For The Love Of Port

I have always been a huge "Madeira Nut", yet have never tried a sample from the (rarely seen) varietal Bastardo. Does anybody know where it stands on the sweetness scale (say, compared to Sercial/Verdelho/Bual/Malvasia).

If anybody has tried a Bastardo, I would be curious about which one and what their thoughts are.

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Cheers,
Marco DeFreitas

Bastardo is not a very prolific grape, so one reason why it is so rare is that it is not in favor with the farmers that grow the grapes. I have had the Bastardo made by Artur Barros de Sousa; I would say it tends to be similar to Sercial in terms of where it fits on the sweetness scale, although I have been told that other producers have vinified it in a sweeter style.

I realized I only answered half of your post, Marco . I liked it a lot; in fact, I just brought home two more bottles of Barros' Bastardo from my vacation last month, although I will admit that in addition to liking the wine for what it is, I also like the name, as it "suits my personality" 8)