Brenton/Cole’s 
4^th Annual

Bring a Bottle of Your
 Best Bash  

Mike Brenton and Deborah Cole

JUST SOME OF THE 55 WINES

1999 Neudorf Nelson Sauvignon Blanc
1998 Domaine de l’Arjolle Equinoxe 
        Vin de Pays des Cotes de Thongue 
1998 Thunder Mountain Chardonnay 
        DeRose Vineyard 
1995 Bernardus Monterey County 
        Chardonnay
1997 Bernardus Monterey County 
        Chardonnay 
1997 Flowers Sonoma Coast Chardonnay 
        Camp Meeting Ridge 
1995 Blanc de Lynch-Bages 
1997 Thunder Mountain Santa Cruz 
        Mountains Cabernet Sauvignon Bates
        Ranch 
1995 Dehlinger Russian River Valley Estate
        Syrah Goldridge Vineyard
1997 Nostos Greek Red Table Wine 
1996 Rosenblum Sonoma Valley Zinfandel
        Cullinane Vineyard 20th Anniversary 
        Special Bottling 
1997 Flowers Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir 
        Camp Meeting Ridge 
1977 Diamond Creek Napa Cabernet 
        Sauvignon Volcanic Hill 
1988 Lytton Springs Winery Sonoma County
        Zinfandel Private Reserve 
1988 Opus One Napa Valley Red Wine
1997 Martinelli Russian River Valley 
        Pinot Noir Martinelli Vineyard 
1997 Ojai Talley Vineyard Chardonnay
1997 Cline Small Berry Vineyard Mourvedre 
1998 Fox Creek McLaren Vale 
        Shiraz Reserve

Saturday, May 20^th dawned bright and clear after a rain filled week, an auspicious sign for Mike Brenton and Deborah Cole’s annual Bring a Bottle of Your Best food and wine celebration.  Besides the fact that this is one of the best bashes of the year that Kim and I are fortunate enough to attend, this was also our first opportunity to see their fabulous new digs on Lake Lansing, in Haslett, Michigan.  The nice weather held all day and evening, but we were just too busy enjoying the festivities to try out the brand new kayaks parked lakeside. (We’ll get to those sometime this summer.)  There was a veritable plethora of appetizers, along with brats (especially made for the party and had Michigan tart and sweet cherries
ground into the mix) and Koegel’s franks (marinated and pre-simmered in a Coffaro/Ravenswood reduction) on the grill, which we sampled with relish (and mustard) while enjoying the company of friends such as Gary and Georgine Kahle, Terry and Linda Hagan, Ed Groves and Heidi Grether, Dennis Strzalkowski, Mark & Teresa Overberg (the Bored Doughnuts) and many others.

And of course, there were the wines.  This was only the second time Kim and I have taken part in this event, but this year’s lineup may have even exceeded last year’s.  As usual, we didn’t get to try them all, but I made sure that we got at least a splash of all the biggies while we were there.  Here are my impressions of what we tasted

 Rory Seppanen holds the container of corks used in the Guess the Number of Corks contest.  The winner got to take home a bottle of 1996 A. Rafanelli zin