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| Not only did I anticipate the difficulty before me of trying to identify the country of origin, and the vintage of 13 unidentified international cabernets, but a quick survey of the crowd revealed that some of the finest palates to attend the MoCool festivities were in attendance, and were to be "The Competition." | |||||
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On to MoCool '99 "Taste
the Terroir"
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Storyline & Photos by: Mark Overberg
This was the third and final official MoCool ‘99 event, held Sunday August 22nd at the No. VI Chop House located within the Hotel Baronette of Novi, Michigan. Starting time was to be Noon. Marc Fairorth and I arrived about 15 minutes late, after spending half an hour in the stop and go traffic headaches created by the ambitious freeway reconstruction projects surrounding Novi. I hoped that the long exposure to "Detroit's Terroir" in the form of many idling vehicles had not yet completely destroyed my senses, or at least not more than the palate fatigue likely from the previous two days terrific events. Upon entering the hotel, we were relieved to see that the participants were still waiting to enter the appointed tasting room, and were whiling away the time sipping on a pink aperitif supplied by the hotel. Eagerly navigating the crowd to the table where the "warm up" was offered, we ultimately chose to pass on the opportunity to taste the Michigan St. Julian Rose` offering. Having tried this producer’s wares before, I cannot imagine a state of thirst that would compel me to put these wines in my mouth again. To borrow a line from Motown's own Diana Ross, "Ain’t no desert wide enough." Shortly after deciding to spare my palate for what had been billed as a "Stellar lineup of International Cabernets", it was announced that the tables were ready, and the 45 or so eager participants entered the tasting room. The tasting itself was not held in the Chop House restaurant, but instead in a long, narrow corridor separated from the lovely outdoor terrace by a wall of curtained windows. 6 tables were arranged along the length of the chandeliered corridor, and each table contained 8 settings, arranged in two pyramid shaped flights of 13 numbered but otherwise unidentified glasses of ruby colored wines. Nervousness began to set in for a great number of reasons. Not only did I anticipate the difficulty before me of trying to identify the country of origin, and the vintage of 13 unidentified international cabernets, but a quick survey of the crowd revealed that some of the finest palates to attend the MoCool festivities were in attendance, and were to be "The Competition." Yikes. I chose my place at table 3, along with my friend Marc Fairorth from Austin Texas, Fellow Texan Dana Burton of Dallas, Greater Lansing Wine Club president Mike Brenton and his lovely partner Debra Cole, their friend Dennis Strzalkowski and Mr. and Mrs. Gene Shensky. At least 3 of those present at this table are lawyers, making me feel comfortable that should it be necessary to file a protest with the judging committee, I was in good hands. THE RULES
Once we were seated, Joel Goldberg of the MoCool organizing team seized the microphone to lay out the ground rules for this tasting. Before us, he explained, were 13 Cabernet and Cabernet blend wines from around the globe. The only clue provided was that within the glasses were 3 Bordeaux, 2 Californian Cabernets, 2 Aussies, and one Cabernet from each of Argentina, Chile, Italy, Lebanon, South Africa, and Washington State. The wines had been procured from a variety of sources, including the private cellars of some of the MoCool attendees. One had been hand carried from as far away as South Africa (Thanks Rudolph!). It was asked that any participants who knew 2 or more of the wines present should not participate in the actual competition for the prize, a bottle of 1994 Harlan Estate Cabernet. Yum! Joel also stated that there was a minimum success requirement to claim the fabulous prize; the winner needed to correctly identify the origin of at least 60% of the wines, or 8 of 13. In the event of a tie, the estimate of vintages of the correctly identified wines would be used as a tiebreaker. I couldn’t resist the opportunity to seize the unguarded trophy, and imagine for a second that it could possibly be mine. Boy, was I in for a letdown. Next, Master Sommelier and Guest of Honor Madeline Triffon took the microphone. The Metro Detroit area is honored in the world of winedom to count Madeline among our local heroes. Madeline is one of only 36 Master Sommeliers in the United States, having earned the coveted title in 1987, with the distinction of being the very FIRST American female to earn this high distinction. As of this writing there are still but 6. Madeline graces the Metro Detroit Culinary scene by having served as a consultant to the venerable London Chop House, Rattlesnake Club, Tres Vite, and Cocino Del Sol. Currently, Madeline works as consultant and Sommelier to the Unique Restaurant Corp. of Oakland County, Michigan and directs the wine programs at their 13 fabulous local restaurants which include Cafe Jardin, Portabella, Morels, The Flying Fish and the #6 Chop House. It is also worth mentioning that Madeline is the antithesis of Wine Snobbery. Her stated goal is to make wine fun and friendly for her customers. Madeline finds dignity in service, and has often been seen bringing water and bread to the tables, and clearing away finished plates. She has been jokingly dubbed "The Guest Busser" by the wait staff at one of the many restaurants she serves. In her opening remarks this day, Madeline confirmed what I had already suspected, this was going to be one difficult competition. Afterwards, she shared her tasting notes on the 13 wines, and I took some small comfort that her observations mirrored several of my own, some almost verbatim. In fact, that was the only comfort I was to find on this humbling day.
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