For The Love Of Port

1908 D'Oliveiras Madeira Boal Reserva - Portugal, Madeira (10/12/2014)

Current retail at Rare Wine $525'.


Glinting amber-green eye. Upon opening, so powerful and dense that it is practically untastable; still the same six hours later. At twenty four hours, beginning to emerge from its musclebound state. Powerful high end nose of shellac, caramel, peanut butter cookies, fennel, pine needles, but still partially unresolved. Full richness with searing acidity, with a full synopsis on a two minuit plus finish. 99 plus.

Oh... that sounds good! Do you happen to know the bottling date?

No Bottling date is known to me. Limits on drinkability depend on short cork.

The earliest bottling dates that are on the labels of D'Oliveira wines that I have are 2002 and 2003. I would think that this one was bottled before that.

I believe that Luis d'Oliveira said that they started putting on the bottling dates in the mid-1990's.
I actually prefer the old d'Oliveiras wines with some bottle age on them. Their rich, concentrated style lends to it.

Rich and concentrated--the understatement of the year, Eric!

Early 20th c Boals from D'Oliveiras are so great.

Had my 2nd one tonite a very good Madeira but not great-17 1/2 of 20 same as my 2006 one.

Like all things, it's a matter of taste. We had this two years ago with the 1908 Cossart Gordon Bual ... the same wine but bottled twenty years earlier. The group was evenly split, half preferring the concentration of the D'Oliveira bottling, the other half preferring the easier to discern subtlety of the Cossart Gordon wine. My sons and I were definitely in the latter group. To us, this was overextracted and further from our idea of a fine bual experience.

Steve Shapiro

I think of this as a warning about too-early drinking of recently bottled wines of the classic age of Madiera. I'm sure that 20 years down the road, this will be a different experience. I even wonder if it was bottled too early, or at least pulled from wood too early. The wine was, several days down the road, a much better experience, and the high score is what this later tasting is based on. Don't hurt NOT do drink a few of these, so put 'em back in the cellar.

Again 5/15/17 17+/20.

Oh, I should have mentioned--this was a purchase from Rare Wine Company perhaps 5 years ago--that may settle the bottling date issue. It was purchased for a cellar-management client who graciously poured it for me for this tasting. He has perhaps one or two more, if I can get a look at them.