7/26/00: Up a little after 8 AM, coffee, bagel, banana and a good drink for the basil, arugula and carrots before some yoga and a bike trip back to Thomas Video to return the tapes. The world looks different at 10 in the morning than it does at 4 or 5 in the afternoon, when I usually ride, and that, along with a change in my route made for a most pleasurable journey. 

Lowell contemplates  chop sticks

We had some friends over for wine, food and conversation in the evening. I had a few 1990 Alsatians that needed tasting for a Gang feature, and wanted input, so who'm I gonna call? 

Lowell Boileau (The Artist) is a charter member of the Gang of Pour, and our original site designer. His The Fabulous Ruins of Detroit website was a Yahoo Pick of the Year in 1998, and remains a wonderful, ever growing testament of the many once grand buildings in and around Detroit that are slowly, or have already passed "unnoticed, even despised, into oblivion."  He also has a successful commercial web design business, besides creating art both on the computer and on canvas, using the technique of Micropointalism, which he and fellow Gangster Steven Goodfellow (The Savant) developed in the '70s. He spent time in Alsace some years ago, where he developed a love for the wines of that region, so I felt his presence was a must. 

John Trombley in an expansive mood

John Trombley is a Detroit wine lover whom we met virtually on Robin Garr's Wine Lovers' Discussion Group, and then in person at MoCool '99. No one I know has more passion for German whites, but he has a place in his heart for Alsatians too, as his contribution clearly showed. 

We adjourned to the back deck here at Gang Central, where we relished in several plates of sushi, smoked pepper crusted salmon, whitefish Florentine, pasta salad, buffalo wings, hummus, bread and asiago. We listened to the lush music of Brazilian Vinicius Cantuaria and American Jazz Seductress Cassandra Wilson. 

And of course, there were the wines. 

1990 Trimbach Reisling Cuvee Frederic Emile, 12.5 % alc., $34.99: Medium straw, with a petrol/ pine/ apple/mineral/little bit o' lime bouquet that followed through on the palate with rich flavors for such a dry wine, good density and a long finish. My notes read "dry, dry, dry…" John noted lavender and commented that this is "very limpid." We all found it lovely and delightful, and it was clearly the second best selection of the session. 

1990 Trimbach Gewurztraminer Cuvee des Seigneurs de Ribeaupierre, 13 % alc., $16.99: Medium straw, with pretty if not ebullient pear/apricot/mineral aromas that show only a hint the floral/litchi nuances I like in my Gewurz. Flavors echo, with an oily texture; John added impressions of "orange/almond/nuttiness." It seemed to finish rather abruptly to me, but John opined that it was a certain bitterness that gave that impression. And upon further investigation, I was struck by the fact that the flavors lingered on the sides of my tongue, but again, John disagreed, saying that they lengthened on the middle of his, and Lowell agreed with him. Mr. Trombley also commented, "The spice has come down just enough to integrate with the fatness beneath." This is a good, but not great Gewurz; maybe I should have opened it a year and a half ago when I bought it in a grocery store, of all places. The same store has the '93 model now, but it's going for $30… 

1990 Josmeyer Gewurztraminer Les Archenets, 13 % alc., $29.99: Pale to medium gold, with an apple/pear nose with a hint of bees wax that follows through on the palate on a very soft low acid frame. Lowell remarked, "It tastes like cedar," while John said "I love the white pepper, dried spices and cloves." Neither Kim nor I noticed any of the latter element in the wine, but then different descriptors are just one of the many things that make this little obsession so fascinating. John liked the nose on this better than the palate, while Lowell preferred it to the Trimbach. However, I found both a little lacking, especially with the memory of the 1989 Schlumberger Kessler still seemingly fresh in my mind from a few months back. (See The Gang Does Gruaud-Larose) 

  1996 Domaine Laroche Chablis Saint Martin, 12.5 % alc., $19.99: Lowell couldn't find a representative Alsatian bottle, so instead brought along this impressive Chablis, which I correctly predicted that Kim wouldn't care for. Medium straw to pale gold, John described this as burnished bronze. I noted flavors and aromas of apple/pear/chalk and just a hint of bees wax and smoke; John added "flowers, bitter herbs and a little vanilla on the nose; more a white Burgundy than a Chablis." Still young, this has years of development ahead of it. Very nice. 

1995 Ostertag Muenchberg Reisling Vendange Tardive, 10 % alc.: John brought along this deep gold colored elixir, and it's big, rich and unctuous, with apricot/cantaloupe/smoke/bees wax character. Sweet, but not too sweet, this weighs in at around 4 % residual sugar according to John (Mr. Sweetstuff himself). Lowell remarked that "the texture is almost a grainy sugar; it's different." It has a good long finish and continues to open with air. 

The only bottle that was empty at the end of the evening was the Ostertag, thanks to this taster.  I gladly sipped the last third after our guests had departed and Kim had retired, since the other selections would hold for another day or two in the refrigerator, and you just can't go back to dry after a sweet, or even semi-sweet wine. It was a beautiful evening with good friends, and isn't that what it's all about? 

I finished the night with a Cuban Quintero Panatela out on the back deck. Not a big cigar, but one packed with strong, meaty tobacco flavors that kept pumping good volumes of smoke right down to the nub. Yowza!

WAKE ME UP