TN: Manuel Eugenio Fernandes More Than 40 Years Old Verdelho Madeira

[Peter Reutter]

More than 40 years, Verdelho-Blend, Manuel Eugenio Fernandez Lda.
This wine had been started by Manuel Eugenio Fernandez as a private reserve in his house in Seixal. For his 96th birthday the wine had been bottled by the Madeira Wine Company in 2002. Since the regulations of the IVBAM only allow a blend with a maximum age of 40 years, this wine had to be labelled as a 40YO, even though the age of the blend was 52 years. The wine had a bright iodine color and was quite turbid, with long legs in the glass. The nose was very subdued at first, lots of volatile acidity and only little fruit. But the bottle had just been opened the night before, so there was good hope for a positive development as the tasting went on. And indeed, after three hours the wine had opened up perfectly, with a wonderful fruity nose, vanilla as well. The palate had been rather spirity at first but now showed good fruit, perfectly balanced acidity with just the right amount of sweetness, then a creamy toffee aroma, impressions of an old cognac and a long fruity finish. A good wine that demonstrated perfectly how important a long decanting time is for Madeira wines

[Roy Hersh]

I went through my six bottles purchased in 2007 when visiting with the brothers. I bought another five (no more room in the shipper) this year as I absolutely love the wine ... alhthough I prefer the 48 year old version to the 52 for sure. Have you had it?

[Peter Reutter]

I never had the 48 year old, but from the experience with the 52 year old, the other version is definitely on my "wanted" list now, to bad the list is growing faster than I can eliminate the entries on it...

[Eric Ifune]

I'm going to disagree with Roy and say I prefer the 52 yo, but this is spliting hairs! Both are great. To me, the 48 had better acidity, but the 52 had slightly better balance and mouth feel; you'd need to have them side by side for this comparison however.
Roy, did you have these again together on the last Fortification trip?

[Roy Hersh]

Yes we did Eric and I was keenly aware of seeking if I still preferred the 48. I admit to being an acid freak, so the 48 y.o. version still did it for me. I also found the finish more profound in terms of depth of flavors and overall persistence. Splitting hairs is true, as my point scores are so close it is almost a toss up. But for deciding which to buy, for me that was an easier choice.

Peter,

Start making a list and when you are here next, I'll make sure to open one for you!