Boal dinner, 11th Feb 2016

On Thursday night G hosted his annual Madeira dinner.

Reports on previous years can be found here:

• the Bastardo and Moscatel dinner of 2015.
• the Terrantez dinner of 2014.
• the Verdelho dinner of 2013.
• the Sercial dinner of 2012.
• the extinct producers dinner of 2011.
• the Leacock dinner of 2010.

As I walked down Brook Street I thought of the piece I'd heard on the radio earlier in the week about the restoration of Jimi Hendrix's flat. The person being interviewed said that in the late 1960s this part of London was quite run down. It's hard to imagine that now. I could see a throng of happy-looking people through the window of the Savile Club.

The theme this year was Boal. As usual, G and I had held a pre-tasting a few days earlier to assess the wines, determine the running order, and allow time for bottle-sickness to fade, so I already knew we were in for a good evening. Most of the photos here are from the pre-tasting as there's nothing more irritating than a blogging she-person getting in everyone's way with her camera at an event like this.

We tasted seven wines before dinner, and six more with dinner.

1. Boal 2005 ABSL (Barros e Sousa), bottled in 2011.

G tells me that new rules mean that the vintage can be put on the bottle even though it's not a riserva which would have to have spent 20 years in cask. So, this is a single harvest wine, which was bottled because the Barros e Sousa brothers were retiring. It was quite a pale brown colour and dryish on the nose but sweeter on the palate. It was perfectly nice and there was nothing wrong with it, but it could have been anything, really. Not many boal characteristics to speak of. G's father seemed to be enjoying it but "pointless" was T's verdict.

2. Henriques & Henriques 2000 single harvest, bottled in 2012.

This was a darker colour and seemed more interesting, even pungent, on the nose ("like a nasty tonic water" said T). We felt it wasn't quite altogether integrated - it delivered a hit to the back of the throat when you swallowed it, like drinking some wine followed by some brandy, and it was obvious that it had been fortified. On the night, G thought it had improved with time open. Apparently it costs about £45. I don't think I'll be rushing to buy it.

3. Endeavour from Perreira D'Oliveira, bottled around 2006.

This is a vinho da roda i.e. has been around the world (cue unfortunate East 17 song now playing in my head). The good ship in question was called, guess what, Endeavour. It was made from a 1980s/90s solera and fairly pale in colour and knowing the Inverse Law of Labels one might have had high hopes of this one, but sadly it was not to be. I found it similar to the first wine i.e. there was nothing technically wrong with it as such but it was just a bit meh.

4. Unknown 1952 solera, bottled around 1970.

This bottle had the Junta Nacional do Vinhos (JNV) seal and G thought it was bottled around 1970. It looked fine but was relatively pale - G tells me that this is an indicator of it being a relatively early bottling. Bual is a white grape, so a darker colour indicates greater time spent in cask. At the pre-tasting, on the palate, I found it quite dry, and interesting, but there was a possible slight hint of our old friend, the alcoholic vomit. This seemed to have gone by Thursday, but there was still something a bit strange about it. T, who can spot Terrantez at 100 paces, thought there might be some in here, and we all felt it wasn't 100% boal.

5. Boal 1977, HM Borges, bottled around 2010.

Now we were on to the good stuff! Well, some of us thought so. This was a proper riserva. It looked good, a clear reddish brown, and at the pre-tasting had an interesting tropical fruit salad nose - pineapple? mango? - remiscent of some wines from a certain Burgundy producer we love. That's more like it! I wrote excitedly. Sadly the exciting nose had disappeared by the time we tasted it again on Thursday, but a highly acidic finish remained. It was quite dry on the palate but definitely the real thing. T thought it was soapy and bitter but D and I agreed that it was more complete than the previous four. Apparently it costs £60-70 on the island. I'd consider it worth that.

6. Cossart Gordon Duo Centenary Celebration Boal, bottled around 1990.

This was an additional bonus wine generously contributed by Michael Pater. We hadn't pre-tasted it but it had been double-decanted in accordance with G's precise instructions. It was a murky colour and rather dumb on the nose. On the palate, it was unexpectedly sweet and again we felt that it wasn't straight Boal. G suspected that some Malmsey might have been added. Apparently the person running Cossart Gordon at the time was consults libel lawyer  not necessarily as conscientious as some of his fellows. G described this as being an English interpretation of what people thought Madeira should taste like in 1985, "back when five people in England were interested in Madeira." Four of whom were in present company, ho ho.

