For The Love Of Port

Please take a look at http://www.madeirawineguide.com/03event ... owein2008/ to find Madeira news and tasting notes from the Prowein 2008 wine-fair in Düsseldorf, Gemany.
Enjoy!
Peter

Peter,

Thanks for the link. I have two questions:

a. Instituto do Vinho, do Bordado e do Artesanato da Madeira IVBAM - how does this differ from the function of the IVM or has that organization now changed ... or is this a different department within the bigger organization?

b. You mention good and bad news that you learned. Care to share with us?

Thanks so much for the tasting notes!

Dear Roy:
IVM + Institute for Embroidery = IVBAM
To save money, the local goverment merged the two institutions into a new body called the IVBAM. The old IVM's building will be turned completely into a museum, the new IVBAM will be located in the building of the former embroidery institute, a little up the road (Rua do Visconde do Anadia) right after Patricio&Gouveio on the left side.
The bad news:
The infrastructure of the samller villages is going down, due to the fact, that because of the new highways Funchal is becoming the place to shop. Local shops close, smaller roads are no longer maintained and many people move to Funchal.
15 new hotels are being planed, destroying even more precious vineyards.
The overall visitors response on this first (of three) days was poor, especially when you compare it with the other wines. I had the impression that only Sherry attracted less people, a fact that I do not understand too.
The good news:
The overall quality of the featured wines, especially the harvest and colheita wines, but also the younger vintage Madeiras was really impressive. At least from a quality point of view, Madeira wine is definitely on the rise again.
However: I said that my general impression was that of an upturn for Madeira wine - I might have been wrong. Tonight I just got the export figures of 2002-2006 and there is no significant development whatsoever. Neither in total export volume, nor in a shift to higher quality wines. Hmmmmm, ok, the numbers of 2007 are not published yet, but I must say, this stagnation comes as a surprise to me.
Best
Peter

There is a part of me that believes that the price of Madeira which was skyrocketed during the past three years is not only tied to the horrible state of the US$. I believe that there is a portion of the pricing equation which continues to raise the bar as older bottlings are depleted. After all, I am not so sure that serious Madeira collectors ever drink the types of bottles you wrote about in your report. In fact, the vast majority of Madeira fanatics that i come across in the USA don't even know what a Colheita Madeira is and MANY tell me that they own nothing younger than 1950 and if that Terrantez from Faja dos Padres had not been released, most would be more in the 1920s. So, the collectors at least here in the USA are going for 1795-1929 except for the occasional 1968 Bual or '69 Sercial etc. With that type of buying here in the States, is it any wonder that prices are driven up JUST to protect the old bottles from being quickly depleted. Nothing stops buyers like rising prices ... and in tandem with our lousy economy (regardless of what some politicians are spewing here ... aka: nonsensical rhetoric) and ever fading dollar, it grows significantly harder to buy the really good bottles that 5 years ago seemed very reasonable and 10 years ago "a bargain" and 15 years ago ... dirt cheap. I wish I had diverted more of my Port collecting money towards Madeira when the timing was right. Nothing like 20-20 hindsight.