Certain wines are more important to write about. Partly for being reference points demonstrating what can be achieved, but also as in this specific case, in order to highlight the frailness of what once was considered the foremost wine…
Funny actually; I’m not that much into sweets, chocolate or desserts for that matter. Never really been. Guess it comes with the nut allergy I’ve had since childhood. Although it turned milder with age, it’s still there: the avoiding…
The 1999 and 2000 Single Harvest Tinta Negra from Vinhos Barbeito are both wines I love for several reasons. I know I’m not having all with me on the praising of good Tinta Negra. That’s fine. Or perhaps not? You…
At my most recent visit to Madeira, Paulo Mendes told me about a project he had started together with Foundation Plant Services at UC Davis in California; to have Listrão scientifically confirmed to be the same (or not) as…
The stenciled bottle says 1944. Instantly that activates a lot of emotions and thoughts. What was it like back then, in Madeira and having your island captured by a world war? It must have been slightly depressing, harvesting grapes while…
Are they still popular, those sound machines that brought ocean waves to our bedrooms? Well, don’t put too much effort in it, trying to sell one to the owner of this house. A visit to Madeira isn’t complete if…
I’m in The Netherlands to attend an epic Port Wine tasting arranged by Moritz Peeters who runs Wijnhandel Peeters. Great stuff ranging from 1945 to the very latest extra-ordinary year of 2011. And yet I end up with a…
Young Madeira and a classic grape. In my world there’s no doubt; Verdelho and Malvasia are the ones that offer most of their respective grape typicity. Perhaps because they have a quite clear, defined style from the beginning? The…
Situation #1 Ok, so you’re new to Madeira but curious to taste a few wines. And you ask me for advice. Here’s one of the first I’d recommend you to try; Blandy’s 5 years old Sercial. Situation #2 Ok,…
Why go on a long and tossing voyage on the sea when you can stay on land and be subject of a more temperature controlled estufagem? Today’s duplication of the old vinho da roda, a round trip Madeira, is…
In the search for the unique expressions that Madeira wines offer, we tend to focus too much on vintage stuff and forget about the more available blends. I’ve been quite critical when it comes to younger Madeira wines, finding…
The 1984 Vintage Verdelho from Blandy’s made me thinking. How come wines like this, shaped in a subtle and elegant way, rarely gets the attention they deserves? Is it a must that vintage Madeira needs intensity, everlasting length and…
There are almost 1,500 registered vine growers on the island of Madeira and around half of them don’t deliver more than 2,500 kilos of grapes each year. What few perhaps didn’t know is that a lot of these are quite…
A Sercial is dry, a Verdelho semi-dry, the Bual semi-sweet and the Malvasia is sweet. That’s the general definition of the Madeira styles and it’s so well established that even the not so often Madeira consumers knows about it….
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