On March 10th 2012, 18 individuals from more than a half dozen countries descended on NYC for the wildest and most historic Madeira tasting ever attempted. The youngest bottle was 125 years old and the most ancient preceded the Revolutionary War. All were from Madeira’s single greatest grape, Terrantez, with over a half dozen bottles exceeding 200 years of age. Here are the details:
http://www.fortheloveofport.com/madeira/the-transcendental-terrantez-tasting
Some very heavy weight Madeira mavens were present. Not just Roy and Mannie but also Dr. Maliner, longtime head of the Hollywood (FL) wine society and one of the greatest wine collectors of all time; Andrew Jones, one of the heads of the North American Wine and Food society; David Boobyer, one of the directors of Averys of Bristol; Chris Blandy of the Blandy family who have just bought out the Symingtons and now control the Madeira Wine Company again; and Peter Reutter of the Madeira Wine Guide. It was a privledge just to bask in their reflected glory!
Totally unreal!
I love Terantez. I can only imagine how great this tasting was to experience. Bravo Roy.
Eric,
I totally agree with you. The wines will never be forgotten and the memory of some of them will remain the rest of our lives. But equally compelling and what made the dialogue between flights such an amazing experience is that we realized that in nearly every single seat, was one of the greatest Madeira minds on the planet.
Don,
Thank you for your nice comment!
Thanks, Roy. Now I’ll have to set aside some time today to sit in a tiny, dark, undisturbed corner while salivating over this report.
You are a sick man, bless you
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Roy
the most warm and uplifting notes to a tasting I can remember reading. I don’t normally go all soppy when I read the vintages, but its very unlikely anyone alive will now, or in the future, will ever get to taste such a collection of old, drinkable wine. Lucky you and lucky us for being able to read about it.
Ray & Cameron,
Thanks so much. It took me a long time to write up this report, and I figured it would not be read by many, but I felt it was important to document this tasting, from a historical standpoint and for there to be tasting notes on quite a few bottles of wines that I will likely never see again (nor will almost anybody). Anyway, I really appreciate the kind words!
Wow. I love/hate reading Roy’s reports on his special events. Love them because of the incredible experiences he shares with us, hate them because I really want to live his life. Bad.
Wow Roy. Well done and amazing. A great read. Fascinating how much air you gave the wines. Thanks for posting this.
Good lord, amazing. I would have been happy to have merely hovered over everything, just breathing in the air of all that historic majesty.
Beyond amazing. Have read it twice. A wonderful experience!
Ohmygodohmygodohmygod!
What an unrivaled experience that must have been! I think that must have been the pinnacle of wine tastings, matched, perhaps, but unbeatable.
Thanks, Roy.
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Lucky you!
But equally compelling and what made the dialogue between flights such an amazing experience is that we realized that in nearly every single seat, was one of the greatest Madeira minds on the planet.
Yes, the wines were staggeringly stupendous, but so was the commentary. Dr. Maliner’s story about Micheal Broadbent and the 1862 Borges was great.
Thanks to all for the fun commentary. I was alerted to some repetitive paragraphs that got translated poorly from my newsletter to this version of the article. It has all been fixed now and thanks to Robert A. for the heads up!
Eric, although I loved drinking these Terrentez bottlings (obviously), I agree that one of the most fun parts of the entire event was the story telling that went on around the table. Bob Maliner is one of the great ones!
Peter Reutter has posted his notes on his website, The Madeira Wine Guide.
I’m assuming Neil Martin will eventually post his. Anyone subscribing to the WA know?
My sentiments exactly. Those look really special!
Neil hasn’t posted anything yet.