Your Top Madeiras Tasted in 2009

[Roy Hersh]

Whether one or a Top 10 List ... please do share which have blown you away since the beginning of this year. Do you have some favorites you've enjoyed this year for the 1st time?

[Marco D.]

Lots of great Madeiras tasted this year, mostly due to the great Leacock Family Wines Tasting put on by the Rare Wine Co. Two wines stand out for me this year:

1868 Lomelino Madeira Very Old Boal E.B.H.
1845 Lomelino Madeira Quinta da Paz

[Michael Whitehead]

N.V. Manuel Eugenio Fernandes Madeira Verdelho "More than 40 Years"
1922 D'Oliveiras Madeira Boal

[Roy Hersh]

Thanks Marco and Michael.

I must say I am rather shocked by the lack of participation in this thread and putting up at least a couple of your top wines from this year ... unless you're saving the best for last on New Year's eve. A bit disappointing so far.

[Glenn E.]

I'm not really a fan of Madeira, but my favorite in 2009 was the 1905 D'Oliveiras Verdelho at the Gala in January, followed by the 1952 Leacock's Verdelho at the same event.

[Eric Ifune]

I don't have my notes with me so it's difficult for me to list my favorite wines. Some would be at The Rare Wine Co's Leacock tasting, some on the Island itself. But I'd be missing some because of the lack of notes. Sorry!

[Steve Pollack]

The three top Madeiras for me were all tasted at the Rare Wine Co. Leacock event in San Francisco. Wow, what a day!

1881 Leacock Terrantez
1845 Lomelino Quinta da Paz
1868 EBH Very Old Boal

[Peter Reutter]

Sorry for being late...

Top "old" wine in 2009 for me was a 1839 Terrantez, unfortunately the producer remains a mystery to me...

Top "young" wine in 2009 for me was the 1976 Blandy Terrantez.

Other top wines were:
1827 Quinta do Serrado Boal
1900 Manoel de Sousa Boal
1903 D'Oliveira Boal
It might be a little early for new year resolutions, but one of my resolutions is: to drink more Madeira wine! Cheers!
I wish you all a happy new year in 2010!
Peter

[Roy Hersh]

Great list Peter and thanks. I think we ALL need to drink more Madeira in 2010!

Or pretend we are the Duke of Clarence and

[Scott R.]

I'm new here ( http://www.fortheloveofport.com/ftlopfo ... 320#p53298 ) and had all of 7 or 8 Madeiras last year but my favorites were as follows:

- 1882 Welsh Bros. Verdelho
- 1996 Broadbent Colheita (the wine that turned me onto Madeira)

I know that I'll have a fuller list for 2010.

[Inge Carlén]

My favorite from 2009 would have to be the Barbeito 1948 malvasia and D'Oliveiras 1988 Terrantez Colheita. The latter is quite excellent and has an OK price point (around $ 90 here in Norway - and remember that is after adding 25% VAT and several alcohol taxes ). I have one questions though, for those of you in the know - if the regulations for Frasqueira/Vintage Madeira require at least 20 years in cask, why is this a Colheita madeira (it was bottled in 2009)?

[Scott R.]

Inge,

Excellent question. Upon initially hearing this, it seemed rather curious. I'm sure Roy or someone else can clarify, but I imagine that just because a Madeira qualifies for Frasqueira/Vintage doesn't mean a producer has to call so. My guess is D'Oliveira has this Terrantez in barrel and had been bottling it as Colheita (which is what they had to do until it reached 20 years in barrel). As of 2009, they could've labeled it as Frasqueira/Vintage, but they didn't because it would be disingenuous as the wine was never envisioned/planned/destined to be Frasqueira/Vintage. This is, of course, all speculation on my part.

Anyone else have thoughts?

[Reidar Andersen]

As far as I know, refer to Alex Liddells book, vintage is 20 years in cask and 2 years in bottle... Unofficially he says
that the two years in bottle stipulation has been dropped. ??

Maybe D'oliveiras follows the book and sell this as Colheita first, and this year the vintage comes ??.. They can do as MWC always do, clean off the white paint and repaint ??

Note that is limited supply in Norway ("partivare" ). The website tells exactly how many bottles. I mentioned this before in this forum:

http://www.fortheloveofport.com/ftlopfo ... f=2&t=8146

RWC had it before as Colheita, now they have it as vintage... See below..

D'Oliveira Terrantez Madeira 1988 89.95 AG93

Reidar

[Peter Reutter]

I think Scott is right with his thoughts. I once was told, that the shippers have to register a wine intended to become a vintage with the IVM first, so I guess it would be some hassle to re-register a colheita wine as a frasqueira. Probably the difference in price between colheita and vintage is not that big, as long as the bottle carries a vintage year on the label, so why should the producer bother?

[Symon B]

hi roy i know very little about madeira wine what makes it diferent from port and does it have vintage years like port
what are the great 5 vintages of the last centuary
is there a qnn of madera
what is the finest madeira of the last centuary you drank
and last but not least in the last 35 years which year was best vintage madeira
again i am a compleat novis on madeira and you have to start someware thankyou roy symonb : :

[Eric Ifune]

Not Roy, but some of my favorites of the last century include the 1905 and 1912 D'Oliveira Verdelho; 1908 D'Oliveira Bual; 1920 Cossart Malmsey; 1933 VHJ Malmsey; 1940 Borges Solera. Also great is the 1968 D'Oliveira Bual which just falls outside of your 35 year window. Within it is the 1977 D'Oliveira Terrantez. If they are available in your area, I might also recommend the Rare Wine Company's (of Sonoma, California) Historic series of Boston Bual, New York Malmsey, and Charleston Sercial. These are blends made for the Rare Wine Company by Barbieto.

[Steve Shapiro]

Sorry to be late. Mannie Berk's Leacock Family Cellar tasting provided a number of terrific wines: 1868 Lomelino EBH Boal, 1845 Lomelion Quinta da Paz, 1836 Lomelino Bastardo, 1808 Leacock Solera Malmsey and Borges HMB Terrantez. In addition, 1912 D'Oliveira Verdelho and a particularly good bottle of 1863 Blandy Solera Malmsey. The best? The 1836 Bastardo -- go try to find a terrific bastardo, and the Borges HMB Terrantez.