Madeira Review: Rare Wine Co New York Malmsey

Finally we reach the end of this series that was rudely interrupted by last summer's raging forest fires.

My introduction to madeira was a malmsey, though the bar may have been set a little too high since it was a very nice 90s colheita. I've always enjoyed the style because it has the sweetness of a port while the higher acidity keeps it from becoming unidimensional.

This wine is fermented to just over 100 g of residual sugar per liter, fortified, and aged in oak in a traditional canteiro system. The blend is put together from 85% malvasia grapes aged for 15-20 years with 15% tinta negra mole grapes aged for 40-60 years, then bottled at 19.5% ABV.  

Rare Wine Co New York Malmsey

Nose: juicy, concentrated grapes, caramel, lightly floral vanilla, tropical fruit, gentle mustiness and yeasty savoriness, a touch of oak and orange peel

Taste: big raisin and caramel sweetness up front, quickly tempered by gentle acidity, citrus peel and a little pink bubblegum in the middle, trending towards tart apples and gentle tannins going into the back

Finish: pleasantly tart and gently drying (malic acid), raisin/grape/caramel sweetness, soft oak tannins

While I find this to be the least complex of the four, I can't deny that this is a very pleasant madeira to sip. The acidity is more restrained than in the others without disappearing, so the wine never becomes insipid. The somewhat drying finish also keeps it in check, making each new sip pleasant instead of overwhelmingly sweet. I think the bual will be my happy medium, but I would still recommend this wine if you want to kick the sweetness up a notch.

Madeira Review: Rare Wine Co Boston Bual

While malmsey was my introduction to madeira, bual was not far behind. While I wasn't overly impressed by Blandy's 5 Year Bual, this should be much older and hopefully more complex.

While not as sweet as a malmsey, this should be much sweeter than a verdelho or a sercial. This wine is fermented to more than 50 g but less than 100 g of residual sugar per liter, fortified, and aged in oak in a traditional canteiro system. The blend is put together from 85% bual grapes aged for 15-20 years with 15% tinta negra mole grapes aged for 40-60 years, then bottled at 19.5% ABV.

Rare Wine Co Boston Bual

Nose: big dried fruits, fresh grapes, raspberry, plum, melon, a sour top note, floral, a little fresh wood, soy sauce, and bubble gum

Taste: moderate grape sweetness up front, apples, pears, and berries in the middle, a moderately tart finish with tea tannins and lemon peel

Finish: a little thin, citric/vinegar tartness, grape sweetness, a little bit of vanilla roundness

This is definitely the transition point where the madeiras switch from being aperitifs to dessert wines. While there is still plenty of acidity to counterbalance the sweetness, it has firmly switched from being dry to sweet.

My first impression was that this was something of an awkward middle. It didn't quite seem to have the complexity of the sercial or verdelho, but it also didn't have the magnificent sweetness of a malmsey. Subsequent tastings have improved that impression, so I feel like it holds its own in the lineup. I can also see some parallels with the Blandy's Bual I mentioned above, though as I hoped this has more complexity. It makes a solid after dinner drink for a not overly rich meal.

Madeira Review: Rare Wine Co Savannah Verdelho

While I have tried a verdelho or two before, most of my madeira experience has been firmly between malmseys and buals. I was really curious to see how this one would stand up, especially after the rather tart sercial

While not as dry as sercial, it has less residual sugar than a bual and much less than a malmsey. This wine is fermented to more than 50 g of residual sugar per liter, fortified, and aged in oak in a traditional canteiro system. The blend is put together from 85% verdelho grapes aged for 15-20 years with 15% tinta negra mole grapes aged for 40-60 years, then bottled at 19.5% ABV.

Rare Wine Co Savannah Verdelho

Nose: big, dark grape notes trending towards molasses, some brighter green apple acidity behind it, a little floral vanilla, mixed nuts, a touch of barnyard, stewed fruit, ripe stone fruit

Taste: bright and balanced grape sweetness with vinegar and citrus tartness up front, becomes thicker and more molasses-y with fresh berries and apples plus a touch of vanilla around the middle, then a relatively clean apple tart fade out at the back

Finish: tart grapes, a little tannic bitterness, some musty savory notes

While still not particularly sweet overall, this is much more approachable than the sercial and will probably appeal to fans of medium dry amontillado sherries. I'd be happy to reach for it, especially as an aperitif because the tartness makes it nice before a meal without being too puckering. While not the most complex madeira I've tried, this is still a quality product that justifies its price point reasonably well. And, unlike some of the more impressive colheitas I've had, this should be pretty widely available.

Madeira Review: Rare Wine Co Charleston Sercial

While I've enjoyed a number of madeiras over the years, sercial is one of the main styles that I have yet to try.

A few months ago a local Italian restaurant announced that it was going to be selling groceries and wine on top of being open for takeout. While poking around, I happened to ask whether they would be willing to sell me some of their open bottles of madeira, knowing that it is an incredibly study wine so I wouldn't be taking a hit in terms of quality. They were nice enough to cut me a deal, which meant that I was able to get most of the Rare Wine Co standard lineup without having to spring for full bottles.

This wine is fermented to around 50 g of residual sugar per liter, fortified, and aged in oak in a traditional canteiro system. The blend is put together from 85% sercial grapes aged for 15-20 years with 15% tinta negra mole grapes aged for 40-60 years, then bottled at 19% ABV.

