I'd been given special permission to arrive early to take some photos, but half of the attendees were there before me, such was the enthusiasm for this event. As usual, we tasted six wines before dinner, three with the starter and three with pudding/cheese.
G and I had held a "pre-tasting" the previous Sunday to determine what order they should be shown in, work out if any of them needed more air, and enable some tasting notes to be provided on the night itself. What follows is therefore a mishmash of my impressions on the two occasions.
We began with a Bastardo from ABSL aka Barros e Sousa. This was a "reserva velha" which just means old reserve. but G tells me it consisted of wine from the 1960s to the 1980s, and was bottled in 2002. It was a clear, mid-dark brown colour - clarity is an essential part of Bastardo so that was encouraging - and for me was nutty with some dried fruit. G nicked my comment about antique furniture for his notes. It was quite dry and had an even drier finish, with a hint of eucalyptus. We felt it was decent but not spectacular, and gave it three stars out of a possible maximum of five.
Next up was the equivalent ABSL version of Moscatel, also from the 1960s to the 1980s. This was a light brown colour and fairly clear. For me, it had a slightly chemical nose and a lot of volatile acidity. On the palate, it was full with good body, and quite sweet. Overall, we weren't very impressed with it though, and gave it just one star.
Wine no.3 was a Cossart Gordon 1969 Bastardo which had been provided by T. This was a real disappointment. The first clue that something was wrong was the murky colour. On the nose, well, apologies, but it smelt of vomit. G was braver than me and actually tasted it - mine went straight in the sink/bucket. In his opinion, it wasn't Bastardo, despite its impeccable provenance. T himself thought that there was "something not too bad underneath" which may well have been the case. No stars. A shame.
No.4 was also pretty awful. This was a Moscatel from Justino Henriques, from the 1950s/1960s, bottled around 1970. Again, it looked a bit murky, an ominous sign. For me, it was like pineapple juice that had been left out for a month. G thought it wasn't Moscatel, but maybe Tinta Negra Mole. Whatever it was, it was just horrible. No stars again. We were going through a bad patch!
Next up was another Bastardo, this time an 1875 from Welsh Brothers. This was murky, so we knew what to expect. I was pleasantly surprised when it didn't actually smell of sick! In fact it didn't smell much of anything. It was quite sweet, but short, boring and flabby. G thought it was a fake, and that the glass of the bottle was wrong. Given that it cost a four figure sum (ouch!), nul points was only fair.
The last of the bottles tasted before dinner was a Moscatel from Vasco Luis Pereira. This was a wine from the 1950s/1960s bottled around 1970. It was a clear, mid-brown colour. On the nose I got creamy toffee and it reminded me of a Cadbury's chocolate eclair. On the palate, it was full, rounded and rich, again reminding me of toffee. It had immediate appeal and I gave it three stars as opposed to stingy G who gave it just two.
At this point we sat down to dinner and were served the remaining three Bastardos with our chicken consomme.
First was a 1927 wine from Pereira D'Oliveira which was bottled in 2013, so if my maths is correct then it had been in cask for 86 years. This was more like it! It had an enticing nose, and on the palate was richer but well-balanced with more body, and G detected figs. It had a superb finish. We gave it four stars, and the good news was that it is still available to buy in the UK from Bovey Wines for around £300.
Then there was another 1927, this time from Adegas de Torreao, bottled around 1970. For me, this wine wasn't as immediately appealing as its predecessor - sharper on the nose, drier, and generally not as complex. At least one other person expressed the opposite preference, though! G and I gave it two stars.
Then, G did his Hercule Poirot impression and revealed that (duh duh DUH!) these two were actually the same wine! But one had been bottled 40 years earlier than the other. It certainly confirmed my opinion that the more time in cask, the better.
The final Bastardo was another 1875, this time from Miles. It was bottled around 1975 so had a century in cask. It looked fabulous, a clear mahogany, and had very vibrant apricots and stone fruit on the palate - I spent some time writing down "peaches", "nectarines", "apples" while G is obsessed with quinces so that was his go-to reference. It was amazing, lively and complex with a finish that went on for minutes. "Absolutely fabulous" said T. A
With our main course of steak frites we had a double magnum of Mas de Daumas Gassac 1994. G had picked this up at auction and then wondered what on earth he was going to do with it, so the Madeira dinner was an obvious opportunity to drink it. First impressions were good and it had a lovely fruity nose (comments were made about Ribena), but it was less exciting on the palate. It improved as time went on, and we wondered if it could have done with more than the hour it was given in decanter.
Then it was time for pudding, a generously-sized creme brulee. With this we had the final three wines of the evening, the three remaining Moscatels.
First up was a Cossart Gordon "Very Old" Moscatel. This was not as obvious as the Vasco Luis Pereira, and was altogether a more serious beast. It was accomplished and complex, with a relatively dry finish, well-balanced and not excessively sweet. Four stars were awarded.
Next was a 1900 Moscatel from Pereira D'Oliveira. My notes from the Sunday night say "pre-wicker bottling" whatever that means! G's notes say it was bottled around 1975. Maybe wicker came in in 1976... It had a lot of volatile acidity when we first tasted it, and shot straight up my nose. But it had a lovely mouthfeel, and was quite marmaladey, a delicious combination of sweetness and bitterness. A five star wine.
The last wine of the evening was a Shortridge Lawton 1900 Moscatel, Although the label looks like something from the 1950s or even the 1930s, G tells me it was in fact bottled in the early 1980s because the company referred to on the label, Fine Vintage Wines plc, didn't exist until then. So much for my font detective skills!
This was a beautiful-looking wine, dark brown, clear and glossy. It had an unctuous, mouthcoating quality, was rich and smooth, and the finish went on for ages. All in all, a very special wine and for most people, the wine of the evening. G said that Shortridge Lawton were the last of the really old-school producers, and this wine went on a journey around the Cape to improve it. It's possible that these two 1900 Moscatels were in fact the same wine but generally everyone thought the Shortridge Lawton was superior.
So there you have it - the Madeira dinner of 2015. In several cases, these were the last known bottles of their type in existence so we really were drinking a piece of history. P said that those down at his end of the table had thought that the Miles 1875 Bastardo was the best thing they had drunk in their lives, only to find that the next three wines were even better.
G's father then told us that the Scottish auction house which supplied two of these wines had handed them over in a Marks and Spencer plastic bag to the friend who was collecting them and when she requested some more robust packaging, she was told there was a roll of bubble wrap in the corner and she could help herself! I think we were all glad that these bottles made it down to London in one piece. Thanks and respect due to G for hunting these wines down and then sharing them with us. It was a real honour to be there.
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| A bunch of Bastardos... |
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| ... and a multitude of Moscatels. Sadly all gone now! |
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