Community Tasting Note
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forceberry wrote: 97 points
May 8, 2017 - Bottled in 2004, after 36 years of aging in casks. Total production some 4100 bottles.
Deep mahogany color with a bronze hue. Very sweet, perfumed and attractive nose with aromas of sweet yellow raisin, bitter orange zest, christmas spices, rum raisins, some red raspberry fruit, a little hint of alcohol and nice little volatile lift. On the palate the wine if full-bodied and quite sweet with somewhat oily mouthfeel yet with moderately high acidity. There are incredibly complex flavors of lemon marmalade, slightly bitter spiciness, some bruised apple and apple jam, a little cardamom and hints of peanut butter and roasted almonds. The finish is both sweet and dry, thanks to the very mature and oxidative flavors making the wine appear sweet, and the acidity cleaning away most of the residual sugar. The aftertaste is really long and complex with layered flavors of bitter lemon pith, maple syrup, cloves, some woody nuttiness, light raisiny and pruney fruit character, hints of christmas spices and a touch of cigar smoke. There is also a slightest hint of grippy feel towards the end of the aftertaste.
In a tasting of Madeiras 1895 to 1973, this was my 3rd favorite wine, after the two +100 yo Madeiras. There is incredible richness, complexity and balance here; you could just sniff the wine for hours and the aftertaste is incredibly persistent, almost endless. Although this is still relatively young for a Madeira, this among some of the greatest fortified wines I've tasted. Nevertheless, I feel that the price tag of whopping 800€ is a bit excessive.2 people found this helpful 3,854 views
2 Comments
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Seth Rosenberg commented:
3/10/20, 6:57 PM - Are you sure that’s the price? It seems to be roughly around $300 in the states right now. Any chance it is a different wine/cuvée?
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forceberry commented:
3/11/20, 5:14 AM - Hi. Pretty sure that's the price since it was Blandy's importer who brought that particular wine to the tasting and I have a picture of the wine from the tasting confirming that it is exactly this wine.
Although it might be that the lower prices in the States for this 1968 Bual are from the 1994 bottling, not the 2004 bottling, the more plausible reason is that I'm from the country of long distances, high taxes and ridiculously ineffective (=expensive) state monopoly. It wouldn't be the first time we get to pay double prices for wines here.