Rare Wine Co Charleston Sercial

Nose: almost oak-y dryness, yeast/mushroom savory roundness, mixed nuts, citrus peel, vanilla, dried and overripe fruit

Taste: opens with a mix of moderately sweet grape notes and almost puckering berry tartness, sweeter berries and rhubarb with citrus peel (orange, lemon) top notes in the middle, a savory/nutty fade into the finish

Finish: vinegar and berry tartness, a yeast-y savoriness, grape tannins

While sercial still isn't my favorite style, I can't deny the quality of this wine. It's a little challenging at first to find anything through the dry/tart character, but time in the glass opens it up to something a bit rounder, sweeter, and more approachable. Fans of dry amontillado sherries will probably enjoy this, since it hits some fairly similar notes. A solid pick as an aperitif with its tart bite.

Madeira Review: Justino's Colheita 1995

When people talk about madeira, it's usually in one of two ways: either the noble white grape varieties (Malvasia, Bual, Verdelho, and Sercial) or the cheap store brands that are made primarily from the red Tinta Negra grapes. The noble varieties make up a small fraction of what is planted on the island now, since the more robust Tinta Negra took over in response to lower demand and the need to produce wines to a price point.

Over the last few decades there has been a slow but steady shift towards producing quality madeiras from the more humble grapes. This particular wine was produced from several different grape varieties, primarily Tinta Negra, which is why it doesn't have a single varietal label.

The grapes for this wine were harvested in September 1995, fermented on the skins for two to three days, then arrested with neutral spirit and aged in American and French oak casks. At bottling in 2006 the wine had an ABV of 19% with at total acidity (as tartaric acid) of 7.48 g/l and a total sugar of 120 g/l.

Justino's Colheita 1995

Nose: classic oxidized grape notes, rich vanilla, molasses, berries, toasty oak, pink bubblegum, gently floral, balanced American and French oak

Taste: sweet arrival, quickly balanced by gently evolving layers of acidity, smoother going into the finish, grape/berry/citrus undertones throughout

Finish: pleasantly tart, sweet/dry balance, citrus/pineapple

Given that Tinta Negra is considered the more mundane grape variety on the island, it's a nice surprise to see how well a madeira can be without being made exclusively from one of the noble varieties. This is as good as any comparably priced Malmsey I've tried (admittedly not many), with fabulous intensity from the aromas. The palate is less complex, but somehow engaging in its relative simplicity. I appreciate that for as much residual sugar as there is in this wine, the total acidity is also rather high, giving it balance through tension.

No wonder this bottle was almost entirely consumed at a friend's wine and cheese party, despite the fact that it was the only fortified wine there and almost no one present had tried a madeira before. Hopefully I didn't set the bar too high.

Madeira Review: Blandy's 5 Year Bual

Bual is one of the handful of named grape varieties still commonly used for making wine on the island of Madeira. The version produced by Blandy's ferments the wine at 18-21º C for three days before fortifying it with brandy to halt fermentation. It is then aged for an average of five years in American oak casks in what amount to giant attics where the subtropical heat acts on the wine. The wine is fined and bottled at 19% ABV with a pH of 3.43, residual sugar of 78 g/l, and a total acidity of 6.53 g/l tartaric acid equivalent.

Blandy's 5 Year Bual

Nose: expected rich raisin notes, gently sour, oak, a touch of vanilla, lime, citrus peel, floral, hints of yeast, fresh bread, and chocolate

Taste: a brief burst of sweetness up front that quickly changes hands with a bright acidity that becomes increasingly tart towards the back, fruit ester overtones, apples, and juicy grapes rather than raisins in the middle, and a pleasant thickness throughout

Finish: solid fade out with pleasant acidity, floral vanilla, a touch of oak

Much like the 5 year old malmsey I reviewed a while back, this is not an overly complex wine, but I still enjoy it quite a bit. It's noticeably less sweet than the malmsey, letting the acidity and cask notes play more prominent roles. While this style is still a bit sweeter than I usually prefer, it is a noticeable improvement on the malmsey, which is almost too sweet for me. But for someone coming from sweeter fortified wines like port I feel like this would be a perfectly decent entry point to madeira.

Madeira Review: Blandy's 5 Year Old Malmsey

Blandy's is a very old (they celebrated their bicentenary in 2011) family-owned producer of madeira.

A step up from entry-level line of 3 year old tinta negra blends, the 5 year old, single varietal bottles span the gamut from port-like sweetness (Malmsey) to sherry-like dryness (Sercial).

Malmsey madeira is fortified 48 hours after fermentation begins, leaving a significant amount of residual sugar in the wine. This is then aged for at least 5 years in oak casks in the Canteiro system, where the barrels are stored on the top floor of warehouses on Madeira, which exposes them to quite a bit of heat (Madeira is a sub-tropical island). The barrels are progressively moved down towards ground level where it is cooler.

The wine is finally bottled at 19% ABV with a pH of 3.42, 123 g/l of residual sugar, and 6.23 g/l of total acid.

Blandy's 5 Year Old Malmsey

Nose: sun dried raisin notes dominate, with some burnt sugar, earthy, a touch of cocoa powder, charred oak, some estery notes up top that seem almost floral

Taste: raisin sweetness throughout that waxes and wanes, mid-palate there's a moderate amount of savory (yeasty?) acidity that balances but never overtakes the sweetness, and some of the dry cocoa powder hanging over everything

Finish: raisins with diminishing sweetness, drier fruit notes hang around

This is, ultimately, a relatively simple wine. It hasn't had enough time in the barrel to really develop depth or complexity, but that's not necessarily a bad thing. While I find it a bit too sweet to really hit the spot for me, I think it will appeal to anyone who enjoys tawny ports. Madeira, even malmsey, has more acidity than port, but I enjoy that aspect as it seems to strike a balance between the unrelenting sweetness of port and the bone dry acidity of many sherries. As an added bonus, everyone who I've gotten to try this madeira has enjoyed it, so it seems to have broad appeal.