After many years in the doldrums interest in Madeira has picked up recently thanks mainly to the efforts of Ricardo de Freitas, the grandson of Mario Barbeito, founder of Barbeito. Ricardo has insisted that all wines are aged naturally by the canteira method rather than the artificial estufagem and he has introduced a selection of wonderful single cask bottlings.
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Veramar Boal |
50cl |
£9.35 |
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Great for elevenses on a cold winter’s morning! |
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Sercial 10 yo Reserve |
bottle |
£20.00 |
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Madeira Trophy winner at the International Wine Challenge 2004. |
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Boal 10 yo Reserve |
bottle |
£20.00 |
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Malvasia 20 yo Lote 4122 |
bottle |
£35.50 |
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1996 |
Single Harvest |
50cl |
£15.50 |
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Medium-dry. This is made from the unfashionable Tinto Negra Mole grape variety, best known for bulk production of branded Madeira. This shows what may be achieved with low yields and care in the winery. The wine shows spice, vanilla and caramel notes on the nose. The palate is medium dry with a lovely texture and is huge spicy and rich. Drink on its own as an aperitif or serve with chicken-liver pâté or foie gras. |
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1995 |
Boal Colheita Cask 81a |
50cl |
£19.95 |
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Medium-sweet. This is one of just 888 half-litre bottles drawn from a single cask in October 2003. The wine has rich flavours of candied peel, almonds and preserved fruit. It may be drunk on its own but comes into it’s own with blue cheese and is wonderful with pan-fried foie gras. |
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1994 |
Malvasia Colheita Cask 18a |
50cl |
£19.95 |
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Sweet. This is Ricardo de Freitas’s second single cask bottling of Malvasia, released in late 2004, and is a worthy successor to the first – Cask 3a. The wine has rich fruit-cake and preserved fruit character backed up by a very keen balancing acidity giving great freshness in the finish. Serve on its own after dinner or with fruit and nuts. Also goes very well with Italian Panettone. |
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