Quinta do Serrado Madeira Bual

Manuka honey, singed citrus, dates, nougat, dark miso, antique cabinet... full and layered, great acidity, pretty much dry, long and incisive, a beguiling complex of bitter medicinal herbs, citrus and salty dark miso lingers beautifully. Lovely Madeira, amazing how balanced and intense this is at 198 years..

Fun to have this again. Amazing nose and a lot going on.

Classic nose of toasted walnuts and burnt orange rind. Intense sweet ripe flavors with a dominating hard citric acid edge. Long wild passion fruit finish that really lasts over a minute. Great stuff and so much life it's crazy.

Olde Wine Dinner 1925-1966 (Chez Kailin Cellars) : First real Maderia experience. Dark and clean color, needed time to develope biut I can see the potential. Very good.

FICOFI HK event - highlight of an amazing evening, for me. Great balance of aromas of stewed fruits, berries, black cherry, with some delightful freshness and excellent length. Haunting.

Ficofi 30th in Hong Kong. This Madeira was an epic drinking experience, possibly wine of the night for me. Fresh and seriously intense. Burnt sugar. Kept developing, so complex. Really mind-blowing when you then look at the age on the label. 1827 what?

Mature "Iconic Burgundy" dinner and tasting in Christie's board room, London. Limited note taking. A splendid way to finish the dinner. Caramel, charred oak, dry fig, desert fruits, spiced cooking apples, etc etc..... Intrinsically sweet but with the searing pectic acidity that all fine old Boals seem to possess throwing it into perfect balance. Immensely long (30+ minutes). Superb - 97+ and pretty well immortal! ps looked at my note on the Lomelino 1820 Solera Boal drunk on my birthday …

Madeira @ Equinox (Washington DC) : A spectacular showing for this legendary wine. Cognac, roasted nuts, floral perfume, cloves and nutmeg. An almost painful intensity that assaults the palate and lingers... and lingers. Brown spice flavors haunt the finish. Pungent and intense. The balance is impeccable. Very close to being the wine of the night. Originally purchased by Steve for $265 in 1999 (current price $1276).

Purchased a 1oz pour at the Sampler in Islington from their vinomatic machines. This has a clear dark golden brown core with a bit of sediment and a small white edge. Clean nose of burnt sugar, marzipan and toasted almond slices. This actually comes across fairly grapey as well with a touch of alc. The palate is beautifully complex. Medium sweet with a real expressive grape must-fruity body. Rich notes of caramel, toasted nuts, coffee, worn chest, Christmas spices and …

Roy Hersh Vintage Madeira tasting and dinner (Plumpjack Cafe, San Francisco, California) : Medium dark brown and brick brown color with clear meniscus; clean roasted coffee, butterscotch and hard caramel candy nose; tangy, deep, mocha, caramel palate with great acidity, restrained power and elegance; mocha truffle dust toward super long finish (in cask until 1935, bottled some time earlier than 1989, when more of this wine was bottled for Christie's auction)

Madeira @ Plumpjack's (San Francisco) : It is always a pleasure to taste this wine. While there is some bottle variation with this wine and this was not one of the "best" showings. it was still pretty darn fantastic and one of the wines of the night. This was in cask for 108 years before it was put in demi-johns in 1935. This sample came from a bottle with the "block-like" lettering and was bottled some time before the bottles …

Madeira @ The Caucus Room (Washington DC) : The wine of the tasting! Outstanding complexity with a cornicopia of flavors -- orange peel, tea, toffee, nuts, spice and even a hint of a cool menthol streak. Overwhelming depth and length. PROFOUND!

Roy Hersh's Majestic Madeira Extravaganza (Seattle, WA) : Raisin, chocolate, brine and vanilla. OMFG!!!! Maple syrup, hypnotic, an utterly seamless wine. Incredible and truly remarkable. The interplay of richness and then the hammering acidity are just unreal. This is a truly unique expression of wine. My wine of the night and the clear favorite in the flight.

Roy Hersh’s Great Seattle Vintage Madeira Tasting (Kaspars Catering, Seattle, WA) : Medium brown with clarity; briney, salty and vanilla nose; deep rich quality with good acid, rich but not sweet, vanilla, maple syrup, crème brulee, with a notion of dried apricot and oyster juice concentrate; long finish 94+ pts. (in cask until 1935, bottled some time earlier than 1989, when more of this wine was bottled for Christie's auction)

Dinner w/ Penny @ The Place (NYC) : Much better showing than the last time I had it, the 24 hours of decanting probably helped. Explosive nose of caramel, orange zest, lime, mollasses, chocolate and brown spices. Explodes on the palate, totally filling the mouth. Lingers for what seems forever. Profound kaliediscope of flavors. Wow.

Madeira @ Patroon (NYC) : Rare Wine Company Madeira Dinner @ Patroon. Very light brown. A delicate wine, with nutmeg and other autumn spices in the nose. Chocolate and caramel hints. A wine of lovely balance, and a whiplash finish that goes away and then comes back in waves. A wonderful wine that lacks only intensity, but that’s not so bad when it has this kind of balance. Excellent.

The well-known Christie's label, "Boal 1827" written in paint underneath. Very intense but not very deep amber colour, buttercup yellow rim with green tinge; immensely concentrated and deep nose, beautifully layered and multi-dimensional, subtle like an old Cognac, nuts, vanilla, fruit, caramel, pungent; on the palate incredibly elegant and stylish, flawless composition, only off-dry now, powerful, startlingly fine acidity, flavours of cognac, vanilla, nuts and fruit; fabulous length. An absolute beauty, no words of mine can do it justice.