TN: Henriques & Henriques Inauguration Wine

[Andy Dremeaux]

This is a wine of unknown origin, produced during the 1950s, either verdelho or bual according to the label (tastes like verdelho to me). ~150 bottled in 2006, and the remaining 150 bottled in April 2008, which is the bottling I am drinking. The bottle has been open for a month.

Despite Rare Wine Co's description of this bottle in their newsletter—"A freight train of acidity"—I am finding this wine quite mellow and restrained, though certainly not dull. The nose smacks of marzipan, with reinforcing brandy, vanilla, and lemon. Full bodied with a rich acidity and notes of succulent strawberries, maple syrup, and lemon curd. Excellent balance and good complexity. The acidity is long in the finish, leaving a pleasantly prickly bite coating the mouth and complex sugars on the tongue. The more I drink of this, the more I like it—simply a joy to imbibe. And for its age and price ($195 @ RWC), it's a great value. 93 pts.

[Gary Banker]

I've had 3 bottles of this wine. The first was from the 2006 bottling. It was the only bad bottle of madeira that I've experienced: nearly undrinkable over a week of testing. Very acidic, alcoholic, no fragrance the first two days. Decanted on the third day. Improved slightly on the fourth day. After the fourth day, flavor diminished and alcohol predominated. This was never good. RWC replaced the bottle with a bottle from the 2008 batch. The replacement was a little coarse and initially not well integrated. The third bottle was excellent.

[Andy Dremeaux]

I've had 3 bottles of this wine. The first was from the 2006 bottling. It was the only bad bottle of madeira that I've experienced: nearly undrinkable over a week of testing. Very acidic, alcoholic, no fragrance the first two days. Decanted on the third day. Improved slightly on the fourth day. After the fourth day, flavor diminished and alcohol predominated. This was never good. RWC replaced the bottle with a bottle from the 2008 batch. The replacement was a little coarse and initially not well integrated. The third bottle was excellent.

Glad I got a good bottle! I will say that the wine was not very appealing within the first couple days of opening, it really only opened up with a couple weeks uncorked.

Oh, and on that note, the cork crumbled pretty bad when I opened this bottle, which is unusual for a bottle only two years old.

[Gary Banker]

All three of the bottles that I had were clean with no seepage or other blemishes. The corks were good. I liked the last bottle, but the first two spooked me. I wouldn't buy any more unless there was a big discount. I haven't experienced that with any other H&H wines. I really liked the RWC Imperial Malmsey that H&H produced and their 10 and 15 year wines are very good. The worst thing about them is that they are difficult to find unless I were to order off the internet.

[Justin A]

Opened a bottle of the original (I think 2006) bottling of this the other week. I can certainly see the "freight train of acidity" RWC described in this wine. The 2006 bottling seems to me to be less refined than the 2008 bottling for some reason, as I have enjoyed many bottles of the 2008. The 2006 is huge, raw, acidic, and unctuous. The 2008 is all of those things, but a little more balanced in my opinion. Last night I began to get the feeling that this wine may be mostly (if not all) Tinta Negra Mole.

[Barry Sunderland]

Loved its acidity!

[Daniel Fraley]

I opened a 2008 bottling early last week... my impressions thus far? Yozzers Very concentrated, viscous, dark like a kahlua liqueur. The taste was unlike any madeira I've tried to date, full of personality though! The first taste that came to mind was stewed apples? More sweet on the front but the acid comes through at the end, 60/40. If I could draw a close parallel, I'd say the Barbeito 40 year. I'm looking forward to nipping on it for a long while...