For The Love Of Port

Roy Hersh wrote:Glenn is threatening to bring over two bottles of Madeira tonight. Yes, I did say Glenn. The other night he mentioned he had bought some bottles v. recently and they were Madeira. I nearly fell off my chair.

Proof!

Nice ones. Different styles, but nice.

1978 Barbeito Boal

Eric Ifune wrote:1978 Barbeito Boal

I think the 1978 Barbeito boal is my favorite modern boal. It shows the Barbeito style well.

I think I like the 82 better. The version that spent extra time in cask.

1964 Broadbent Boal

1978 Barbeito sercial (bottled in 2011)
1968 D'Oliveira's boal (bottled in 2005)

RWC James Madison

NV Barbeito 30 year malvasia (bottled in 2007)

Has anyone tried the new 30 year malvasia from Barbeito? How does it compare to the older version?

The Vo Vera?
It's in a similar style to the Mae Manuela, but without the intensity and concentration. Very nice wine.

1957 D'Oliveiras Old Wine (Tinta Negra)

Barbeito Verdelho Ribeiro Real 20 YO
Cossart Gordon Verdelho Vintage 1975

Both very nice, 1975 seemed a bit more balanced. The sweetness and the acidity fused more.

Broadbent Colheita 1999.
Sweet with nice richness. I’ll give this some time to open up before writing TN’s.

The bottle does not mention a grape variety or a bottling year, which surprised me.

1942 Barbeito Malvasia Quinta Mae dos Homens.

Broadbent 10 year old Malmsey
1850 D'Oliveiras Verdelho

1850 D'Oliveiras Verdelho
1890 D'Oliveiras Verdelho
1912 D'Oliveiras Verdelho (btld. 2005)
1934 H & H Verdelho
1954 Justino's Verdelho
1966 D'Oliveiras Verdelho (btld. 2005)
1966 D'Oliveiras Verdelho (btld. 2012)
1973 D'Oliveiras Verdelho (btld. 2007)
1981 Barbeito Verdelho (btld. 2005)

Jim S. wrote:1850 D'Oliveiras Verdelho
1890 D'Oliveiras Verdelho
1912 D'Oliveiras Verdelho (btld. 2005)
1934 H & H Verdelho
1954 Justino's Verdelho
1966 D'Oliveiras Verdelho (btld. 2005)
1966 D'Oliveiras Verdelho (btld. 2012)
1973 D'Oliveiras Verdelho (btld. 2007)
1981 Barbeito Verdelho (btld. 2005)

What was the occasion? How did the 1934 H&H show? Did you rank them in any way?

This coming Tuesday, I'm responsible my wine group's tasting. They've agreed to have a Verdelho tasting. They'll have a list of the bottles included, but the Madeira will be tasted blind.
My apartment has smelled amazing since decanting them. I will post the rankings.

Nov. 21, 2017 has come and gone. Here (finally) are the rankings:

My Rank Group's Rank

1850 D'Oliveiras Verdelho (recorked 2013) #2 #3
1890 D'Oliveiras Verdelho #3 #2
1912 D'Oliveiras Verdelho (btld. 2005) #4 #1
1934 H & H Verdelho (btld. ~1960?) #1 #4
1954 Justino's Verdelho (btld.~1977?) #5 #6
1966 D'Oliveiras Verdelho (btld. 2005) #7 #5
1966 D'Oliveiras Verdelho (btld. 2012) #6 #8
1973 D'Oliveiras Verdelho (btld. 2007) #8 #7
1981 Barbeito Verdelho (btld. 2005) #9 #9

There were 12 members in the group tasting and ranking the wines. I correctly identified all of the Madeiras, so I did know what I was tasting when I ranked them (although I couldn't be certain at the time). The bottles were revealed after everyone had scored the wines.
The two 1966 bottles had qualitative differences, and on a different night, in a different setting, I might have reversed the ranking. The more recent bottling was richer-- a more lush mouthfeel. The older bottling might have been more elegant, but it was thinner, lighter bodied.
Interesting that although my preference was for the bolder 1966, my #1 was perhaps the lightest Madeira in the bunch; it was the most ethereal, magical, impossible to pin down, but perfectly balanced.
A few things seemed to be factors as to how the Madeiras came across:
1. the ratio of time in the barrel to time in the bottle
2. the qualities of the grapes that went into making the wine
3. characteristics introduced by the producer's barrel and process
4. the interplay of the above factors

Jim,

This was a good decision by the group.

I'm curious to see how the two bottles of 1966V turn out. I think that D'Oliveira's wines, especially the dryish wines, gain significantly from bottle time.

The very first bottling of RWC Historic Series, "New Orleans". I bought 6 in total, (2 from RWC and 4 from a friend in NYC) but after the one opened on Friday night, just one bottle is left in my cellar.

This was exceptional and loved that it was on the dry side of the scale and the finish was spectacular too. The next bottling is going to be released next April. Be prepared! I have a feeling it is going to be far more expensive then what we paid for this inaugural release, which part of the money went to Katrina efforts.