Madeira 101
Posted: Sun Apr 19, 2009 11:44 am
Last night I got together with a group of wine lovers from another board to do a 15 vintage vertical of Ridge Geyserville. I brought out 5 of the 15 and also a bottle of Madeira to introduce them to the glories of this nectar.
Instead of doing a 10 or 15 year old, I wanted to share something more upscale, yet no put forth something that would wow them by might be seen as pretentious. So with that in mind, it was a bottle of 1968 D'Oliveiras Bual. I can honestly say that it is a gorgeous youngster and for those that don't want to spend the big bucks of an early 20th century bottling, this really is a great step up from 10-15 year olds and yet delivers fine quality at an affordable price. I was surprised how many times that bottle made it around the table after 15 other wines and one bottle of domestic Zin port that someone shared (actually not bad ... a 2004 Rutherford Hill bottling). A formal TN will be in the upcoming newsletter.
Instead of doing a 10 or 15 year old, I wanted to share something more upscale, yet no put forth something that would wow them by might be seen as pretentious. So with that in mind, it was a bottle of 1968 D'Oliveiras Bual. I can honestly say that it is a gorgeous youngster and for those that don't want to spend the big bucks of an early 20th century bottling, this really is a great step up from 10-15 year olds and yet delivers fine quality at an affordable price. I was surprised how many times that bottle made it around the table after 15 other wines and one bottle of domestic Zin port that someone shared (actually not bad ... a 2004 Rutherford Hill bottling). A formal TN will be in the upcoming newsletter.
) and am now completely infatuated with madeira. what's next, sherry? 
