Christie's auction madeira

[Mark L]

I missed it, but was given the heads up by Richard Mayson since I was emailing with him back and forth about his book. There was quite a bit of old madeira auctioned by Christie's today / yesterday, and WOW. Some of those prices were staggering! Especially on the really old stuff. (1715, 1720, etc) I hope some folks here were able to snag some good old stuff for quite a bit less than what those old bottles were going for (there was quite a bit of inventory). ... (and ... um... are willing to share... tasting notes, of course. )

If you got anything you're excited about, please tell us! There were some madeira on the list I had never heard of before.

[Gary Banker]

Some of the prices seem a little high.

I had never heard of a 1927 Blandy's bastardo or 1954 Blandy's terrantez. I wonder if they have the same origin as the Leacock versions. I have the Leacock 1954 terrantez. RWC sold some of it in the late 1990s.

[Reidar Andersen]

Looked at this, and now they call the Pather Terrantez ? For me that was new? Any comments ?

[Paul Day]

I went to the pre-sale tasting last week and took the morning off to go to the auction yesterday.

I see that Richard Mayson has a excellent write up on the pre-sale tasting on his website. I have little to add other than I slightly preferred the 1877 Terrantez to the 1870 Verdelho, although both were good and they would be my two top wines. The 1780 Dark rum was remarkably rum-like and really rather good, whereas the 1780 Light was too alcoholic to drink, but bad aromas emerged with water dilution.

As to the sale itself, it was obviously quite a fascinating one both for the range and rarity of the lots. There were not that many bidders in the room, but there were enough serious buyers plus global interest on the internet and phone to mean that it would be difficult to find many - if any - bargains. Quite a number wines went to the UK, but also significant amounts to the US, Switzerland, Hong Kong and elsewhere.

I bought all what I went to buy, concentrating on the wines which I thought would offer the best drinking. But there wasn't much scope to pick up anything else at a knock-down price.

The wines I most wanted were the rarely if ever seen seen Borges 1830, one of the two greatest Malmseys I know (the other being the 1839 Blandy's Faja dos Padres), and the Blandy's Bastardo 1927 (!!??).

There is undoubtedly more 1927, but I don't know if or when it will be released again. I haven't tasted it, but had heard very good things about it pre-sale from various sources. It is probably the "same" wine as the Leacock Bastardo 1927: the Leacock 1927 is ok but doesn't excite me much. But as always a different aging path can make a very different wine. So this is hopefully the same but different. We'll see.

[Paul Day]

Looked at this, and now they call the Pather Terrantez ? For me that was new? Any comments ?

I have heard another hypothesis from a very good source. I can't find my notes at the moment, but I have it written down somewhere. If I remember correctly, it is likely to be a blend, with the core being possibly something quite obscure.

[Reidar Andersen]

Thanks for info, Paul. Sometimes I wonder how many 1720 Pather around... Mine was bought from Patrick Grubb ca. 2002..

[Paul Day]

Thanks for info, Paul. Sometimes I wonder how many 1720 Pather around... Mine was bought from Patrick Grubb ca. 2002..

Hard to know, but as I understand it, but it existed in demi-john form until fairly recent times, which certainly helped preservation.

That could mean 20 bottles, but I think it is more likely 40, as quite a few bottles seem to have be sold through various sources and there may be more held by Borges family members. I doubt if more than a few bottles have been opened as yet as most bottles seem to have been bought for collecting rather than drinking. So let's say, it is quite possible to see 35-40 bottles existing today.

I tasted the one opened by Patrick at one of his annual tastings, and it had attractive nose, but was a little dusty on the palate (as one might indeed expect for a genuinely ancient wine).

I think the 1760 Terrantez is the best of the oldest Borges family wines I've tried (although the one I haven't had is the 1730).
But the 1720 wasn't so bad for me not to buy one bottle as a reference for a bit of fun to open, say, in 2020: although a rationale thing at current prices would be to sell it and buy several bottles that are better drinks.

[Reidar Andersen]

Thanks , Paul... I guess many have left the "Family Door" at Borges... Same door I have used.. Garrafeira offers now one ( or more ? ) for EUR 6.950 which is close to Christie's prices...

[Eric Ifune]

Was interested in several lots, but was priced out. Some good buys, but the old and rare stuff was very expensive, i.e. more than $10,000 for some of the bottles. If I weren't working, I might have tried to attend in person!
Is Madeira finally making a comeback to the collector circles? With recent news of the counterfeiting of wines I might start to worry about Madeira. Perhaps we can start a photographic record of rare bottles and their corks to serve as a log of legitimate bottles.

[Eric Ifune]

I once read a note on the 1720 Pather which theorized it was Moscatel. My understanding was that it was in Demijohn until 1989 when it was bottled in the presence of all the Borges heirs, and it was approximately 40 bottles split 6 ways. The Rare Wine Company had a bottle for sale last year for $4,500. I guess it was a good investment!

[Justin A]

I remember first hearing about this sale and then salivating over the prospect of instantly having one of the deepest (privately owned) Borges family collections. I spent alot of time researching all of the wines I was interested in and determining what my interest level was before hand so I could bid systematically, rather than emotionally. I picked 70 or so lots that I really wanted and thought I had a very good chance winning all of them. Woke up at 5:30am and phone bidding began. I was pretty excited the night before the sale and thought that submitting my bids the next day would be a mere formality since my interest level was so high. By the time the hammer dropped on the last lot I was interested in, I was stunned to realize I had been successful on 4 lots. Only 4.