This was another first for the wine club as we discovered the taste of Madeira. Esther Blandford was kind enough to present a very lively and informative evening on the delights of this delicious nectar. Mike also presented 4 wines from Portugal, which we had not tasted before.
As I am sure you are aware Madeira is a Portuguese island in the Atlantic, with a fine mild climate with ample rainfall, which makes it so green.
The vines that produce Madeira are grown on terraces with lots of rain at the top and a system of canals that lead down to the bottom. There are several grapes which are used to make Madeira – the most interesting is the Sercial which is known locally as the dog strangler, I wonder why? We tasted four Madeiras, all of which the group found most satisfying. The first, Henriques & Henriques Sercial Madeira 10 years old, very palatable and to try with nuts and olives (£17). We then moved on to the wines from Portugal, the first a Vinho Verde Quinta de Azevedo 2009 11%. I personally found this very acidic without much body or flavour but others liked it, drink it very young (that’s the wine not the participant). The second white was a Crasto Branco Douro 2009 13.5%. This was preferred by most of the group. We then tried two reds, before returning to the Madeiras. These last 3 Madeira were very pleasant and most of the group enjoyed them very much, the most popular was the Henriques Bual 15yr old £22 which was very good with sweet biscuits and chocolate. All the wines this evening where from the Wine Society. Many thanks again to Esther for all her hard work in making our evening so enjoyable.
Chris Traynor
Mike Collins produced some notes on Madeira which you can download.