Madeira wine from 1870 - Printable Version +- WineBoard (https://www.wines.com/wineboard) +-- Forum: TASTING NOTES & WINE SPECIFIC FORUMS (https://www.wines.com/wineboard/forum-200.html) +--- Forum: Wines Without a Category (https://www.wines.com/wineboard/forum-37.html) +--- Thread: Madeira wine from 1870 (/thread-14613.html) |
- alfiman - 12-20-1999 Before my wife and I left Europe last year a friend of ours brought me a gift of a bottle of Justino's Malmsey Madeira wine from 1870. It was in his fathers caves for all these years. Any idea if it could be good, valuable or should I buy a lot of lettuce before I open the bottle in expectation of the outcome. - Thomas - 12-20-1999 I thought Justino's was in the Mr. Henri Selection. The last Justino Malmsey I tasted was horrible. But then, I didn't know Justino was an old Madeira house, and maybe back then it was good. Can't say. - OportoRAH - 12-21-1999 this was one of the very last vintages from Portugal prior to the disruption due to Phylloxera. It was a wonderful Porto vintage and I am sure the weather on the Isle of Madeira was not to different. Anyway, you will have a darn nice bottle to open up and let us know your tasting notes! Thanks, Roy - Thomas - 12-21-1999 So, OportoRah, what is the story behind Justino? I cannot find mention of it anywhere in my books about Madeira, and the only time I ever tasted it I was saddened by it. - alfiman - 12-21-1999 My wife is having our first child on Feb. 9th and this sounds like a great occasion to try the Madeira wine. But just in case we will keep some extra lettuce on hand in case it turns out to be vinegar. As soon as I try it I will report back. - Thomas - 12-22-1999 If the wine is what OportoRAH says it is, I doubt it will be vinegar. Real Madeira can just about live forever. I tasted an 1870, 1945 and recent Madeira by the same producer; the older was nearly as fresh as the younger. - m_cyclops - 12-28-1999 Are you talking about a 130 years old wine? The oldest I tried is a 1973 Médoc and somebody give it to me. How much does a bottle of this wine cost? How do you storage it? If you storage haven't been good I would buy a nice champagne for the birth day of your son and keep the 1870 bottle in my racks for showing time. - Thomas - 12-29-1999 Cyclops, Madeira is a special wine, made in a special process called estufa. Essentially, the wines are heated for a few months and just about pasteurized. This process helps create wines that live for damned near ever; and good ones at that. - m_cyclops - 12-29-1999 And, how expensive a bottle this date can be? I know it depends on a lot of things more than the age, but it older than most countries! - Thomas - 12-30-1999 Let's put it this way: recent bottlings of Madeira wines run (for the lowest end) at around $20 each and (for the highest end) around $50 each. - alfiman - 04-04-2000 Well the baby was born and as promised the 1870 maderia wine was a toast to his happiness. Both the baby and the wine were wonderful and significantly better than expected. The wine was incredibly smooth and had just the right sweetness. I would recommend both to anyone reading this. |