Barbeito 1900 Malmsey. Beautiful dark caramel and sweet burnt orange. Nicely balanced.
5 Likes
We just finished this 1912 dāOliveras Verdelho (bottled 2003) after sharing it with WB friends last week. We decanted it a week and a half before serving, and it benefitted from every minute. Do NOT pop and pour old Madeira! This is one of the only hard-and-fast decanting rules.
9 Likes
OK, question for the madeira experts. I have tried and enjoyed the Rare Wine Co Historic Series but find them a bit simple. What is the next step up in terms of intensity/complexity from there? Age statement bottlings from the major producers? Vintage bottlings from the major producers? How old do I have to go to get a meaningful bump? (I have also had a couple tastes, courtesy of others, of the real old good stuff, including one 1850s bottling, all of which were great. But I am not looking to splash out that kind of money for a category where I might have a few ounces every month at most.)
Of the RWC bottles Iāve tried, order of preference was probably the Boston Bual, then Charleston Sercial, and then a fairly disappointing New York Malmsey which was just sort of straightforward and boring.
2 Likes
Ok, question from a Madeira curious gentleman:
What qualities differentiate an outstanding Madeira from the merely good?
Iāve had a few older ones from generous friends but they tend to fall in the same flavor/texture spectrum.
What should I be looking for?
1 Like
I donāt think itās different from any other type of wine. A great wine has more complexity, depth, precision, aromatic intensity, persistence, delineation, personality, arc, completness and je ne sais quoi / emotion. While itās certainly unique, madeira is still wine. If a beginner asked me what I look for in great burgundy, I would give the same list - no need to throw advanced ideas like does it transparently reflect terror in the beginning, any more than I would suggest you look for appropriate sugar levels of a bual versus verdelho.
Anytime you drink a wine from a category you donāt know, especially if itās very different, itās likely to just taste like that thing to you (they all taste like madeira) But if you have two next to each other, the elements you consider when evaluating any other wine, and your perception skills, come to your aid, unless you simply canāt get past the fact that the wine doesnāt taste like what you are used to - in this case, itās oxidized and heat damaged!
4 Likes
Fair point, Sarah.
Iāve only had single tastings of one Madeira at end of long Burg evenings.
It would be instructive to taste three different ones of different ages and styles as a focused exploration.
Iām going to make that happen. Thanks for wise counsel.
1 Like
I suspect you have only had good to great examples, given the circumstances 
1 Like
Madeira, like Champagne, is overall a highly manipulated wine compared to Burgundy. Soil-to-glass transfer is not so much the goal.
But complexity and balance are still tantamount to excellence. Complexity is hard to put a finger on, but I think you can just tell when you have a good one.
Lots of different nuances in the oxidized flavors that range from nutty to caramelized to burnt orange and from pithy to crystalline to unctuous in texture.
Also, some of the charm is the vintage and the fact that old Madeira will always be wonderfully drinkable and will not require āimaginationā to appreciate.
N.
4 Likes
Yeah, I was going to say that the bottle last Thursday could make me a regular madeira drinker. Until I started shopping 
4 Likes
anyone who wants to get into madeira should read thisā¦
warning: rabbithole!
- 1977 Blandy's Madeira Terrantez - Portugal, Madeira (7/4/2026)
From 375, bottled 2015, decanted for a day before serving. Darker color than I expected. Caramel, toffee, hazelnut, old wood, and a hint of furniture polish on the nose. Full bodied, almost oily on the palate, with loads of caramel, chocolate, nuts, and orange peel followed a shot of razor-sharp acidity on the midpalate, and an extremely long nutty, sultana-infused finish. Marvelous.
Posted from CellarTracker
JustinP,
I have had the same impression of the Rare Wine Historic Series; certainly good but not exciting. If you see the Thomas Jefferson Special Reserve, it is worth a try though. I found it to be a significant step up. . Medium dry, intense, complex, and very long. The caveat is that there are different batches bottled at different times from the solera-style barrels. Of course most producers bottle as there is demand, even from barrels of Vintage Madeira. I thought the second one (purchased 2017) was not quite as good as the first, (purchased 2014) and I assume there have been more.
Sarah,
I had the pleasure of tasting the 1912 Bual with Luis DāOliveira in 2018. It struck me that it was the year the Titanic sunk. It was not the oldest on the table.
3 Likes
I think the Washington Reserve, Jefferson Reserve, Chief Justiceās Madeira, and The Declaration of Independence Reserve are all steps up from the ābaseā Rare Wine Historic Series, of which the Verdelho is my favorite. The reserve bottlings cost a few dollars more and are worth seeking out.
2 Likes
I have also tasted with him and no - it was far from the oldest on the table!
I am glad it pleased you. We thought it was great. The decant was key - we tasted it at several points along the way, and it just got better and better.
1 Like
Nothing as flash as those, but a recent tasting of six Barbeitos (mainly the range of 10 years). All very fascinating and good fun pairing with food. Verdelho and Boal were probably the sweet spot (cough) compared to the Sercial and Malvasia - though all wines had their proponents. I also found the Tinta Negra Colheita 2010 very interesting.
Not 100 years old, but we were recently in Portugal and the guy in the shop that was heloing me steered me to these. The Port was great, but I really got 10 times the charge out of the Madeira. Truly beautiful wine and full of pleasure.
And agree, pretty expensive stateside.
1 Like
Comparing two bottles that share objective things in common is is the best way I know to learn and grow my palateās experience.
-Same producer/vintage, different vineyard
-Same vintage/vineyard, different winemakers
-Friendly Oregon Pinot vs: friendly French Fixin
-Blanc de Blanc vs standard Champagne blend
I also think itās a good way to expose beginners to tasting /iterating towards what they like, and simply paying attention
Crappy Madeira vs World Class Madeira
1 Like
The Rare Wine Company Historic Series is a good starting place, but is mainly young wines with a bit of older stuff blended to add polish. Indicated age wines would be the next step. Iām a particular fan of Borges 15 year old series. Henriques & Henriques indicated age wines are also really nice. The 50 year old indicated age wines were recently approved by the institute and producers have release a series of them the past few years. These have generally been superb. Not cheap though. After that would be Colheita wines which must be canteiro aged and over 5 years old but most are older. Justinoās makes a nice annual one. Then come the Frasqueras (vintage) which are a minimum of 20 years in canteiro. DāOliveras 2001 Boal is really nice younger version. But then you get steps up with increasing age. DāOliveiras have only recently released some 80 to 100 year old wines.
2 Likes