Why are Solera Madeiras so Expensive?

[John Trombley]

I've been constantly amazed by the high prices that soleras get at auction and at retail, as if the sellers or buyers don't know how little of the 'vintage' can be in a solera. A solera of the same age in a sherry, even a great one, would usually be far less. Any thoughts?

[Eric Menchen]

A Madeira solera is nothing like a Sherry solera. It is made with vintages spanning up to 10 years to the date on the bottle, so it is all old.

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[Andy Velebil]

Because Madeira is trendy right now, people only see the date on the bottle, and some people have lots of extra spending cash.

Reminds me of that 1927 (or so) PX that came out. Everyone I ran across was like OMG it's only $20 (or whatever) dollars from 1927. I tried to tell them there is probably about 2 drops of 1927 in that by now. Doesn't matter, all they saw was the year it was started on the label. Really false advertising for it IMO.

[John Vachon]

In the very early 70's 1941 VM was selling for $40 in NY.

In the same time period I got a (not in my records) 1903? Solera for $7 a so-so wine.

This in my records from the 70's Leacock Sercial Solera 1860 a great wine for $5.99.

IMO the price rise is a more recent thing.

[John Trombley]

Yes, and don't we regret passing on the wines that now range 500 to a thousand dollars, that we could have bought for under a hundred. I blame Manny Berk, and folks like Roy Hersh and his sidekicks! Of course this revaluation may have been the salvation of the industry....

[John Trombley]

Thanks, Eric. I didn't realize that there is such a huge difference in contents. Even so, the Madierese have stopped making them--I think because they prefer having more precise dating, even at the expense of the pricing difference..

[Eric Ifune]

With the recent new legislation passed this past February, I think we'll start to see some soleras being started. The rules are that a solera may be renewed, refreshed, however you want to call it, up to 10 times and only one tenth may be bottled after each addition. The wines must be of equivalent quality as the original wine, as determined by the IVBAM. After the tenth addition, all the wine must be bottled.

Other new items with the legislation, Tinta Negra may now be used on the label. Barbeito was the first to label a wine as such. It was a Colheita.

Another new category is created, an over 50 year old designation of age. Some producers have already sent samples to the IVBAM so we may see some of these new labels, but old wines, on the marketplace soon.

I think that Solera Madeiras are now high priced, mainly because the prices of all old Madeira has shot up. In my estimation, the prices have doubled over the past 5 years or so, and the quantities are miniscule. It's the old saying, "a rising tide carries all the ships."

[Roy Hersh]

Very early on, in my writing about Madeira, I remember Bartholomew Broadbent and his father, discussing with me that the prices of Madeira would skyrocket in the next decade. That was circa 1998/1999. They were correct.

As for Soleras, I have only met two people who "believe" they can tell from blind tasting a bottle if the wine is a Solera or if it is a Frasqueira. Those two are both Madeira-makers, well-known: Francisco Albuquerque is one and the other is Ricardo Freitas, from MWC and Barbeito, respectively.

[Alan Gardner]

Hence my suggestion (hope) that a solar vs. vintage be part of the proposed Seattle get-together.