<table border="0" align="center" width="500"><tr><td><img src="http://www.wineloverspage.com/mocool/tent06.jpg" border="1" align="left"></td></tr><tr><td>Dinner's over, darkness falls, and the tasting revelry continues into the night.</td></tr></table>
MoCool XVI: Saturday picnic
<table border="0" align="left" width="355"><tr><td><img src="http://www.wineloverspage.com/mocool/bobh06.jpg" border="1" align="left"></td></tr><tr><td>Bob H. pours for Errol Kovich and Geo T.</td></tr></table>The minor deities who seem to watch over MoCool came through again, and defying the forecast threat of severe thunderstorms and high winds, delivered a reasonably fine last-summer afternoon with mixed sunshine and clouds, humidity and mosquitoes. Hey, it's August in Michigan! No one minded, much, and the usual event went forward with a good crowd of 100 wine enthusiasts or so, all bearing generous selections of excellent wines from their cellars and wine racks for sharing.
The "Sweet, Sixteen and Bubbly" theme seemed to inspire folks, who dug deep into their collections for some truly amazing wines. By most estimates, there must have been close to 200 wines poured. I managed to get around to about one-quarter of them, sampling most of the Bubbly category and a random share of the "Sixteens" (1990s) before pocketing my PDA and indulging in just a taste or two of Ports at the "Sweet" table.
My notes follow, but first, it would be wrong to fail to take public note of the massive effort by the generous group of volunteers who knock themselves out every hear to make this non-profit, non-commercial venture happen. Many thanks to all the MoCool organizers and volunteers. You <i>are</I> appreciated.
My tasting started with an off-topic tasting trio set up for the volunteers who helped set up the tents and tables at the picnic venue, a pretty lakefront grove west of Ann Arbor:
<B>Allegrini 1997 Palazzo della Torre Veronese</B> - Dried cherries and cinnamon, nice. Juicy fruit and fresh acidity in balance, easy pick as best of the three.
<B>Allegrini 1999 Palazzo della Torre Veronese</B> - Darker than 1997. Black fruit, chocolate and licorice. Intense, tart acid, drying tannins, good potential but still young and immature.
<B>Allegrini 2001 Palazzo della Torre Veronese</B> - Ruby. Mouth-filling, sweet-tart. Doesn't seem well-balanced, and frankly doesn't seem likely to improve with aging; most tasters read it as an unfortunate shift by Allegrini toward a more "international" style.
Then, another off-topic wine left over from a tasting the previous nitght:
<B>Vérité 1999 La Muse Sonoma County red wine</B> - Cabernet Sauvignon dominates rather herbaceous red fruit, oak, a load of tannin. Not a favorite for me.
And finally, on to the theme wines with a quick taste of a 1990 to set the scene:
<B>Ch. Lafon-Rochet 1990 Saint-Estephe</B> - Clear garnet. Currants, cocoa, maybe a whiff of volatile acidity. Tart, tannic, <i>still</i> needs time.
And a fairly thorough trip past the "Bubbly" table, where I tried to undertake a comprehensive tasting of as many of the sparklers as possible. A number of contributors (including me) had come up with 1990 Champagnes to satisfy <i>two</i> of the three themes, although - perhaps luckily - nobody came up with a single wine that was sixteen, bubbly <i>and</i> sweet.
<B>Pol Roger 1990 Brut Rosé</B> - Pretty, pale salmon. Truffly, tart and dry. Holding up well, perhaps the best bubbly on the table for me.
<B>Pol Roger 1990 Brut</B> - I brought this one (a recent purchase) and was glad I did. Gold. Truffles, mushrooms, apples and honey. Creamy, rich, full-bodied. Fine.
<B>Guy Larmandier 1998 Champagne Cramant</B> - Rich, leesy, a style I like.
<B>Trouillard 1990 Cuvée du Fondateur</B> - Pale gold, not highly carbonated. Lovely delicate lemon scent.
<B>Lenoble 1996 Champagne Blanc de Blancs</B> - Appley, yeasty, fizzy.
<B>Champagne Delamotte 1990 Blanc de Blancs</B> - Clear light gold. Some oxidation, nuts and apples, but very much alive.
<B>L. Mawby Leelanau Peninsula "Sex" Brut</B> - Light gold. Apples, yeasty, tart.
<B>Veuve-Cliquot-Ponsardin NV Brut</B> - Light, tart apples. Okay bubbly, but doesn't diminish my prejudice that this house hasn't been living up to expectations in its basic cuvée.
<B>Mumm 1990</B> - Bright gold. Rich, truffles and lemons, very fine.
<B>De Faveri Extra Dry Prosecco</B> - Pale pink, a simple, refreshing quaffer.
<table border="0" align="right" width="355"><tr><td><img src="http://www.wineloverspage.com/mocool/mikejoel06.jpg" border="1" align="right"></td></tr><tr><td>It's getting late, but Mike Conner and Joel Goldberg continue analyzing 1990s at the French table.</td></tr></table>Finally it was time to get serious about the "Sweet Sixteen" (1990s) tables, which were divided geographically, with much (but certainly not all) of the action around the United States and France. As noted, the generous outpouring was remarkable, and I indulged in only a fraction of all the wines available, but it was still an amazing wine experience.
<B>Chateau la Roque 1990 "Cupa Numismae" Coteaux du Languedoc Pic Saint Loup</B> - Dark ruby. Red fruit. Slight oxidation, losing its fruit, still alive but past peak. This excellent QPR red from Kermit Lynch, a blend of 60% Syran and 40% Mourvèdre, was a "cellar orphan" from my wine racks, the last of a case purchased in the early '90s and mostly consumed before 1999. It's a good table wine and was a great value at its original under-$10 price tag, but I had no expectations for it and was frankly surprised that it was still drinkable.
