Private Collection: Madeira and Port, 1830 - 1997
10/22/24 -
The former owner of these wines had wide-ranging interests and tastes, and didn’t care a fig for trophies. It’s typical that he would have assembled an astute and focused selection of some of the best Madeira. We shared a taste for Madeira – by a long shot my favorite fortified wine, and “certainly the world’s most resilient and longest living wine”.** Madeira is, in fact, indestructible – open bottles will remain virtually unchanged for months or even years, a great advantage if you want to share your 1839 over more than one occasion. Most very ancient wine is interesting at best, but ancient Madeira is still very much as it was many decades ago: extraordinarily complex, with bracing acidity, even in the sweetest wines. Last year I was treated to a glass of Madeira Boal 1864; the wine was delicious, and it was moving to reflect on what was happening here in the year it was made. Jamie Wolff
** From The Oxford Companion to Wine, Jancis Robinson, et al
Brief notes about Madeira grapes:
The traditional grapes of Madeira suffered terribly from phylloxera; Terrantez and Bastardo were almost completely wiped out and remain very rare; old vintages of these are considered some of the greatest wines of Madeira..
Sercial makes the driest Madeira; with age the wines mellow and balance, with distinct nutty aromas;
Verdelho tends to be medium-dry, but shows dry on the palate;
Bual ripens to higher sugar levals than Sercial and Verdelho; Bual is full-bodied and very aromatic, rich and fruity; retains high acidity to balance rich wines;
Malmsey (also labeled as Malvasia or Malvazia) produces the sweetest Madeira, gaining richness and complexity with time in cask, while becoming drier and more elegant.
