For The Love Of Port

1. If I open up a unopened old Madeira and decant it - them place it back in bottle to serve - Say there is still 80% left and say 3 months later I decide to again have some - do I decant again? Ad infinitum?

2. Also, I have started collecting some very old Madeiras - I know they will last forever pretty much but I'm kind of afraid to open these as once they are opened - I'm kind of confused - say you were lucky enough to open a 1975 Terrantez - you & your wife have some for a special occasion - what would you do in your own cellar with the remaining wine. I'm not interested in reselling wine but would like to build up a cache that I could taste from time to time with my friends who appreciate fine old Madeiras?

Thanks for any help you can offer, Jeff

Hi Jeff,

IMHO, I don't think you need to re-decant after 3 months. Decanting old madeiras at first is always important, especially the longer it has spent in bottle (specifically its vintage being slightly less important than when it was actually bottled)... however, if you have decanted for several days, perhaps even weeks ("to taste"), serve, and then cork it back up, I'd say 3 months later you will find it to be perfectly enjoyable without having to re-decant. That said, I suppose you can't go 'wrong' with decanting just prior to serving, I just don't think it's absolutely necessary.

Regarding your second point, some very old bottles I have simply corked back up, and kept upright in my cellar (always store these upright, not on their side). Certain elderly madeiras (I'll presume you meant to type 1795, not 1975) will last a very long time indeed.... If you think you'll be letting years go by in between tastings from the same bottle, you can use one of those gadgets to suck some of the air out of the bottle, although I cannot personally attest the quality of these gadgets over the long term. If someone offered me a taste of 1795 Terrantez that was opened the previous year, and was kept in their cellar corked up since then, I would expect it to taste wonderful, fresh, etc. Some folks on here might say that it's not worth waiting that long to drink such an elixir once opened (rather, how can you stop yourself?) ... and yet others might have an opinion that even old madeiras taper off over time once opened. Nevertheless, I would think that there is enough of a gray area that as long as you kept it in ideal storage conditions, it could very well last as long as it takes you to drink it. However, personally, I haven't had any open bottles last longer than a year or so (in that I drink them, not that they go bad.)

Happy drinking, tasting, and celebrating; and hope your friends who are blessed to be given a taste or tastes from your cellar are appreciative!

Best,
Mark

Thanks a lot for the advice - I did mean 1795 -if I should ever be so lucky - HA1

Agree with Mark. Once decanted, it should be good to go. Then I recork and keep upright using a tee top cork. Sometimes you can get the D'Oliveiras tee tops which are the best. I've a kept bottles open up to a year and a half still which are still drinking well. I'll have a glass every now and again. In the past, some serious Madiera collectors kept their demijohns uncorked. Madeira does revel in air. I do believe the keeping the cork out over a long period leads to loss of aroma however, but that's just me.

I similarly agree. Just put a T-cork back in and it (most) will last for months.
But try and keep notes on your impressions over time. I believe I have noticed an 'evolution' over several weeks. For me that has translated into a smoother broader taste (to attempt an explanation - imagine playing separate notes on a piano, and then the same notes in a chord; I prefer the separate 'notes' I get in a freshly opened/decanted bottle, whereas over time these smooth out into a continuous taste profile). And to add to Eric's point, I find more fresh 'citrus' notes in the aroma of a recently opened bottle that evolve into mellower more 'marmalade' tones over time.
For me, the decanting is to overcome the 'bottle stink' that develops after long time in bottle, so the 'pure' (underlying) flavors/aromatics come through. Once that point is reached then personal preference comes into play - and I favor less decanting time than most on this Board (although that 'bias' is drawn from blind taste experiments with table wine NOT madeira).