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…
Turning 200 years old needs to be highlighted right? If you’re closing in at two centuries you can always ask someone with the experience for tips. Blandy’s for example. In 2011 the Madeira wine producer arranged some historical bicentennial tastings in San…
Twenty years old Madeira. For the initiated Madeira consumer this has primarily been equal to Vintage wines which by regulation needs to spend two decades in cask. Most of these however, are allowed to evolve much longer than that, knowing…
The legislation separates the grape varieties in two sections; the recommended and the authorized. You don’t need to be a rocket scientist in order to understand that the advocated grapes are the only ones wanted, but then again, why also…
“Amber brown; bouquet like horses’ pee – fabulous!; full, rich, tangy.” April 1993 **** In princip, I find tasting notes quite boring. A wine is so much more than a stereotype note telling you how it smells and tastes. But…
There’s nothing like a human treading team. Foot treading guarantees that the grapes are crushed gently and doesn’t release any bitter substances in the must. A human foot is not likely to crush the pips in other words. But what if…
Every wine region has it; a property, a single vineyard, a specific wine or vintage that enjoys a particular repute. Madeira is no exception. There’s this one, small but historically famous vineyard, called Fajã dos Padres which for centuries was…
There’s something about a newly released Terrantez as is the case with the 1971 Terrantez Vintage from d’Oliveiras. Anticipation and worry at the same time. Due to its extreme rarity one can’t help but to think that this is it;…
Wine is fermented grape juice. True. A majority of the world’s wine consumers settle with knowing this and that’s just fine; we can’t expect all to share a love for wine considering that most of us don’t get others passions…
Somebody smart once said that wine is bottled poetry. Let’s call this intelligent dude Robert Louis Stevenson. Robert was born in 1850, the same year as Wagner’s opera Lohengrin premieres. I think he was a little bit too generous there,…
Most Madeira wines sold are three years old. Nothing spectacular in that. It’s the same in basically all wine regions. But when people upgrade, to a ten years old for example, then they notice the huge difference in quality and…
I’m delighted to see that the number of visitors keeps moving upwards. In the last 30 days the site has had visitors from 47 different countries (spambots and other evil not included)! A new record. The biggest of thanks to…
Thanks to the work of Humberto Jardim, the Quinta Grande will become more accessible for visitors in the future. And believe me, you really want to visit this amazing vineyard, to get a glimpse of the breathtaking view and to…
Mad about Madeira continues promoting the island in a broader perspective. Here’s the last one of four photographic reports. If you like the content, I invite you to visit and like the site’s Facebook page as well. Again, it is…
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