Good, if perhaps not great, wines at a keen price. Depressed atmosphere, but once you show you are interested the staff are civil, if not exactly forthcoming. D'Oliveiras bottle from their casks on a running basis, so it is important to check the rear label for the year of bottling – cask time is everything for Madeira, so in 2027, after an additional ten years in cask, the wines I tasted will probably all taste deeper, more complex and intensely acidic than these bottlings will do after a decade in a glass bottle.

We ate very well indeed at Gaviao Novo (twice), which has a good and keenly priced wine list, and even a couple of bottles of Barca Velha on display; decently at Armazem do Sal (twice), where the wine-list is pricey and very patchy, and the "Sommelier" tries to get you to buy his mediocre "special recommendations" (not on the list); acceptably at our lovely hotel (Quinta da Casa Branca) but disgustingly badly at "Boho" bistro, which has the worst wine selection of any restaurant in its price category I can remember eating in, and some very odd food on the menu, all of it sugary sweet or with sugary sauces. I have not recorded about half a dozen dodgy Madeira table wines - all of which were mediocre works in progress (which doesn't mean we didn't pay serious money for them). There may be some glories yet to come, but right now it's probably best – even on the island – to drink Douro and Alvarinho etc. table wines from the mainland with your dinner, keeping proper Madeira for beforehand and dessert.