Leacock Madeira Verdejo -TN's anyone?

Paul David · Post by **Paul David** » Thu Dec 15, 2005 9:08 am

I have been offered to purchase a Leacock Madeira Verdejo 1952 from a private collection. It may be called Jubilee but I haven't seen the bottle. I checked the archives for TN's. I couldn't find any TN's for this vintage though it seems that Leacock are a decent merchant. Has anyone had a chance to try this one? There seems to be small amounts of this Madeira floating around in the market place so I'm hoping that someone may have more info such as bottleling date, and maybe even TN's. I have had limited experiance with Verdejo, a couple of tastings from bottles from the late 1800's which I didn't find too dry for after dinner sipping (my uswall choice is Bual). In General are younger verdejo's from the 50's drier than the older ones? Cheers PMD

Post by **Roy Hersh** » Wed Dec 21, 2005 9:38 pm

Paul,

I appologize for taking so long to get back on line here. I am away from home and my tasting notes from my recent trip to Madeira. I was at the Lodge where I tasted some Leacock's at the MWC, so when I return ... I'll see if the 1952 was amongst them. I am positive I had a Leacock's Madeira from the 1950s but can't remember which particular bottling (I had a few hundred Ports and many Madeiras within a two week time frame in Portugal and the UK.

Anyway, I don't believe that 50 year old Verdelhos would show any drier than those from the 19th century, based on age alone.

More to follow when I return home after Christmas.

Paul David · Post by **Paul David** » Thu Dec 22, 2005 1:08 am

Roy Hersh wrote:Paul,

(I had a few hundred Ports and many Madeiras within a two week time frame in Portugal and the UK.

.

Wow that's impressive !

look forward to hearing from you upon your return. Travel Safe. PMD

Post by **Roy Hersh** » Thu Dec 22, 2005 11:10 am

I am already back. The trip was from Oct. 22nd through Nov. 7th. Now I am involved in the arduous task of typing all the TNs and the accompanying article(s).

Post by **Roy Hersh** » Wed Dec 28, 2005 2:08 pm

Well so much for my memory.

Thanks for the reminder on the Madeira. I have checked and the Leacock's I had in Madeira was a 1963 Sercial bottled in 1994. I gave it 96 points, but don't know that this will help you with your bottle. The Brown Derby International Wine Center is selling the exact same bottle for $250. They may be able to provide you with more information than I can.

You can reach them at: 417-883-4066 14125

Paul Day · Post by **Paul Day** » Wed Dec 28, 2005 4:15 pm

As I understand it, Leacock's is one of four brands currently actively commercialised by the Madeira Wine Company. The others are Cossart Gordon, Blandy's and Miles. Of these four names, Miles is not currently being promoted as a label for vintage wines.

Wrt, non-vintage stuff, the base wine used for the 5yo's, 10yo's and so on, is essentially the same irrespective of final labelling. The sweetness is adjusted so that the Blandy's range comes out the sweetness, Cossart the driest and Leacock and Miles are in between. I'm not sure of the exact method to adjust sweetness but I think concentrated must is used and there may be a little cross-blending.

Wrt current releases of vintage wine, vintage wines from MWC are bottled with whatever name is convenient at the time. For example, MWC Terrantez was bottled as Cossart in 1974, Blandy in 1975, Blandy in 1976 and then Cossart again in 1977. Moreover, different bottlings of the same wine now tend to be done by changing the name: so the same cask of 1958 Bual was partially bottled as Cossart Gordon Bual 1958 in June 1995, with the remainder bottled as Blandy's Bual 1958 in 2002. (Note this isn't true of historic bottlings and there are many complications and questions about whether one wine is really the same as another. Like Champagne, there isn't a hard and fast rule as to whether an earlier bottling is preferable or not, btw, but there are often clear differences.)

Wrt to Leacock's vintage and solera wines, like all the other labels, there are some superb wines and some that are not so good. Generally though, Leacock's is a good name. Current and recent releases include the very powerful and long 1963 Sercial recommended by Roy, a disappointing 1860 Solera Sercial (go for the older Cossart bottling instead) and a wonderfully balanced 1934 Bual that is perhaps the best older wine the MWC has sold in recent years. Of older bottlings, I opened a bottle of Leacock Malmsey Solera 1808 just before Christmas that is even finer that the Cossart or Blandy's equivalents.

The 1952 Leacock Jubilee Verdelho in question is in my view a touch crude and disappointing. (It has also been sold under the Power Drury label - with Leacock branded corks.) This wine is given ** by Michael Broadbent in GVWB II and **** in VW (under the Power's label). Personally, I would score the wine between * and ** irrespective of the label.

Paul

Paul David · Post by **Paul David** » Wed Dec 28, 2005 8:01 pm

Thanks Paul for your insight. Any idea when this 52 was botled? PMD

Paul Day · Post by **Paul Day** » Thu Dec 29, 2005 2:17 pm

> Any idea when this 52 was botled?

I believe the 1952's marked Jubilee from MWC were bottled in 1977 (coinciding with the Queen's Silver Jubilee, and hence the name). Technically, as Vintage Madeira, such bottlings couldn't be commercialised until a further two years in bottle, but this rule seems to have always been ignored somewhat.

Paul

Post by **Roy Hersh** » Thu Dec 29, 2005 5:35 pm

Paul,

After having to wait 25 years with the wine in wood, it is costly enough and given the cash flow concerns in a niche market to begin with, the extra two years the Shipper's can't wait to get their product to market. It is the Madeira Wine Institute that is responsible for regulating and enforcing these types of rules.