Madeira In SF/Silicon Valley - 3/22 UPDATE!! W-O-W!

If anyone in the SF/Silicon Valley is interested in being part of an offline with Madeira at the forefront, I’d be more than happy to organize something.

Sure. I think we tried to get interest in an old Madeira before. I would still do that too.

Absolutely, I’d be in, if it were in SF. Highly unlikely I could make it to east bay or south, however.

I’m in depending on schedules. When were you thinking? I am busy from mid march to mid may, but can probably make something before or after. SF preferred for me, but not a deal breaker.

I imagine a fairly low-key event; if possible, non-restaurant, as I’d love to have $ going to the quality of the Madeira, rather then the $ for restaurant food. We could do a few other wines, but the focus would be on one great, ‘ancient’ Madeira; something late 19th or early 20th century. Quite generally, for power, we could go with an earlier bottle of 'D’Oliveira, or for elegance and precision, a Barbeito. If we did a Madeira ‘buy-in’ for about $80-$100 each (with 5-6 people attending), we could get something fairly special. A wonderful thing about Madeira, a little can go a long way, and what you don’t finish can be saved in a small bottle for enjoyment, weeks or months later.

Also, I don’t currently own any Madeira and don’t know much about it. If someone who knows the region better wants to source a good lineup and split the cost among participants, I’m up for that too. Of course, we will need to confirm details like dates, participants, etc before that is feasible.

I know A LOT about Madeira. Actually, I’m currently writing an article on a Madeira tasting going back to 1825 for Roy Hersh’s For The Love of Port, FWIW.

I would be interested but I own none at all and know very little about madeira besides what I’ve read in Wine for Dummies and wikipedia.

I would recommend the 1968 D’Oliveira Bual (a relatively young Madeira) and something more in the 100+ year range. Check Rare Wine Co. Mannie Berk, the owner, has arguably the best Madeira selection the the US.

Do you want to do all Madeira or some other wines followed by a few Madeiras? That was our format for the 2001 D’Yquem tasting that Ashish organized and I thought it worked well. Most of us are Madeira-dry so a buy-in is probably good, but we could add some interesting things from our cellars.

Hi Craig,

I believe a few wines prior would be nice. Regarding the Madeira, I’m thinking 3 levels of differing Madeira complexity, perhaps one of the RWC Historical lines (about $45), a '68 D’Oliveira ($150) and and something quite old (about $500), perhaps a D’Oliveira 1903.

I don’t know much about Madeira, but I do know that every single one I’ve tried I’ve enjoyed. I have a 1977 AO - SM (Anibal D’Oliveira Sao Martinho) Madeira Bual, but right now that is the only one I own. I’d be happy to open it, but just as happy to add $ to a group purchase.
I’ve tasted a few times with Roy, and I think once he had an 1890 madeira on the table, but my experience with very old bottles is basically nil. So this all sounds like great fun to me. Enough fun that I might actually make it outside SF if needed. [cheers.gif]

If I’m around, I could contribute something nice.

Hi Eric.

Do Saturdays in March work for people?

I’m available the Saturdays of March 8th and 22nd.

Sorry, my schedule is packed starting March 8th until the end of May. If it’s in that window, I’ll have to bow out. Keep me updated if you do it before March 8th or after late May.

For the hearing impaired, I asked,

“DO SATURDAYS IN MARCH WORK FOR PEOPLE?!”

-Garrett Morris

I could probably do the 22nd, but I’m afraid I don’t have any Madeira. [cry.gif]

March might be tricky for me. The 22nd is probably better than the 8th.