For The Love Of Port

Or are some in demijohns?

Great question. I would be interested to hear what anyone knows. I have read conflicting reports. I have heard everything older than 100yrs is in DJ and everything between. I have also read in John Gillmans report that can be viewed on the RWC website that D'Oliverias has something like 2 million liters of "old wine" in their reserves. Hard to believe, but may be possible.

I'm trying to remember if I've seen demijohns in their lodge. I want to say yes. I do know that much of their wine is still in cask, even some over 100 years old.
So I think the answer is maybe.

They do have some demijohns in the D'Oliveiras facility, however, there are not a lot of them visible at the adega. I always wondered if on a different floor in their main bldg. where the wine shop is, if they may have other Madeiras stored in demijohns. It would be easy to "ask" Luis, but he's much easier to reach by phone than waiting for a return email.

In the second edition of his book on page 252, Alex Liddell says:

"D'Oliveira wines of up to about eighty years old are, in general, still in cask, while older wines are now kept in demijohn."

He doesn't add any source for this statement, which is also in the first edition.