Malmsey over Malvasia...Malmsey is an old term. What about Bual versus Boal? We use Boal on old vintages and Bual on young wines. The Duke of Clarence was drowned in a butt of Malmsey. Malvasia just wouldn't sound right. It sounds too Italian! Malmsey is a very British and American name. Not just for America but for the UK too. By the way, Berry Bros in the UK sells it, though other retailers can buy it from our UK importer.Eric Ifune wrote:It's only Monday afternoon and David and Marco have already asked the Madeira questions I was going to pose. I was with David at Justino's when your and the regular Justino wines were tasted side by side.
I've a bottle of the Old Reserve Terrantez ready to open in a couple of weeks.
I also love the 10 yo Malmsey.
Was the decision to label it as Malmsey rather than Malvasia because of marketing in the US?
When you changed the blend, what specifically where you most interested in changing, i.e. acidity, sweetness, ect?
Thank you!
When we changed the blend... at the time, when my father went over on our behalf, Tinta Negra Mole, as it was then named, was considered an inferior grape, mainly because of misleading propaganda that I was as guilty as spreading as anyone. My father, in his search for our wines, was mandated to find a 5 year Malmsey and a 10 year Malmsey because that is what was popular in America. He tasted a ton of wines and reported back to me that I was crazy to want the Malmsey because he had discovered that the best made Tinta Negra Mole wines were as good as the best Malmseys...and cheaper too. I conceded and adopted the TNM for my 5 year Reserve but I insisted that I have the Malmsey for the 10 year, because that is what the restaurants are expected to serve. My father was right. Our 5 year Reserve from TNM was superb, almost as good as the 10 year Malmsey. However, the 10 year Malmsey suffered by comparison. We had to improve it... basically, we improved it by increasing the sweetness and richness, sourcing higher quality wines and selecting ones which had been aged differently to give them more elegance.
It is now generally accepted by all the Madeira shippers that Negra Mole is one of the classic grapes, along with Sercial, Verdelho, Bual, Malmsey, Terrantez [and, in the past, Moscatel and Bastardo]. Negra Mole is the only classic grape that is red, but we do use the other red grapes, namely Triunfo and Complexa.