For The Love Of Port

It has been a while since I last posted,

Is there a guide somewhere, here or on the net, that gives indications of the quality of the last 100 yrs or so. I have been looking at various lists which I have asked for but never have a clue what I should buy, perhaps being a 'wino' I put too much emphasis on individual years.

I recently tasted a Blandy's Terrantez 75 btld 2004 - I wasn't really blown away. I liked it but having read all about the rarity of the grape was expecting to be knocked off my stool. Spicy, long, but for me did not live up to my pre-conceived idea.

Secondly a btl of Blandy's Verdelho 77, Wonderful, smokey, refreshing long and deep, this went very well with some goose liver pate.

I think I am still looking to be knocked sideways again. Barbeito 81 is ranking fairly high still.

Borges

Solera 1940
Verdelho 1940
Boal 1935
Malmsey 1932

Does anyone recommend these btls? If so, what sort of price should I be paying? I have been lead to believe they have all been stored correctly...

Cheers

Tom

I don't own any Borges as they are not currently imported into the USA. I can tell you that with Madeira it has little to do with years, but specific Shippers in specific vintages with specific grapes. Whether it is Liddell or Cossart or a retailer you trust, look to their tasting notes or Google the specific wine to see what others have written about it. There is a list of Madeira tasting notes in our database and I will be adding 75 more over the next 3 months from tastings earlier in 2007. Keep your eyes opened for the next three issues of FTLOP which will be focused on Madeira.

1863 and 1875 were two very excellent harvests on the island and everybody made Madeira in that vintage. As one example:
The d'Oliveiras Malvasia from 1875 is absolutely a gorgeous bottling while the Barbeito is just a good and tasty bottling, it is not in the same league. so knowing which producer "nailed it" in which specific vintage is the key to Madeira success.

I also highly recommend you check on http://www.madeirawineguide.com for more information as it is the greatest Madeira informational resource that I know of.

Is there a guide somewhere, here or on the net, that gives indications of the quality of the last 100 yrs or so. I have been looking at various lists which I have asked for but never have a clue what I should buy, perhaps being a 'wino' I put too much emphasis on individual years.

Dear Tom,
there is a pocket guide from Michael Broadbent called "Wine Vintages", published by Mitchell Beazley, ISBN 1 840000 090 2
There is a small chapter of 7 pages with summaries from the Madeira wine vintages dating back to 1792.
However -as Roy pointed out- vintage year is not so important. The producing company is much more important and the combination of a good producer with an excellent year makes that special 5-star Madeira wine.

Borges
Solera 1940
Verdelho 1940
Boal 1935
Malmsey 1932
Does anyone recommend these btls? If so, what sort of price should I be paying? I have been lead to believe they have all been stored correctly...

Solera 1940 is a good medium sweet solera wine with quite some grapy fruit and easy to drink. Nothing really high end, but excellent for any occasion where you don't want to open that last bottle of 1795 T
It sold in Funchal in 2005 for 80 Euros/ 100 USD.

From the HMB Boal 1935 I can offer a detailed tasting note:
1935 H. M. Borges Boal
Bottle:
Modern bottle of industrial make, very short stopper cork with wax cover, light crusting.
Color:
Medium dark iodine with orange rim. Little sediment.
Nose:
Ginger cake, molasses, honey, very rounded and harmonious, very intense for such a rather young wine, filling the whole room within minutes.
Palate:
Good sweetness to start with, then ginger cake, molasses and good corresponding acidity, all quite powerful and impressive. After two hours of breathing the wine became much more rounded, soft, harmonious. Very long finish with interesting molasses and balsamico notes.
Footnote:
Tasted 6/2005.
This sold in Funchal in 2005 for 100 Euros/125 USD, I would not offer more than 150 Euros/185 USD.

Regards

Peter

Thanks Roy and Peter,

I now understand the benefits of the partnership with madeira wine guide. It is always good to get an experts opinion. In my earlier post I commented upon my lack of 'wow' factor for the terrantez, well having re-visited the bottle 2 weeks after opening, here is my TN

Blandy's Terrantez 1975
Bright and clean, onion skin/ caramel colour

Pronounced clove and spice, rancio, ginger, leathery? (Hmm), reminiscent of a walnut biscuit and vin santo.

Off dry, clove, coffee, milky smooth chocolate, very tangy and refreshing acidity, slightly bitter orange peel and walnut liquer

Complex, loads of flavours, long full, bitter finish with a sweet mid palate.

As you can see it has great depth and complexity. On a second visit I warmed to its quality, however perhaps it is just not my cup of madeira!

Hi Tom,

Do you have a copy of Broadbent's 'Vintage wine'?

- best source of vintage notes for Madeira that I know of..

Tom

Tom,

Welcome back!

Stewart is working behind the scenes with Peter's brother Hans who is Peter's technical director of the http://www.madeirawineguide.com and coincidentally lives near us (Peter is in Germany).

By the end of this month, the collaboration will go live and the 2 websites will share the Madeira and Marketplace Forums, which I think is a big win for the users of both sites. I am excited about this and believe this will generate a lot of excitement here for all participants and Madeira lovers!

Good to have you back here.

Roy

Roy Hersh wrote:I don't own any Borges as they are not currently imported into the USA. I can tell you that with Madeira it has little to do with years,

I have had the honour of tasting the HMB 1846 Terrantez, which is — by a country mile — the best wine ever to have passed my lips. Flowers, spice, fire, (FIRE!), the tiniest sip filling for many minutes the mouth with curry in a florists. Huge.

So I completely disagree.

Disagree with what ... specific vintage years being of consequence or the dominant factor in a buying decision?

Roy Hersh wrote:Disagree with what ... specific vintage years being of consequence or the dominant factor in a buying decision?

Certainly I disagree with the former, as vintages can indeed be of significant consequence. Perhaps after trying some other houses’ 1846 Terrantez I can comment on the second hypothesis, but alas not yet.