DUO, Miami Medoc BYO Wine Dinner

Maria Frumkin's outstanding menu: Wild Mushroom Soup(garnished w morels and duck crisp); Escalope de Morue-Rotie(cod)creme de Chorizo w garlic mashed potato, onion sauce, and fried leeks; DUo of Duck (confit and rillettes); Seven Hour Lamb (en confit w garkic and white beans); Dessert- Canneles, macaroons, and pears marinated in Bordeaux.Delicious, Superb1

Attendees: Abe Horowitz and Maddy; Brad Love; Cesar Basurto; Charlie Frumkin(DUO); David & Roberta Ehrenreich; Ed & Elaine Davis; Sergio & Maria Gonzalez-Arias; and Mark & Ellen Friedman.

• 1989 Château Cos d'Estournel 92 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Médoc, St. Estèphe

  One of David and Roberta's contributions. Wine #1 of Flight 1. WOTF, group rated it second or third best of the night. David Double decanted at 5pm.Excellent aromatics, classic cassis flavour and extended finish. Cigar box cedar absent.

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• 1989 Château Ducru-Beaucaillou 90 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Médoc, St. Julien

  Flight 1 #2. David & Roberta Ehrenreich's contribution. Double decanted at 5pm. Like my experience w 95 Ducru, still excessively tannic. Was outclassed by their 89 Cos d'Estornel at this time.

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• 1999 Château La Fleur de Boüard 89 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Libournais, Lalande de Pomerol

  Flight 1 #3. Cesar Basurto's contribution. Lalande de Pomerol merlot dominant, out of Medoc category. Clearly not Medoc, but is drinking very well. I gave mine to customers as Xmas gift. I'm sure they enjoed it. Seems new world merlot in style, soft and opulent. At its peak now.

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• 1986 Château Sociando-Mallet 89 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Haut-Médoc

  Flight 2 #1. Ed & Elaine Davis' contribution. Bottle 1 was double decanted shortly before serving. I commented that I couldn't differentiate between #1 and #2.
  Sure enough, Charlie and Ed were up to their old tricks. Bottle # 2 was the same wine decanted for 7 hours. Clearly bottle #1 was tighter than #2, but not significantly so.It drinks well, but I preffered all of the wines in flight 1, to the Sociando-Mallet's.
  I felt pretty cocky, as I was the only one who didn't know, to think they could be the same wine.

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• 1986 Château Sociando-Mallet

  France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Haut-Médoc

  Flight 2 #2. Same as #1, but decanted for 7 hours. See other note.

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• 1999 Rustenberg Cabernet Sauvignon Peter Barlow 93 Points

  South Africa, Coastal Region, Stellenbosch

  My Ringer. Flight 3 #1. I feel this wine is a more classic representation of what a good Medoc wine should be like, and often isn't. I forgort that it is 100% Cab S.
  Rescued from storage in am, and doulble decanted an hour before dinner. Wonderful aromatics, great Bordeaux flavor profile of cassis, cedar, with an extended finish. A great Ambassador for South Africa. My #2 of the night, I'll concede to the 86 Pichon Lalande, but I preferred it to my 95 Lalande, and the 89 Cos d'Estournel.The group also ranked it #2, 3 or 4 for the evening.

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• 1995 Pauillac de Rauzan-Ségla 85 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Pauillac

  My wine. Flight 3 #2. Rescued from storage in am, double decanted an hour before dinner. Better than the last time, I had it, but still YECH! My least favourite wine of the night. Not at all what I remember classic Margaux to be.

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• 1999 Château Cos d'Estournel 88 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Médoc, St. Estèphe

  Flight 4, #1. Brad Love's contribution. Decent on its own, but not equal to its 89 sibling, and suffered by comparison to the Pichon Lalande's. Muted nose, good middle short finish.

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• 1995 Château Pichon Longueville Comtesse de Lalande 92 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Pauillac

  Flight 4 #2. My Pichon. I would rank it = to the 89 Cos d'Estournel, and outclassed in aromatics and finish by its 86 sibling.Still one of the four best wines of the evening.More than fulfilled my expectations. A maturing Pauillac, that will only get better. I'll save my last bottle(s) for at least five years. When we had to empty our glasses for the next flight I blended the remaing 86 with the 95, and it drank beautifully.

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• 1986 Château Pichon Longueville Comtesse de Lalande 94 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Pauillac

  Flight 4 #3. Sergio and Maria Gonzalez-Arias' contribution. WOTN, by virtually unanimous acclaim. An excellent mature Pauiillac that is at its absolute peak now. Outshone it's 95 sibling, which may compete with it in time. Superior aromatics, mouthfeel, and persistent lingering finish.

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• 2000 Château Beychevelle 89 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Médoc, St. Julien

  Flight 5 #1. Abe Horowitz's contribution. Forward approachable Medoc, accessible now reflecting the California like 2000 vintage. However Ellen and I much preferred Abe's 2000 Cali ringer, Dominus wine # 2 in flight, and corroborates my skepticism of modern Bordeaux. A good wine, but nothing to write home about.

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• 2000 Dominus Estate 91 Points

  USA, California, Napa Valley

  Ringer #3. Flight 5 #2. Abe horowitz's ringer. Abe thought the lean 2000 Cali vintage would compare favoroubly to the Medoc wines. Ellen and I agree. To us it was clearly preferable to its French counterparts. It drinks much better than its press, and compares favorably to more heralded vintages of Dominus.Ripe rich opulent wine.

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• 2003 Château Chasse-Spleen 89 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Moulis en Médoc

  Flight 5 #3. Charlie Frumkin's wine. Clearly younger fruitier than its 2000 flight mates. Not surprisingly for the excessive heat of the vintage, a very drinkable wine now. Quite good, but I would still choose the Dominus over it. By process of elimination we knew what wines were in flight 3, and I correctly identified them as 2000 Beychevelle, 2000 Dominus, and 2003 Chasse Spleen.

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A good dinner as always, but my least favorite of the BYO wine dinners to date. I am critical of Bordeaux. I am 66 years old. When, I started buying wine 45 years ago, the choices were top flight Bordeaux and Burgundy and any one of the nascent 29 Napa producers. Today there is a world of great wine available, at much more reasonable prices than top flight Bordeaux, which perversely you need cellar for 10+ years, before it is even approachable! Parker,who is approximately 60, isn't laying down the outstanding 2005's which won't be reaching maturity for 25 years. I stopped buying Brodeaux with the 2000 futures, of which I bought approximately 10 cases at attractive prices, but no first growths. I have 1 bottle each remaining of 82 Latour and Mouton. The 82 Latour has the most unattractive pronounced barnyard brett profile. The 82 Mouton is monolithic and hopefully my 5 year old grandson will enjoy it, or profit from it. I am not a Francophobe, I love Chateauneuf du Pape, selected Burgundies and Chablis, and the cult wines of Languedoc Rousillon and the Loire.