Greatest Madeira (Regardless of Price)

[Peter T.]

I would love to know everybody´s all-time favorites- if you had to pick just one. (Has this already been done on the site?)

[Mark L]

This is a hard one, but I'll jump in.

1868 "EBH"

With close runners ups :

1802 Oscar Acciaioly
1845 Quinta da Paz
1827 Quinta do Serrado
H&H Grand Old Boal

I might have a different answer if you ask me again tomorrow, though!

[Moses Botbol]

1798 Terrantez. Mind blowing.

[Andreas Platt]

1798 Terrantez. Mind blowing.

Producer?

[Moses Botbol]

1798 Terrantez. Mind blowing.

Producer?

Pretty sure it was Barbeito

[Marco D.]

Tough to choose... Probably:

1868 Lomelino Madeira Very Old Boal E.B.H.
or
1802 Oscar Acciaioly Madeira Terrantez Special Reserve
or
1862 H.M. Borges Madeira Terrantez

[Andreas Platt]

1798 Terrantez. Mind blowing.

Producer?

Pretty sure it was Barbeito

Moses,

just a question (no offense meant): sure it was a 1798T or was this maybe a 1789T (sic)?

Still haven't found out if both exist, but I am sure that the 1789T does since a have a bottle of it (genuity confirmed by Ricardo Freitas).

http://ct-static.com/labels/151535.jpg

[Moses Botbol]

Moses,

just a question (no offense meant): sure it was a 1798T or was this maybe a 1789T (sic)?

Still haven't found out if both exist, but I am sure that the 1789T does since a have a bottle of it (genuity confirmed by Ricardo Freitas).

http://ct-static.com/labels/151535.jpg

Senile moment of the day... It was really 1795 Barbeito

[Julian D. A. Wiseman]

H. M. Borges 1846 Terrantez (of the few I have tasted).

[Reidar Andersen]

1802 Oscar T
and many so close..
Always put D'Oliveira 1900 Moscatel as an outsider...

[Eric Ifune]

I'm with Marco, the 1802 Oscar Acciaioly Terrantez and the 1862 Borges Terrantez.

[Miguel Simoes]

Seems most of you leaning towards Terrantez.

Had my first try over the weekend (1969 Blandy's Terrantez) and really enjoyed it...

Somehow came across fresher than the Malvazias I have tasted, cleaner in taste. Delicious.

[Gary Banker]

The 1802 Oscar Acciaioly terrantez for me, also. However, the 1846 H. M. Borges, Avery's, and Cossart Gordon terrantez were pretty close.

The TTT pretty much overwhelmed my previous (and subsequent) experience. Outside of that singular event, the 1920 (Barbeito) Favilla Vieira malvazia or D'Oliveira's 1932 verdelho would be a tossup as my greatest.

[John Trombley]

1860 Henriques & Henriques Old Boal.

[Steve Shapiro]

1860 Blandy Bual. Elegant, complex, great depth. Not over the top concentration. Endless finish. A wine with everything in perfect balance.

[Roy Hersh]

1802 Acciaioly Terrantez, followed by the uber-rare 1846 Blandy's Terrantez.

[Andreas Platt]

1802 Acciaioly Terrantez, followed by the uber-rare 1846 Blandy's Terrantez.

Would have one to sell....

to make this clear: I have the 1846, not the 1802!!!

[Alan Gardner]

Availability is the more difficult issue for me (as fortunately, our Toronto group has 16 members who share the cost).
I gave 100 points to two madeiras:

1891 Boal (from Doña Eugénia Bianchi Henriques) bottled Blandy's - Bottle 21 of 37. (I actually scored this 100+).
c1780 Bual - Borges Family

However, I'm reluctant to crown any wine if I've only had it once - hence the difficulty in EVER finding another bottle of the 1891 to confirm this.
I DID have a second bottle of the c1780 - only gave it 99 points that time! At that same tasting we opened a wine that the group PREFERRED to the c1780 (I scored it 99+). That was the 'ringer' which was:
1750 Milk Punch; S. Queensferry - Hopetown House - ALL attendees agreed that, despite the name, this was, indeed, a Madeira (I bought this as I had read the cellar tasting notes from Hopetown House, and those convinced me that this 'Milk Punch' was 'probably a madeira').

But the group as a whole would probably vote for the 1792 Blandy (via Grabham) bottled 1840 (aka the Napoleon Madeira) which we obtained from Blandy's - I scored it less, but hard to discount the 'romance' of that bottle which had an unbroken provenance. Of course, we drank it in 1992.

[Andreas Platt]

Hey,

interesting that besides the fact that I only have a few bottles of old Madeira I also have the 1780B (2 bottles).

Should be interesting when I open that one side by side to that 1840 Boal Borges.

What interests me is if anyone of you has EVER recorked a Madeira him/herself or let it be done by a specialist OR if all your corks are fine after that long of a time after bottling.

[Peter Reutter]

Couldn't make up my mind:

1802 Acciaioly T
1846 Blandys T
1839 private source T

Not that the other grape varieties don't count, but these three seemed to be the best...