Chicago Cabernet dinner

Big food with big wines.

Brian Doolin
Chris Freemott
Chris Hughes
Ken Kailin
Mike Pecken
Ron Rozhon
Glen Doering (your humble host)

This was the second meeting of our group. I feel we are pursuing an education in the hedonistic ways of the wine world. I’ll grant you, we may be less educated on this topic than other Chicago area residents. Therefore, the only way to advance our education is to set up study and research meetings such as these, and do it up right!

I am fortunate to have Ron Rozhon as a good friend, plus he is a great chef/caterer. In order to maximize our research, I asked for his “help” with this dinner and he quickly took over and planned out the entire meal and all the various courses. He and I discussed the flavor profile of the wine theme for the evening, and he researched and planned a great meal for us. He put forth great efforts to choose meats and create sauces that would echo the Australian Cabernets of the evening.

After devouring pistachio crusted rack of lamb, sautéed duck breast with roasted figs and blackberry gastrique, beef filet with gratinized shitake mushrooms over cabernet sauce, red wine sorbet with black pepper tuiles, and bittersweet chocolate cake, I believe we have experienced a post-graduate level educational experience.

Served with gougers (a plain, savory puff pastry)

• 1993 Seppelt Shiraz Harpers Range 92 Points

  Australia, South Eastern

  My first sparkling shiraz, and I found it to be just delightful. Nice intense purple flavors and a little spice carried on a crisp, refreshing, sparkling chassis. The cork did not want to budge. It was humorous to watch everyone try to get it out until the top broke off. One brave guest was willing to go after it with a corkscrew while the rest of us ran for cover.

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Pistachio crusted rack of lamb with potato and caramelized pear puree.

• 1987 Penfolds Cabernet Sauvignon Bin 707 92 Points

  Australia, South Australia

  Who says Australian cabs don't age? This was drinking beautifully. Pure fruit and elegance. Mature red fruits accompanied by some leather and earth.

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• 1993 Penfolds Cabernet Sauvignon Bin 707 90 Points

  Australia, South Australia

  The fruit was there, but light and subdued. A pleasant experience. Not a great showing for this wine based on the ratings I've seen. Maybe it had too much air by the time we got around to it, or some sneaky cork taint had interfered with our fun. Chris said he bought 2 of these. I can only assume he saved the good one for himself.

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• 1995 Greenock Creek Cabernet Sauvignon 94 Points

  Australia, South Australia, Barossa, Barossa Valley

  Great bottle. Full fruit and nicely integrated tannins. The palate was ripe and complex with dark red and purple flavors. The finish went beyond 30 seconds, layering in different nuances of fruit and spice. WOTF.

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• 1998 Greenock Creek Cabernet Sauvignon 93 Points

  Australia, South Australia, Barossa, Barossa Valley

  This has all the components to improve, but it sill needs time to integrate and resolve the drying tannins. Very nice fruit and spice with a 40+ second finish.

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• 1998 Wolf Blass Black Label Jimmy Watson Memorial Trophy 92 Points

  Australia, South Australia

  Another great 98 that needs some more time. Dark fruits, plums and black cherry. Very enjoyable, but the tannins are getting in the way. I'd give it another year or two.

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Duck Two ways:

Duck cassoulet with canneloni and fava beans
Saute of duck breast with bacon braised napa cabbage, roasted figs and blackberry gastrique

• 1999 Noon Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve 85 Points

  Australia, South Australia, Fleurieu, Langhorne Creek

  Upon opening, it had dark fruit flavors, but the finish was bitter and had a metallic tone to it. I would have scored it at about 80 points at that time. There was also an experience of alcohol/nail polish on the nose. It was questionable enough that I opened another one for comparison. This bottle drank better as the night went on, and was much better by the time I was doing dishes. The alcohol eventually subsided and it improved to an 85 pointer. I bought it at auction. I believe that this bottle was mistreated somewhere in its life.

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• 1999 Noon Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve 88 Points

  Australia, South Australia, Fleurieu, Langhorne Creek

  This was the second bottle of this wine that I opened that evening. It had better fruit that the first bottle, but not drastically better. The finish lacked the bitterness in the first bottle. Some people at the table called these 99's undrinkable. Others felt they were not outright flawed/corked, just not as good as they should have been. Like the other bottle, this improved with some time. This score reflects the drinking experience by the end of the night. Both of these bottles were purchased at auction from the same individual. Most likely, they were mistreated in a similar way, but the other bottle didn't hold up under the punishment as well as this one. It could just be that the corks were inferior. Very dissapointing, either way.

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• 2000 Noon Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve 92 Points

  Australia, South Australia, Fleurieu, Langhorne Creek

  Much more enjoyable than the 99 Noon cabs we drank in the same flight. Nice cab flavors, but no big punch of in your face fruit. Purchased from the same auciton source as the 99's. A bit of a let down here, as well. Hmmm.

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• 2002 Noon Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve 94 Points

  Australia, South Australia, Fleurieu, Langhorne Creek

  Deep blueberries, blackberries and plums. Concentrated and expansive. Very nice. Head and shoulders above the other Noons in the flight. This will probably benefit with some more time in the bottle. Here was one wine that never made it to the dump bucket. 2nd place in voting for Wine of the night.

