advice seeked on Belem's

[Alex Lattes]

Hello to all,

I was having a look at some Madeira wines (I'm quite new to them), and searched the impressive Madeira Wine Guide, in the "Prudcers, Shippers and co" section for...
Belem's Madeira Wine... and didnt find it! additional research led me to see that is was/is a brand in the group Henriques & Henriques, but was originally founded in 1932.

My question is : does someone know anything about it? and would some Madeira made by this small house at the time of the foundation have any chance to be good? I am toying with the idea to buy some 1934 for a small price...

Regards

Alex

[Alan Gardner]

I can't help you with the older ones, but, currently, it's indeed just a brand name. Contents would be identical to an H&H bottling of the same named wine/varietal.
In Canada they seem to market Belem primarily to restaurants, whereas H&H is marketed at retail.

[Alex Lattes]

Thank you, Alan, for your reply.
The two bottles of 1934 Verdelho Belem's went for 180 € (plus taxes and commissions) today at au auction in Paris. I couldnt decide to pull the trigger, as I still had a doubt, because it is clearly the second or third vintage that little known house was making, so I dont know if the quality was there. The price seemed very decent, even with the about 24% comm+tax. Well... next time... in a way, good to see that Madeira wines are not too fashionable in France.
Alex

[Roy Hersh]

That's odd. I know Belem and own some ... that is from the ancestor of MATA, a Malaga Sherry producer whose former company (MATA) is now defunct. But Belem is a delicious dessert wine from Spain. I wonder how they can have the same label?