For The Love Of Port

-at least since I started noticing wine seriously
I bought a bottle of Henriques & Henriques 5Y Madeira which seemed like a good starting point given the price of just over $10 US.

My first impression was that it was very dark in colour, which I hadn’t expected in a bottle with only 5 years of age. It was very dark tawny, almost brown, but a nice colour none the less.
The nose and taste was completely void of any fruit and had an extremely tawny very woody flavour. Not the most elegang wine I’ve had, but very nice nonetheless.

What really struck me was that I wasn’t sure if I’d been able to distinguish this from a port if I’d tried it blind. The colour was much darker than a port of the same age, but I think that I would have guessed it to be an old colheita which was past its prime. As I mentioned, this is my first real experience with Madeira so I didn’t really know what to expect. Am I the only one who could mistake a Madeira for a port?

-Lars

Lars,

I have used specific Madeira grapes that certain Ports have emulated in my TNs, so it is not just your imagination. In better and older Madeira, the VA (not good in Port but great in Madeira) appears occasionally and it is something that one either loves or hates and often times, is the dynamic that makes or breaks a wine lover from becoming a Madeira lover. I have enjoyed quite a few Colheitas which had definite similarites to the characteristics of a Madeira.

I have not had too many Madeiras, but those that I have had were not mistakable for Port, although I do agree that they share some characteristics of tawnies, the wood and caramel flavours in particular.

The nose on Madeira generally blows away just about any Port in sheer power and complexity. As a cigar smoker, I love the acid in Madeira as it just cleans the mouth every sip. I find (maybe due to the acid), that I can sip Madeira slower than Port.

Most people I give Madeira to, just adore it. Even the beer drinking, unfined types love it. I think it's the nose and acid that wins them over.

I just wish Madeira wasn't so darn expensive!