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• 2001 Shirvington Cabernet Sauvignon 95 Points

  Australia, South Australia, Fleurieu, McLaren Vale

  Wonderful. Purity and richness. Fruit and structure all integrated into one seamless package. Layers of flavor. Great cassis and plum with a little vanilla on the long finish. No heat that I noticed. The label says 14% alcohol, but you wouldn't know it. I can't imagine this will get any better, but it doesn't give any signs of giving up any of its fruit anytime soon, either. WOTN.

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Beef filet with a grantinated shitake mushroom glaze, roasted tomatoes, roasted garlic and cabernet sauce

• 2001 Henry's Drive Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve 93 Points

  Australia, South Australia, Limestone Coast, Padthaway

  Drinking very well right now, but it has the stuff to get better. Aromas of plum, blueberry and game. Great depth and balance for a such a big wine. No heat, just deep, wide, mouthfilling fruit. The tannins are nicely integrated, but providing structure and extending the finish. WOTF.

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• 2002 Henry's Drive Cabernet Sauvignon 90 Points

  Australia, South Australia, Limestone Coast, Padthaway

  Didn't show as well for me as it has in the past. Typical cab fruit, but more herbs, smoke and dill than I like. Of course, it was totally outclassed by the other wines in the flight and the big hitters from the flight before.

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• 2001 Marquis Philips Cabernet Sauvignon S2 91 Points

  Australia, South Australia, Fleurieu, McLaren Vale

  Dry tannin getting in the way of the plums and cassis. Nice finish. It is beginning to develop some of evolved flavors, but it needs a little more time to resolve the oak. Other Marquis-made 01's have been drinking great recently, but this may need another year to come together.

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• 2002 Marquis Philips Cabernet Sauvignon S2 92 Points

  Australia, South Australia, Fleurieu, McLaren Vale

  Power, fruit and oak. Full, palate covering flavors of plums and blueberries. Drying tannin on the finish. This will be better in a year. It is showing the same tannin and more fruit than the 01 we drank in the same flight.

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Marquis Philips reduction sorbet with black pepper tuiles
Bittersweet chocolate cake

• 1977 Fonseca Porto Vintage 92 Points

  Portugal, Douro, Porto

  The cork came out in one piece, but was stained from top to bottom. Is this unusual for a 28 year old? Probably not. The color had some brick in it, but still a healthy strawberry red. It had a balance and breadth of flavors I haven't experienced before in a fortified. Elegance instead of power. Lengthy finish.

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This is a great group of people. After all, it's good people that make these evenings so enjoyable. The grape juice doesn’t hurt, either. Contributions by everyone were very generous, and it created a very comprehensive wine list for the evening. I am convinced they can make a great cab down under. Even some that age…

I just have to say, I was just blown away by the food. One guest can still smell the duck…mmmm. I've enjoyed Ron's food many times at his house, but his research and attention to detail in matching food and wine for this event went far beyond my already high expectations. I feel fortunate that my wife and his wife were friends in high school. No credit to me, but the bar is now set pretty high. The comment was made more than a few times that the next guy to host (Brian?) is really in trouble.

Some details about the voting/scoring: After everyone had a chance to enjoy all of the wines in a flight, every wine in the flight was ranked 1st, 2nd, 3rd, etc by each person. First received a score of 1, second = 2, and so on. I then added up all of the scores for each wine. Lower scores are better. At the end of the evening, we each voted for a favorite flight and a WOTN.

I know some people care about these things, so here are the score totals for each wine, by flight:

Flight 1
1987 Penfolds 707 ...................19=4+3+1+2+5+1+3
1993 Penfolds 707 ...................32=5+5+5+5+4+3+5
1995 Greenock Creek ..............11=1+1+3+1+2+2+1 WOTF
1998 Greenock Creek ..............21=3+2+4+4+1+5+2
1998 Wolf Blass Black Label ......22=2+4+2+3+3+4+4

Flight 2
1999 Noon Reserve 1st bottle ...32=4+5+4+4+5+5+5
1999 Noon Reserve 2nd bottle ..30=5+3+5+5+4+4+4
2000 Noon Reserve .................21=2+4+3+3+3+3+3
2002 Noon Reserve .................11=1+2+2+1+2+1+2
2001 Shirvington .....................11=3+1+1+2+1+2+1 WOTF, WOTN

Flight 3
2001 Henry’s Drive Reserve .....12=2+1+3+2+1+2+1 WOTF
2002 Henry’s Drive ..................28=4+4+4+4+4+4+4
2001 Marquis Philips S2 ............14=1+3+2+1+3+1+3
2002 Marquis Philips S2 ............16=3+2+1+3+2+3+2

Favorite Flight:
Flight 2 = 5 votes
Flight 3 = 2 votes

WOTN:
2001 Shirvington = 3 votes
2002 Noon Reserve = 2 votes
2001 Henry’s Drive Reserve = 1 vote
1995 Greenock Creek = 1 vote