Vintage Madeira
Posted: 06:51 Tue 06 Nov 2007
Last month I went to a tasting of a dozen wines, three of each of the noble varieties. The oldest vintage was 1840 although there were three undated wines which may have pre dated this, but not by much. The youngest vintage was 1962.
The three themes, for me, at least, were power, idiosyncracy and surprise. The power is self evident when you taste; nothing, and I include port, assaults your sense of tatste in this way. Outstanding in this respect were a Malmsey of 1900 from Rutherford and Miles, and an 1870 Malmsey from someone I had never heard of. A small glass of each of these left my senses reeling.
The idiosyncracy comes in several ways. An 1870 Sercial from Barbeito was not wonderful. To me, it was musty and showed its age. An 1895 Verdelho was quite subtle, almost withdrawn, as if mature, but only just. It was perfect. Some of the very old wines are not necessarily that wonderful, although at this tasting on ly the 1870 Sercial was a disappointment. Age is not all.
Surprise comes in what appeals, as with so much in life. An 1847 Verdellho had an unusual iodine or medicinal nose, but really grew in attraction after a moment or two. A Cossart Sercial of 1936 was beautifully sedate with none of the searing acidity which can sometimes hit the palate with this grape. An undated Bual, around 1840, was gentle, utterly correct and with no hint of age.
The unusual wines can at the time eclipse some of the more commercially available such as, here, a 1962 Sercial and 1959 Bual, both from Blandy. It would not do justice to those youngsters to leave with that conclusion. The Sercial was, to me, only just mature. A long and happy life awaits it. The Bual was fully mature, an easy wine to enjoy and of such natural quality that it had nothing to prove, an aristocrat.
The three themes, for me, at least, were power, idiosyncracy and surprise. The power is self evident when you taste; nothing, and I include port, assaults your sense of tatste in this way. Outstanding in this respect were a Malmsey of 1900 from Rutherford and Miles, and an 1870 Malmsey from someone I had never heard of. A small glass of each of these left my senses reeling.
The idiosyncracy comes in several ways. An 1870 Sercial from Barbeito was not wonderful. To me, it was musty and showed its age. An 1895 Verdelho was quite subtle, almost withdrawn, as if mature, but only just. It was perfect. Some of the very old wines are not necessarily that wonderful, although at this tasting on ly the 1870 Sercial was a disappointment. Age is not all.
Surprise comes in what appeals, as with so much in life. An 1847 Verdellho had an unusual iodine or medicinal nose, but really grew in attraction after a moment or two. A Cossart Sercial of 1936 was beautifully sedate with none of the searing acidity which can sometimes hit the palate with this grape. An undated Bual, around 1840, was gentle, utterly correct and with no hint of age.
The unusual wines can at the time eclipse some of the more commercially available such as, here, a 1962 Sercial and 1959 Bual, both from Blandy. It would not do justice to those youngsters to leave with that conclusion. The Sercial was, to me, only just mature. A long and happy life awaits it. The Bual was fully mature, an easy wine to enjoy and of such natural quality that it had nothing to prove, an aristocrat.