For The Love Of Port

Yesterday - New Year lunch with family - I drank some of this:



It was delicious, but I know nothing about this: where it came from, producer, etc. The only markings on the bottle are "MARTINHO" and "1881". Can anyone help with information?

Martinho is a town on the south side of the island, so I think the name refers to the vinyard district.
How sweet was it? It's an older looking bottle.

Was there any branding on the capsule?

There was no branding on the capsule. The cork pretty much desintegrated (reason it was opened, actually).

I have not had that many old Madeiras to be able to compare... But it was sweet but not very sweet. Very clear tawny colour. Toasted (coffee, toffee), roasted (dry fruits) and citric (orange peel) aromas. Sweet (honey, caramel), orangey with excellent acidity. Very long finish. The wine was fresh and very much alive.

Sounds like it is a Bual but can't be sure w/out more info. We'll keep digging too!

Roy Hersh wrote:Sounds like it is a Bual but can't be sure w/out more info. We'll keep digging too!

Sorry I cannot be more assertive, I am a novice with Madeira and a an absolute novice in old Madeira...

After some homework...

the bottles (6 of them) were handed down to my Father-in-law and his brothers, having been in the family for a long time. And in the family in the past there was a Madeira shipper: Henrique J.M. Camacho. I recently found a reference to this shipper in Henry Vizetelly's "Facts about Port and Madeira".

So, presumably, this wine was bought / aged / bottled by this shipper and survived within the family.

That's a great story, hope you have more to try in the future.