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#298626 - 12-09-2005 14:47:58 Manila Mini Bordeaux Challenge II
Noel Offline
Local

Registered: 01-27-2005 01:56:23
Posts: 1947
Loc: Philippines
Last Tuesday, four couples gathered at the Peninsula Hotel's Old Manila restaurant for the 2nd Invitational Manila Mini Bordeaux Challenge. Up for grabs was Edouard Miailhe's crown which he won last June 4, 2005 with a 1982 Chateau Pichon Longueville Comtesse de Lalande. The challengers were the Doc, the Stockbroker and myself. The rules were brief:

    Only reds from Bordeaux, no price limits, no vintage restrictions;

    All entry wines were to be served blind at the beginning of the dinner;

    No mentioning or sharing of scores allowed until all ballots were submitted;

    All ballots were to be submitted 20 minutes after the last person was served his/her main course; and,

    The winner's and his wife's dinner bill that night would be paid for by the non-winners.


After scallop and turnip starters and soup courses (with a bottle each of 2002 Grgrich Chardonnay and 2000 Domaine Ostertag A360P Pinot Gris), hostilies began over main courses of assorted steaks (rib-eyes and tenderloins, Mrs. Doc's topped with foie gras, the rest not), a salmon dish for Sevrine Miailhe and my usual rare rack of lamb.

The glasses were numbered. My impressions were as follows:

    Wine #1 - Initial dusty, slight leather and earthy notes wrapped in cedar made me initially think it to be a Leoville las Cases. After around 20 minutes, however, it transformed into, easily, the best nose of the night: a fragrant and complex yet youthful and gracefully exhuberant nose of rich cassis, violets, sweetish cedar, merest suggestions of menthol, all underpinned by a hint of vanilla. The palate mirrored the nose - full-bodied yet pliant, supple - power and grace like a young but seasoned Olympic gymnast.

    Wine #2 - Reticent at first, it opened up nicely after around 25 minutes. There was obviously a lot of merlot and an indicative right-bank black coffee underpinning black cherry and ripe plum. Lush and generous yet elegant on the palate, good weight, very smooth texture. Initially, I thought this might be my wine until I tried the next glass.

    Wine #3 - After a couple of deep sniffs and a taste, I was convinced this was my wine (I prudently did not disclose this, however, until the last ballot was submitted for tally). The performance was consistent with my previous post on this wine.

    Wine #4 - For some reason, I initially, and, of course, erroneously, thought this was a young, tightly wound St. Estephe with a ramrod cabernet sauginon backbone and hints of leather. Later on, subtle dry herb notes and smoky plum led me to think, again erroneously, it to be a young Graves, but my suspicions of youth were later belied by the amount of sediment that eventually settled in the glass.

    This wine confused me to no end, hence my difficulty in describing it. I recall thinking it a bit nervous, a bit too restrained and austere, specially amidst such unabashed company.


RESULTS OF VOTES:

1st Place - Wine #3 which was my entry, 1998 Chateau La Couspaude. It garnered 4 votes for first place: Edouard's, the Stockbrocker's, Mrs. Doc's and my wife's.

2nd Place - Wine #1 which was Edouard's entry, a 1986 Chateau Mouton Rothschild, garnering 2 votes for first place: Mine and Sevrine's.

3rd Place - was a tie between Wine #2, a 1998 Chateau Gazin from the Stockbroker (with 1 vote for first place: Mrs. Stockbroker's), and Wine #4, a 1990 Chateau Sociando-Mallet from the Doc (with 1 vote for first place: his own).

I learned later that night from the Doc that he had his entry flown in from the US and it arrived just the day before the challenge. Moreover, the Doc had never even tasted that particular vintage of the wine before, although he does favor the chateau. The Stockbroker, Edouard and I chided him for being foolishly brave in entering an untried wine, and, somewhat reckless in entering the wine when it would surely be suffering from "jetlag".

The night wound down with dessert. I had a creme brulee with the Doc's 1997 Quarts de Chaume (Baumard). Excellent. A double espresso capped the meal.

So ended a most enjoyable evening, specially for me. Food always tastes better when it is free.

*Epilogue*

I woke up the next morning to an SMS message from the Doc on my phone with an ominous warning: "Even now I am plotting how to unseat you."
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#298627 - 12-11-2005 01:00:41 Re: Manila Mini Bordeaux Challenge II
gerrydj Offline
Newbie

Registered: 09-11-2005 13:35:51
Posts: 6
Loc: manila, philippines



actually, my bottle arrived in the afternoon on the same day as the dinner. i barely had enough time to stick it in my wine cooler to get the temp down to around 55-60 degrees in time for dinner.

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#298628 - 12-11-2005 03:26:54 Re: Manila Mini Bordeaux Challenge II-Big upset
John Gonzales Offline
Obsessed

Registered: 01-31-2001 08:00:00
Posts: 2242
Wow. I'm surprised. The La Couspade comes through in a big way. I had the 86 Mouton a few months back and it was a champion. After about an hour in a decanter I thought it was as about as good as wine gets. I would have guessed it to be 10 years old, not pushing 20. Incredible color and depth for a wines so aged.

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#298629 - 12-12-2005 15:53:44 Re: Manila Mini Bordeaux Challenge II
Noel Offline
Local

Registered: 01-27-2005 01:56:23
Posts: 1947
Loc: Philippines
Quote:

actually, my bottle arrived in the afternoon on the same day as the dinner. i barely had enough time to stick it in my wine cooler to get the temp down to around 55-60 degrees in time for dinner.




All I can say is that it was very brave of you to enter that wine, jet-lagged as it was, in the last challenge.

In any event, I am certain the next challenge will be even more "heated", as it were. The Stockbroker and Edouard, I am sure, will give no quarter.

It is a good thing the next challenge will be a few months from now as I am just getting used to the weight of my new crown.

And I have no intention of giving it up.
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#298630 - 12-12-2005 16:00:46 Re: Manila Mini Bordeaux Challenge II-Big upset
Noel Offline
Local

Registered: 01-27-2005 01:56:23
Posts: 1947
Loc: Philippines
Quote:

Wow. I'm surprised. The La Couspade comes through in a big way. I had the 86 Mouton a few months back and it was a champion. After about an hour in a decanter I thought it was as about as good as wine gets. I would have guessed it to be 10 years old, not pushing 20. Incredible color and depth for a wines so aged.




Yes, the '86 Mouton Rothschild is, undoubtedly, a superb wine. I will be the first to admit that, pound for pound, it was a major upset. Strategy in garnering votes and a bit of luck (I had originally intended to enter a certain Leoville las Cases but discovered on the day of the challenge that I was all out of that vintage) played a great part.
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