What Madeira Have You Opened This Week?

[Scott Esterly]

Also from buying op - Broadbent Madeira Colheita 1999

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[Yev Nyden]

Barbeito Madeira Cristovão Colombo 10 Years Old Verdelho

, not bad, deep and soft, a bit too soft for me though.

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[Frederick Blais]

Picked up a few bottles of Colheita 2016 Malmsley from Blandy's. at 13euros per bottle, it is a bargain! Great complexity already for such a young Madeira.

[Al B.]

I rarely post here, but today I opened a bottle of Blandy’s 2002 Sercial, bottled in 2016. It’s really hit the spot!

[Yev Nyden]

1966 Blandy's Bual - fantastic boal, it's a pity it's my only bottle...

[Eric Ifune]

1934 Justino's Verdelho.

[Mark L]

1964 Justino's Boal

[Marco D.]

Barbeito Aniversario 50 year

[Mark L]

How was that bottle, Marco? Is that the Verdelho?

I was just thinking about how Barbeito has really been doing some great stuff the past 10 years (is it longer? 15 years? I've lost all sense of time).

If you have any tasting notes, I'd be interested in hearing.

Enjoy!

[Marco D.]

How was that bottle, Marco? Is that the Verdelho?

I was just thinking about how Barbeito has really been doing some great stuff the past 10 years (is it longer? 15 years? I've lost all sense of time).

If you have any tasting notes, I'd be interested in hearing.

Enjoy!

Yes it was a Verdelho. This was my note:

"This was wonderful. A piercing, chiseled and complex wine. Off dry, with biting lemon, apricots, flowers and sandalwood. Hints of nougat and caramel weave in and out. Very lengthy and very tangy. Clean as a whistle, as most of these Barbeito 50 year blends tend to be."

[Eric Ifune]

Borges 15 year old Malmsey.

[Glenn E.]

1964 Justino's Boal

[Mike J. W.]

1964 Justino's Boal

How is it?

[Glenn E.]

1964 Justino's Boal

How is it?

It was good, but I think it was also harmed by following a whole bunch of old tawny Port (and also dessert). Boal just doesn't have the sugar to follow tawnies and desserts, at least not for me. Given that a third of the bottle was left in the decanter after 10 people had tried it, others probably had a similar reaction.

Later in the evening, and the next morning with breakfast, it was better. I don't normally rate Madeira, but I'd probably put this in the 92-93 range.

[Jim S.]

I know this is from 4 months ago, but nobody's posted anything here for almost 4 weeks. Doesn't anyone open bottles of Madeira anymore?
I opened these one week before a Boal tasting that I put together for my monthly wine group (Third Tuesday of the Month Wine Group).
The Barbeito was the extreme outlier, and probably would have fit right into a Verdelho or, even better, a Sercial tasting. So much cut! It was one person's #1 wine, and he made a good case for it. It ranked 8 out of 8 for the group- it really shouldn't have been in this lineup, except to show the extreme stylistic difference.
It was my #5 Madeira in this context, but I do love this wine more than my ranking might have you believe.
The group's #1 Boal was the 1908 D'Oliveiras, followed by the 1958, 1904, and then 1903.
My top Madeira was the 1904 (PHENOMENAL!!!), followed by 1903, then 1958, and finally 1908.
It's true that I drink more Madeira than anyone else in this group, so I wouldn't take their scores too seriously. At the same time, many of the people in this group are in the wine industry, including retailers, distributors, and educators. This particular evening, we also had a guest wine-maker attending, Jesus Madrazo, who was wine-maker at CVNE and Contino. He was blown away by this tasting that I threw together.
By the way, if anyone has any 1904 D'Oliveiras Boal that they'd like to sell, I'm happy to buy it.

[Eric Ifune]

2002 Barbeito Boal Colheita.

[Yev Nyden]

Justino's (VJH) 1954 Verdelho

[Mark L]

@Jim, that sounds amazing, and I am envious of your friends who got to experience such a rare treat. Well done!

I don't have any of the 1904 but I have a few of the 1903 I have yet to crack open.

The 1908 is a good one, too!

Do you have any left over, or was everything drunk?

If you have a moment, post some tasting notes for your favorites!


@Yev, I would also love to know your thoughts on the 1954 after several days of air!

I told myself I'd have to finish a lingering bottle or two before opening another..... time to get drinkin'!!! Then I'll post here myself.

[Eric Ifune]

1930 Veira Franca Malvasia Solera. Note posted.

[Eric Ifune]

1838 WR Travers "Antelope" for my birthday. Note posted.