On Saturday we honored one of our own during a retirement celebration for Marie Griffin, former Wine Supervisor for Northwest Florida.  Marie has been with us since 1996 serving our guests and wine staff in the Ocala, Gainesville and Tallahassee markets.  For those of us at ABCFWS who had the pleasure to know and work closely with her, it was a very bittersweet occasion to see her leave, knowing all the while that she would have a chance to spend more time with her husband Charles and engage fully in her favorite hobbies including gardening, birding and, of course, enjoying a little wine.

The event was held at the home of Rick Hughes, our General Manager and Vice President of West Coast Stores.  Rick and his lovely wife Stephanie provided a smorgasborg of delicious food, including Rick’s lip-smacking Colorado lamb sliders and Stephanie’s amazing Lasagna Florentine.

And what would an ABC Fine Wine & Spirits party be without a little vino?  Well, for our Marie we collectively brought along an assortment of oversized bottles and older gems that included a chocolaty double mag of ’07 Jackie Napa Valley Merlot, a pristine, violet scented ’95 Domaine des Roches Neuves Samur-Champigny Marginale in magnum and stunning, ageless ’95 Zind-Humbrecht Herrenweg de Turckheim Muscat Vendange Tardives. 

To my dear friend Marie Griffin: all the very best to you and Charles in your very best years.  I look forward eagerly to the next time fortune smiles and our paths cross.  Santé!

Jim Greeley, Wine Supervisor SW Florida