H.M. Borges – A Sercial Quartet

Over the years I’ve conducted a lot of tastings. Those I most clearly remember are not the ones involving the great names and vintages, but the occasions where the participants has left the tasting in a vision like mode. When Madeira’s been the topic – which is the main wine tasting I try to sell in -the occasions has been quite a few.

Too often Madeira is surrounded by prejudice. Upon asked why most consumers mix it with Sherry and Port. Still, if somebody actually can come up with an explanation it is most of the time connoted to cloying sweetness. Hello! Madeira?

As always when discussing the price, Madeira is no exception. You get what you pay for. Don’t expect miracles at three years of age, not at five or ten either, but the quality difference between the youngest Madeira allowed to be bottled, which most consumers buy, and a ten years old, well, it’s quite obvious when you have them next to each other.

No, Madeira doesn’t have to be sweet. It can be acidity driven, nutty and quite appetizing as well. And dry. Like a Sercial. At a tasting a few months ago, I poured one each of the noble grapes, Sercial, Verdelho, Bual and Malvasia. Most appreciated? The Sercial and Verdelho.

”Is this really Madeira,” I heard.

”But the Verdelho is delicious. Why can’t I buy one of these at home?”

Too a many buyer rely on contemporary social and environmental analysis instead of daring to make a difference and direct the markets themselves. Profit always rules. If there are obstacles in the way, meaning you have to work more with a brand, it’s a big no no. That’s gutless but the norm. Few stores or supermarkets care or have the ambition to educate the end consumer, that is why Madeira never will be real fashion again. Not in a profit driven world.

For those scared to death when there’s residual sugar in a wine there’s Sercial. I’ve always been fond of the different quality levels of the grape at H.M. Borges. Ivo Couto, the winemaker, has been aroun for a while and he’s really skilledand knows what he’s doing. The 10 Years Old Sercial for example, has a fine nutty nose with salted almonds, a floral character and vanilla. The intensity impresses, it is one of the producer’s best in the ten years series, and the quite dry, fruity, almonds oriented taste with lovely acidity, are excellent with soups or as an appetizer.

The 15 Years Old Sercial is a step up in quality. More dried scents of tobacco and herbs, the old wood feel, but also a dash of the flowers. Even greater intensity and if you’re ever in doubt if the five years extra aging is worth it; yes it is.

The Colheita wine, the 1995 Sercial, has a concentration you find in the premium wines. More acidity as well and a bit perhaps demanding, it is a wine to just sip on its own. Colheita by the way, for those who hasn’t bumped into the term yet, is a Madeira which needs at least five years in the canteiro and could be considered an interrupted vintage Madeira. It’s a quite recent wine, at least 25 years is nothing on the island, but probably the most needed and welcomed wine in the portfolio of the producers. The end consumer gets a slight, just slight, indication where a vintage wine is heading and how it’s tasting.

The 1979 Vintage Sercial is a real treat. Lovely balance, perhaps a bit sweeter than one initially expects from a Sercial, but the intensity, the concentration is just sublime. Flowers, spring honey, vanilla and tobacco. Some nutmeg and almonds. On the palate it demonstrates why Sercial so often needs time to mellow. The enamel almost falls of ones teeth and Sercial lovers must be a dentist’s dream. Still feeling youthful, the 1979 has a long life ahead. If you see it, buy!