The Essential Madeira Library – The Rare Wine Co.

Few retailers has meant so much for Madeira wine as The Rare Wine Co. Hence, when the owner Mannie Berk offers a package of the three best books written about Madeira wine, I hope all interested in the island wines, newcomers or experienced Madeira winelovers, do benefit from the opportunity and secures their copies. All three delivers fascinating and impressive in-depth information and honestly I don’t know how many times I’ve consulted them.

The Essential Madeira Library-pack is $99.95 + postage.

Contact The Rare Wine Co to order the 3-pack by mailing them at: sales at rarewineco.com or by calling (800) 999-4342 (International calls needs the 001 dialing code ahead) The offer is also valid for international shipment. Check with The Rare Wine Co. what the postage costs are for your country.

Text from Mannie Berk:

For a 500-year-old wine, Madeira has been the subject of surprisingly few books. And of those, the three most valuable for English-reading wine lovers are: Alex Liddell’s Madeira (1998), David Hancock’s Oceans of Wine (2009) and Noel Cossart’s Madeira, The Island Vineyard (1984, with an expanded new edition in 2011). If you enjoy Madeira and its fascinating history, a copy of each is an essential addition to your wine library.

To make that possible, we’re pleased to offer new copies of these three essentials at a special 3-pack price of just $99.95 + postage. Our regular price for the three books is $121.50. As for what you’d pay elsewhere, that’s anyone’s guess, since Liddell’s book has been out of print for years and seldom comes on the market. (Several years ago, we bought every copy the UK distributor had left and it has since disappeared from the market.)

Details on the three titles:

Alex Liddell, Madeira (published by Faber & Faber, 1998) 297 pp. paperbound (Our reg. price $49.50) – From a scholarly point of view, probably the most authoritative look at Madeira and its history. Also includes some of the best tasting notes available on many of Madeira’s most famous wines.

David Hancock, Oceans of Wine (Yale University Press, 2009) 632 pp. hardbound with dustjacket (Our reg. price $39.95) – A magnificent study of Madeira’s trade with the United States from the earliest colonial days to the beginning of the 19th century.

Noel Cossart, Madeira The Island Vineyard 2nd Edition with additional material by Mannie Berk (The Rare Wine Co., 2011) 340 pp. hardbound with dustjacket (Our reg. price $32) – The only book that offers an insider’s perspective, as Cossart was intimately involved in the Madeira trade for a half century. The first edition was out of print for more than 20 years, and until the new edition came out, copies brought several hundred dollars from rare book dealers. The second edition includes all of Cossart’s original text, plus it benefits from a large amount of new material, including the most comprehensive accounting of Madeira auction sales ever undertaken.

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NB. There’s nothing in it for me except the fact I want these great books to be an important part of your wine library. I’m just helping a fellow Madeira passionate spreading the word.