Maybe it is Maderia weather. A friend brought a 1976 Terrantez to dinner the other night and it was divine with the cheese course, especially an aged cheddar.
Fine Madeira? FORGET IT! and by that I mean open the bottle, try a bit and forget it for a day or two, or three, or a couple weeks, or months, honestly leave it for years, though you would be doing a disservice to your palate if you didn't check up on it once or twice over that time. Fine Madeira is in a rare coterie of talented undead* wines, reaching the peak of their powers at a point where others would wither and die of exposure.
We got a giant list of D'Oliveira Madeira today, truly a pleasure for me to peruse, and I thought you might be interested to take a look as well. Before you check out the big list, see my notes on an amazing bottle of Verdelho that I followed for 9 months, the 2007 Verdelho Single Vinyard QG, which is available now, while the bottles on the long list can be ordered to arrive later this summer.
Henriques & Henriques Verdelho 'Single Vineyard- QG' 2007 - $61
12/11/21: a quick taste... nutty and salty on the nose, figs, honey, oranges, flowers and spice, almost dry on the palate, just a little sweet, a little chocolate and espresso bean, lots of dried fruit and citrus, long and piercing, with intertwined nutty and citrus reverberations, lovely Madeira
3/10/22: another quick taste... still quite salty and nutty on the nose: fig, prune, orange marmalade, and dried apricot are countered by nut pastes, fudge, salt marsh, tamari glaze and dried flowers. Incredible interplay of elements on the palate, there's strong acid, thick glycerin, intense inner perfume, and delightful heat. Fortified wine can be lovely.
4/3/22: if you dunno how a wine can be nutty, try this, but also pay attention to the citrus, wood, salt and spice, this is VERDELHO MADEIRA, long finish of fudge nuts citrus... yowza!
9/26/22: diverse cooked citrus, membrillo, damp wood, nuts toasted and raw, lots of spice, a little coffee and chocolate, tangy and dry on the palate... citrus, salt, nuts, earth on the finish
100 years of D'Oliveira Madeira, 1901-2001:
A quick note on Madeira styles. Malvasia (aka Malmsey) is the sweetest. Bual is also sweet, but less so compared to Malvasia, and tends to have more earthy tones. Verdelho tends to be a little sweet, but often approaches dryness. Sercial is almost always dry, usually the driest Madeira you might find, and it makes for a wonderful aperitif. Terrantez tends toward a touch of sweetness, in my experience somewhere between Verdelho and Sercial; it is extraordinarily rare, and should be cherished and shared.
Another quick note: everything below is net priced because we have already applied a 15% discount.
Bual 1908 - $1530 NET
Bual 1968 - $612 NET
Bual 1977 - $382 NET
Bual 1982 - $346 NET
Bual 1987 - $306 NET
Bual 1992 - $239 NET
Bual 2001 - $178 NET
Malvasia 1901 - $2014 NET
Malvasia 1907 - $1606 NET
Malvasia 1990 - $270 NET
Malvasia 1991 - $255 NET
Malvasia 1994 - $229 NET
Malvasia 2000 - $198 NET
Verdelho 1912 - $1402 NET
Verdelho 1932 - $1035 NET
Verdelho 1973 - $464 NET
Verdelho 1981 - $346 NET
Verdelho 1985 - $321 NET
Verdelho 1994 - $255 NET
Verdelho 2000 - $198 NET
Terrantez 1971 - $652 NET
Terrantez 1977 - $540 NET
Sercial 1928 - $1086 NET
Sercial 1937 - $882 NET
Sercial 1969 - $484 NET
Sercial 1977 - $351 NET
Sercial 1989 - $295 NET
Sercial 1999 - $193 NET
Please place orders by emailing orders@craftandcru.com
*who played D&D?