For The Love Of Port

Hello.
I'm a rare visitor here, mostly because I don't know much about port or madeira. But I appreciate both, and I recently had an experience I have to share. My note is below.
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2006 Haak Jacquez Madeira (USA, Texas)
1/13/2010:
nose: honeyed almonds, sweet citrus. Rather delicious, really.
palate: Holy Toledo, could I possibly sing the praises of a wine from Texas? This has a lovely lemon-rind quality to it that balances the honey-sweet apricot perfectly. Really, perfectly. The midpalate is custardly thick, unctuous, and filling. The finish is long, evenly peppered with herbal sensations. Wild like the West. I could go on butchering cowboy metaphors, but this has caught me too off guard. Order some in the local saloon and prove me wrong, I dare you.

Edit: Night three, this had become more custard-like, taking upon it a more creme-brulee texture, and even a hint of banana peel (!). I really dont' like banana peel, but this was just lovely. I wonder if I have to go all the way to Texas to buy more....
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I really think this is fantastic. I went in with an open mind, almost entirely due to the fact that this particular bottle was handed to me by a well-known port lover. If I hadn't had that sort of introduction to the bottle, I probably would have served it with a blind eye and a "Let's see how bad this is!" attitude.

You may know my friend. His name is Roy. And he approves this message. (Kidding!)

Hi Megan,

Nice note! Roy has pulled out a bottle of Haak before, if I remember my notes correctly, and surprised a handful of us with it. Your TN reminded me of the one that I had. Was yours a rather light (for a madeira), almost yellow or golden yellow color?

Glenn E. wrote:Hi Megan,

Nice note! Roy has pulled out a bottle of Haak before, if I remember my notes correctly, and surprised a handful of us with it. Your TN reminded me of the one that I had. Was yours a rather light (for a madeira), almost yellow or golden yellow color?

Hello, Glenn.
I have limited experience with Madeira. But yes, it appeared lighter in color than what I had expected. Came in this fat, kinda squat bottle with a lovely, saloon-style label. Quite the conversation piece! I wish we could have kept it around longer - by the third night it had improved greatly, but was therefore too tasty to not finish. And I looked on their website - looks like they don't ship to WA state.

I agree. This is surprising good. I was expecting to be disappointed, however I think that it actually is quite fine.
-Dave-

Who woulda thunk such nice nectar would come from Texas of all places ... not the first place I think of when considering Madeira knock-offs that are going to be really good.

Megan, thanks for popping in here. What a nice surprise.

My wife told me your hubby just landed something fantastic. Please send him my congrats!

Come on back ... you are always welcome here.