7. Henriques & Henriques 1954, bottled around 2005.

This was a much darker colour and the nose reminded me of fruit pastilles, particularly blackcurrant. I wasn't expecting that! I was pleased to find it still had that distinctive nose on Thursday. It was big, rich, powerful, fruity and sweet, almost port-like, smooth and delicious. A bit flash, not subtle. Drinking well now, but no rush. It will still be going strong for many years, and if one had a spare £300 one would be tempted.

At this point, we sat down to eat, and the next two wines were served with an excellent chicken consomme.

8. Bual 1952, Cossart Gordon, bottled 1977 to commemorate HRH's silver jubilee.

This wine had spent 25 years in cask before being bottled in the UK. It was a lovely dark brown colour but slightly bottlesick at the pre-tasting. It had come round by Thursday and seemed quite soft to me, dry but with a certain richness.

9. Boal 1968 from D'Oliveiras, bottled 2010.

This wine is an old friend, as Waitrose used to sell it, and every now and then when they had a sale on, I'd stock up, For several years I gave my father a bottle for Christmas which was always very well-received. It was a clear, darker brown colour and had an intense nose, which made me think of potting sheds and varnish. On the palate, it was more about toasted nuts and log fires. It was quite rich but with a dry finish. I've always loved this wine and if Waitrose still sold it, I'd still be buying it, but it's now £120 retail. It's probably worth that.

We had some claret with our main course and then the final four wines were served with pudding and cheese.

10. Boal solera 1845, Berry Bros & Rudd bottling, bottled 1969.

This 1845 solera was bottled by BBR in 1969. G explained that the rules of the Madeira solera mean that it can only be refreshed 9 times and only 10% of the existing wine can be taken out each time, so at least 10% of the wine we were drinking was from 1845. He was pretty sure that the wine was from Cossart Gordon as they were founded in 1745 and started a solera in 1845 for the centenary. It was a nice reddish dark brown colour and the nose was great. On the palate, it had a certain creaminess which reminded me of creme brulee. It was very fine, accomplished and smooth, with a beautiful weight. "Very fine, but not transcendental Madeira" said G at the pre-tasting in this week's bid for Pseud's Corner. On Thursday he commented that it had a deftness that was the result of putting younger wine into older wine - the younger wine refreshes the older and produces a very harmonious result.

11. Bual 1948, Blandy's, bottled 2004.

This had great legs indicating high viscosity. It was relatively dark in colour. It had a burnt caramel thing going on but wasn't excessively sweet, and had a lovely finish.  Apparently it costs £300 in the UK. I can see why - it was serious stuff.

12. Boal 1861, Shortridge Lawton, bottled 1980.

This was another vinho da roda, made by a small house. Apparently it was all sold in the early 80s to Sherry Lehmann, the New York wine shop. This was fabulous. It was elegant, refined and very well-balanced, and the finish went on forever. The general consensus was that this was the wine of the evening. A stunner. It cost £900 and I think we were all very grateful to G for sharing it with us and letting us all be members of the Extinction Club.

13. Boal 1900, Manuel de Sousa Herdeiros, bottled 1978.

Apparently Manuel was not a wine-maker but more the Madeira equivalent to a negociant. This was in cask for 78 years. It was intense and fairly sweet with a black treacle, prune and star anise thing going on, and great length. At the pre-tasting I loved it, and on Thursday too, although others found it almost too much and some thought it might have been better 5 years ago. Apparently 1900 was a big vintage and there was a lot of this around in the day. Not any more, sadly. It clearly had a rum base and made me think of flamboyant pirates ("arrrr" say my notes), but strangely, T had never heard of Captain Jack Sparrow. Why is the rum gone?

The final line-up...

Not a wicker basket in sight

As usual, some of retired to the courtyard with the leftovers afterwards. Looking back at my notes from previous years, there's no doubt that the hit rate this evening was exceptionally high. T said "I think it may have been the best ever: there were no duds but we went from entry level to the very very top and in an obviously single style." Thanks to G for another exceptional tasting.