<B>Benziger 1990 Sonoma Mountain Red Table Wine</B> - Garnet. Herbaceous cassis. Not a favorite.
<B>Albert Morot 1990 Beaune-Marconetts 1er Cru</B> - Pale ruby. Ethereal, delicate mineral iron-rust scent; sweet red-fruit flavor. Wonderful, one of the most intriguing older Burgs of the day for me.
<B>Santa Rita - Casa Real 1990 Maipo Valley Cabernet Sauvignon</B> - Rich Cabernet, big and balanced. Cassis and chocolate, acid and substantial tannins. Offers strong testimony against the charge that Chilean reds don't stand up to age, an outstanding wine.
<B>1990 Cos d'Estournel</B> - Mature red fruit, a hint of barnyard, excellent mature Bordeaux.
<B>Il Latini 1990 Vino da Tavola di Toscana</B> - Cherries and dark toast. Still very tannic, raising the question whether the fruit can last until the tannins resolve.
<B>Bernard Latour 1990 Domaine de l'Espagouette Cotes du Rhone</B> - Very barnyardy, earthy, high acid. Fine if you like the "challenging" old-Rhone character that's redolent of the chicken coop.
<B>Ch. La Louviere 1990 Pessac-Leognan</B> - Red fruit and leather, top of its form.
<B>Ch. Larose-Trintaudon 1990 Haut-Medoc</B> - Funky barnyard and leather, but good sweet old-red fruit too, holding up better than you might expect of a relatively low-end Bordeaux.
<B>Les Hauts de Montmirail 1990 Gigondas</B> - Sweet, funky, old but very much alive.
<B>Pahlmeyer 1990 Caldwell Vineyard Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon</B> - Concentrated. Oddly, it's both a little oxidized and still immature.
<B>1990 Chateau de Pommard</B> - Light ruby. Cherries, tart and tannic, still youthful.
<B>Forman 1990 Napa Cabernet Sauvignon</B> - Cassis and eucalyptus, classic Napa Cab. Very nice.
<B>Shafer 1990 Hillside Select Stags Leap District Cabernet Sauvignon</B> - Beautiful balance and structure, a great Napa Cabernet. Despite my Europhile inclinations, I'd match this against most of the French '90s.
<B>Ridge 1990 Lytton Springs Zinfandel</B> - Red fruit and leather, claret-like, holding up very well.
<B>Chateau LaGrange 1990 Saint-Julien</B> - Cassis, herbal notes, hints of anise and white pepper. In a wine-geek experiment, two bottles are compared, one with five hours' breathing, the other just uncorked. The "breathed" wine may be a bit softer and more complex, but perhaps surprisingly, there's really not much perceptible difference.
<B>Ch. Lafite-Rothschild 1990 Pauillac</B> - Amazing. A burst of cassis right out of the glass, beautiful structure and balance. Oh, yeah!
<table border="0" align="right" width="355"><tr><td><img src="http://www.wineloverspage.com/mocool/music06.jpg" border="1" align="right"></td></tr><tr><td>With this wine, who needs entertainment? Still, Geo T.'s harmonica riffs win approval from those who stopped to listen. He's flanked on "stage" by John Wolf (left) and Dave "Guido" Guimond.</td></tr></table>These old reds all went well with Chef Alan Kerr's grilled beef, although there's some truth in the argument that great mature reds deserve to be contemplated on their own, away from the distractions of food:
<B>Mommessin 1990 Clos de Tart</B> - Perfumed, intense, splendid with the steak.
<B>A. Clape 1990 Cornas</B> - Pure essence of Syrah, still young. I arrive just as the dregs are being poured and get about a 1/4-ounce taste that just films the bottom of my glass, but I love it.
<B>Joseph Matrot 1990 Volnay-Santenots</B> - Barnyard and a touch of Sherry, aromas seem almost past it, but still delicious sweet red fruit on the palate.
<B>Domaine Pierre Ponnelle 1990 Clos de Vougeot</B> - Tart red fruit, intense.
<B>Jaboulet-Vercherre 1990 Beaune Clos de l'Ecu</B> - Barnyard, leather and sweet red fruit.
<B>E. Guigal 1990 Hermitage</B> - Earthy plums, black olives, anise and leather. Peppery, smooth, very nice.
<B>Louis Jadot 1990 Corton-Pougets Grand Cru</B> - Bit o' leather, bit o' barnyard, but mostly dark Pinot fruit. Still young.
A couple of off-theme wines tasted during the afternoon:
<B>Edmunds St. John 1999 El Dorado County "Wylie-Fenaughty Syrah</B> - Dark purple. Lovely, intense plums and cherries; subtle pepper, mouth-watering acidity. World-class Syrah.
<B>Wyncroft 2002 Lake Michigan Shore Madron Lake Riesling</B> - Light gold. Apples, pine and petrol; very dry, excellent Riesling, demonstrates that Michigan Riesling, at least, can stand comparison to the world's top wines.
And finally, a brief stop at the "Sweet" table for a quick taste of a couple of Ports:
<B>Pocas Porto Seguro 1990 Vintage Port</B> - Stone fruit and anise, acidic and very sweet. Another of my contributions, I had double-decanted it at home to remove the sediment, then re-corked, spun the capsule back on, and transported it in my checked luggage with fingers crossed that it wouldn't leak or attract unwanted attention from TSA ...
<B>Graham's Malvedos Centenary 1990 Vintage Port</B> - Deep fruit, searing tannins; great potential, still very young. Same year as my Pocas, but it's Port on a completely different level.
