TN: 1795 Barbeito Terrantez Vintage Madeira

[SEAN C.]

The 1795 Barbeito Terrantez lived up to the excitement of opening an 18th century bottle. Immediately after uncorking the scents of burnt sugar, vanilla, caramel flan, and maple permeated the room. The color in the glass was dark amber ruby and brown, very youthful looking for it's age. On the initial tasting this wonderful old Madeira had citrus flavors of burnt orange, grapefruit, and lemon peel. Tasted a second time two weeks later it had a much more nutty flavor but still a tart and extremely dry finish lasting for over 50 seconds.
A "show stopper" with no flaws at all for it's age.

Sean C. 97/100
Moses B. 97/100

[Alan Gardner]

Aah! The source of my all-time favorite wine TRUE story.
Back in December 1995, we were fortunate enough to try two different 1795's at a special dinner. Both were excellent but one was certainly a big step above the other (it doesn't matter which one for the story).
The following Wednesday I was at another function where two bottles of the Barbeito 1795 were featured (which had been lovingly carried back from Madeira) - these were some of the 12 per year that Barbeito used to release from their diminishing stock). I (and a friend) passed on these, to allow others to try them (having already had the two 1795's 3 days earlier). But one of the celebrants rushed up and offered to let my friend taste a sip of this portion.
"What do you think of this?" he asked excitedly.
The response, after a pause to reflect, came honestly (and accurately)
"Well, it's not the best 1795 I've had this week, but certainly not the worst either!".

[Peter Reutter]

Great story, and a great wine too...

Peter

[Roy Hersh]

I had only had it once and a disappointing showing while drinking with a friend of mine in 1998. It was amongst an insane lineup of old Madeira and some of the greatest Vintage Ports ever made, with Michael Broadbent as our MC that night. So although having heard great stories for a long time, I had not experienced anything special. Just the opposite in fact.

In December, a friend shared some of his bottle with me and finally I can now say, I know what all the buzz is about. I still prefer the 1802 Acciaioly Terrantez, but the 1795 will never be forgotten!

[Peter Reutter]

I guess part of the fame comes from the 17 instead of other (and better) wines just featuring a vintage date that starts with 18...
I agree that the wine is very good, but can not quite match some other excellent wines from 18xx. Still would like to compare it with that Oscar 1802 T and the Blandy 1846 T, I keep hoping for such a titanic Terrantez tasting to happen to me - hmmm, "TTT" sounds good

[Roy Hersh]

Do you have any more of the 1846? If so, I might be able to arrange that tasting when you come to the USA Peter!

I have little doubt that the 1795 will not stand up to either of the other aforementioned great Terrantez. Have you had the 1950 Faja dos Padres Terrantez?

Roy

[Alan Gardner]

For me, the 1802 was the disappointment. My only tasting was well below any of the 1795 notes I have. But the 1832 Acciaioly was much better (for me). And of course, all are handily trumped by the '1899 Terrantez' (which I've commented on elsewhere as being possibly an earlier vintage topped up with Bual).
But the 'best of all' has to be the elusive Henriques & Henriques 'Founders Terrantez' (the wine was contibuted by the founding partners and is of unknown vintage, but is speculated to be 1825 or 1827). I believe a few bottles were released for sale about 10 years ago.
If the TTT tasting does occur, I might be able to spring several of the aforementioned bottlings!

[Marco D.]

The 1795 Barbeito Terrantez lived up to the excitement of opening an 18th century bottle. Immediately after uncorking the scents of burnt sugar, vanilla, caramel flan, and maple permeated the room. The color in the glass was dark amber ruby and brown, very youthful looking for it's age. On the initial tasting this wonderful old Madeira had citrus flavors of burnt orange, grapefruit, and lemon peel. Tasted a second time two weeks later it had a much more nutty flavor but still a tart and extremely dry finish lasting for over 50 seconds.
A "show stopper" with no flaws at all for it's age.

Sean C. 97/100
Moses B. 97/100

Sounds like an amazing experience, thanks for sharing. I take it, from your description that the wine more on the dry side?

[SEAN C.]

The 1795 Barbeito Terrantez lived up to the excitement of opening an 18th century bottle. Immediately after uncorking the scents of burnt sugar, vanilla, caramel flan, and maple permeated the room. The color in the glass was dark amber ruby and brown, very youthful looking for it's age. On the initial tasting this wonderful old Madeira had citrus flavors of burnt orange, grapefruit, and lemon peel. Tasted a second time two weeks later it had a much more nutty flavor but still a tart and extremely dry finish lasting for over 50 seconds.
A "show stopper" with no flaws at all for it's age.

Sean C. 97/100
Moses B. 97/100

Sounds like an amazing experience, thanks for sharing. I take it, from your description that the wine more on the dry side?

Yeah definitely dry...I assume it's a characteristic of the Terrantez..but I'm by no means an expert here.

You should come out for some Port Marco..or Madeira
I'm usually up to something vino related every weekend!

[Moses Botbol]

Sounds like an amazing experience, thanks for sharing. I take it, from your description that the wine more on the dry side?

Very dry finish yet has initial sugar upfront. Very extreme on both ends. After a couple of weeks open, both sides had mellowed. The scent out of the bottle was so strong that when first opened, this Madeira ruined our palettes for the other fabulous wines that night. Every wine smelled like toffee and sugar! Very long finish; a real treat of a Madeira.

Not sure if this Madeira is one that everyone would like, but if you like Madeira, you’d love this one.