I love Madeira; all of those weird, rancid and off flavours that combine to make a lovely, complete booze experience are a joy. This is a particularly tits bottle.

Missing Attachment Madeira Boal Reserva 1968, d’Oliveiras

Quite dark orange, with the weird green rim you only seem to find on Madeira. The nose bursts with brazil and hazelnut tones, with a wonderful toffee apple fruit. This is throbbing with life and it clearly signed an agreement saying it would strive only to provide a lot of pleasure. If I have been unclear allow me to re-iterate: this smells freaking ace. The palate also bursts with life, it has good baked fruit and truly marvellous (and, if I may go on about this, slightly painful) acidity. As with all good bottles of Madeira, how this tastes may not thrill the unenlightened. But I am well aware that both my readers of this site are not only enlightened but in fact serene. This will tickle your imagination, thrill your nose and tantalise your tongue. Madeira is a sadly neglected drink these days, and has been so for too long. When I used to invite good looking students to my room to mark their essays, issue them with papers and generally be a supportive kind of tutor they always seemed scandalised when I offered them a glass of Madeira. Bad thing when social conditioning makes one reject good things simply because Dame Fashion says you must avoid without giving any convincing reason. Surely it is better to be right than fashionable? Madeira was one of the first wines I purchased with my own cash, but even at that tender age I knew about the objective nature of reality and how I was in touch with it. This is excellent.

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I have said before that Barbeito colheitas are the cutting edge of Madeira cool and this one demonstrates that admirably. This is made by the traditional ‘canteiro’ process (it is matured in a warm warehouse rather than being heated artificially) and is not coloured with caramel. The back label tells us this cask was at a cooler edge of the warehouse which supposedly results in a more elegant wine.

Malvasia Colheita Cask 18a 1994, Barbeito

The colour is quite light orange-brown. The nose displays all of the weird aromas of decent Madeira but it has a lightness to it; it is not aggressively rancid or chemical. There is also some candied orange fruit there. The palate is also remarkably light for a Madeira; certainly full of flavour but not thick and heavy. The note on the back label was right, this does seem elegant compared to other Barbeitos I’ve had. It is very complex and very long. This is very stylish and very satisfying. Cool Madeira!

As an aside, these single cask Barbeito Madeiras occasionally turn up in Fortnum and Mason. My last conversation with the Barbeito agent suggested they’d be getting some new stuff in soon. At less than twenty notes for an imp bottle these are serious wines at bargain prices.

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The first general drinking entry from my stay in Burgundy. This is what we drank on the Saturday of our arrival.

Grüner Veltliner Ried Lamm 2000, Brundlmeyer

Ripe, powerful nose of white pepper and alcohol. Why do all these Austrian winemakers strive to show how ripe they can get their grapes? Big, weighty palate, but it has good acidity and a nice mineral character. Nice, but a bit hot on the finish.

Puligny-Montrachet Premier Cru Demoiselles 2000, Michel Colin-Deléger et Fils

Smells rather tired to me; quite oxidised. It has an odd aniseed character. It is quite tired and just a bit odd.

Verdelho-Bual Meio Seco Reserva, Barbeito

A strange Madeira in that it is made from a blend of noble grapes. Reasonable, but lacks the excitement and life of Barbeito single casks. Just a bit dull.

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I’ve just had some more Cask 21C Malvasia Madeira, it is terribly good. Straight out of the fridge it really shows that it can be a refreshing drink thanks to all of that acidity. I like its slightly off, savoury character too. Oddly, there is some fruit as well. I admit it is candied, preserved fruit, but fruit nonetheless. This is Madeira at its coolest and I love it.

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This Madeira is the cutting edge of Madeira cool. Not something I often say, I admit. It is aged in barrel using the traditional ‘canteiro’ process and bottled without the addition of caramel to colour it.

Malvasia Colheita Cask 21C 1992, Vinhos Barbeito

A reasonably dark orange colour. The nose has rancidity and all of those weird, off flavours of cooking and oxidation that Madeira often has, but it also seems lively and not tired. The palate is rich, but has a savoury character to it. It has very good acidity. The balance is great between richness, acidity and cooked characters. This is really lively. It is also really lovely. Madeira is a weird old wine, not something tuned to modern palates, but this is a fine drink and I have enjoyed it greatly. Knackered wine at its finest.

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