard another musician. After quite a few bars I realized the man playing and singing behind me was striking. His lyrics were reflective and smart, the styling brought together nostalgic feeling, with unexpected turns in beat and timing, and his voice and playing were both fantastic. At the end of the first song people around us clapped. At the end of the second song people clapped again and more of them.

The train arrived and I realized I wanted to hear more but had no more cash on me (I’d already put it in his guitar case). So, when he broke for the train’s arrival I introduced myself and told him my conundrum–I have no cash and I want a cd, but I could trade him a bottle of sherry for it.

Meet Andrew.

This is Andrew, and that was my sherry. Notice he is happy. (sorry for the blurry. phone pic.)

We had a lovely, though brief, exchange. He warned me I’d miss my train and I responded I knew that. It was worth it.

Andrew Kalleen writes all the songs for his band with Kristen Stokes. Together they are Lawrence and Leigh. I’ve only had time to hear a few songs from the 6-song cd (it’s the third in a three part series, though the first to be released; later they’ll release all three in unison) so far and am struck by how well the writing carries acoustically, and how distinct that subway sound is from the recorded versions. I’m inclined to think first off that I prefer the acoustic but I’ll keep listening to the cd. Where Andrew’s voice is rich and full, Kristen’s takes up haunting and playful elements. She’s a beautiful singer, and, from what I can tell, is more commonly featured. But the truth is Andrew’s a beautiful singer too. He also does all of the instrumental elements except live drums, which is impressive in that the cd shows a range of instruments.

The cd’s sound carries the reality of its “recorded in our apartment” origins with rough spots along the way, but through those you can hear a balanced approach driving the writing, and a sense of experimentation I find interesting in the recordings. To put it another way, there is something worth listening to here, and a ton of potential.

Dear Andrew, thanks for taking my trade. That’s a damn tasty sherry you’ve got in your hands there. I hope you enjoy it. I wish you and Kristen all the best of luck. And I hope to hear more of you.

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Thanks to Melissa Sutherland for taking the time to help me select sherries via text.

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Incidentally, for those of you that don’t know–Williamsburg, aka. holy god hipster mania–seriously, I walked into a wine shop playing the Monkees; then playing Neil Diamond; then playing Neil Diamond doing the Monkees; as if that wasn’t enough, a guy in the shop almost fell on me because he was standing ironically and tripped himself. Honestly. For those of you unsure of what this looks like–wrap one foot around the ankle of the other, then lean a little bit and wait. That said, Vine Wine is a great shop, and I enjoyed walking around Williamsburg quite a bit.

***

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NYC in pictures Day 5: Gottino

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If you can believe it, my day yesterday was so busy I only got in a couple of pics–met Jordan at Tompkins Square and 9th Street Espresso; met up with Levi at Viande and then Central Park; met up with Melissa at Gottino in the West Village (that’s a lot of travel across the city).

Melissa and I talked for several hours and at the end I took a couple of pics of her at the entrance to Gottino. Though one photo is brief for a photo diary entry, Melissa is so beautiful here I had to share. Write up on Melissa’s work in wine retail to follow.

Melissa Sutherland

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Thank you to Levi Dalton.

Thank you to Melissa Sutherland.

Hugs to Jordan Jenkins–so good to see you, even if briefly. Also, loved the blazer–nice choice, J’s mom!

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Visiting NYC (in pictures) Days 3-4: Fort Greene, Prospect Heights, Park Slope; Italian Wine Merchants; Lincoln Center

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Day 3: Walking Around Brooklyn

Day 4: Italian Wine Merchants; Manhattan

Janice Cable, Italian Wine Merchants Wine Cellars

Gandhi, Union Square

Levi Dalton

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Thank you to Janice Cable for showing me around Italian Wine Merchants, and for organizing dinner after.

Thank you to Levi Dalton.

Thank you to Melissa Sutherland, Tara Carille, Bahara Brown.

Copyright 2012 all rights reserved. When sharing or forwarding, please attribute to WakawakaWineReviews.com

Walking Around Brooklyn (pictures): From Clinton Hill to Park Slope: Day 2, aka known as No Wine? WTH?

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