Mount Pleasant Winery

It is believed that the grape species Vitis vinifera originated in the balmy Middle East and then spread throughout southern Europe and on to California. This species includes the great grapes of Europe, and the Midwest is sometimes “pooh-pooh”ed because we have very limited acreage devoted to Vitis vinifera. These vines are rare in the Midwest because they often die if the temperature drops below 0°F (which it does), and they are very susceptible to disease. There is vinifera to be found in Augusta, Missouri, however.

It’s good, too.

The Cabernet Sauvignon at Mount Pleasant Winery (from their estate vineyard, mind you) is aged in French oak and is bone dry. The ruby color sparkles, and the full body shows much ageing potential. Outside of California, the American palate might now be corrupted to what the Cabernet Sauvignon grape actually tastes like because of imports with an overwhelming cork taste or a hot alcohol sensation. The fresh berry (close to cherry with a nice mineral taste) comes to the fore nicely in the Mount Pleasant Cab Sav, and the mouth is enlivened rather than deadened.

The soil and climate in Augusta, Missouri, are, no doubt, quite different from that in Assyria or Médoc (Bordeaux), but the care in the vineyard and in the winemaking shown at Mount Pleasant Winery allows us Midwesterners to say, “Pooh-pooh to you, too.”

Reviewed November 12, 2005 by Tim Pingelton.