Madeira style question

WINE TALK
1

I’d long been of the opinion that I didn’t like Madeira. I’d had a fair number, including ones that other people oohed and aahed over which did nothing for me.

Earlier this year a friend opened a 1934 Henriques & Henriques Verdelho Madeira which I loved. But I didn’t love it enough to pay the $450 Rare Wine Company is asking for the wine.

So my question is where should I be looking for something most similar in style? Should I be looking at other Verdelhos? Does Henriques & Henriques have a particularly strong style so I should look at other wines from that producer? Or is it just that 1934 was a great year so I’m out of luck?

I guess the question is if I loved that wine what would be my best place to look for something not necessarily as good but at least similar in style for less money?

Any references for Verdelho vs. Malvasia vs. Bual, etc. would also be appreciated.

Thanks!

2

I’d put the typical Verdelho somewhere between Sercial and Bual on the sweetness spectrum. But Sercial is so dry that I almost consider it a different animal, more like low-alcohol whiskey in a lot of ways than a fortified wine.
I am a huge fan of the Rare Wine Co. Historic Series of Madeira, the Boston Bual especially. I don’t think they make a Verdelho, but you won’t find a better label for QPR Madeira. I like them so much I stopped shelling out the $$$ on the rest of their Madeira inventory (especially when they indiscriminately hiked the prices on everything last year in an effort to ride the bubble that was pumping up everything else).