1850 D'Oliveiras Madeira Verdelho

Community Tasting Notes (4) Avg Score: 97.8 points

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  2/18/2023 - Buckbuck Likes this wine: 95 Points

  Historic. We thought about what happened in 1850. Paired with foie gras and fancy ham. Beautiful deep amber color, rich smell, very elegant and balanced (plenty of acid left), many kinds of caramel. This was our friend's bottle, which he enjoyed while in hospice care and then passed away shortly thereafter. We thought the bottle was dumped but then they found it in a box of his belongings, open for months at room temperature. I heard from his best friend that it was almost unpleasantly powerful when they first poured it, but now nice and mellow. Cheers to John - we miss you.

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  10/13/2020 - Rupert wrote: 98 Points

  NadNash dinners: So fresh and vibrant you wonder if it's genuine. [This bottle had the black and gold paper label A faker would surely have used a stencilled bottle]. Brown sugar sweetness, but with twist upon twist of fruit and umpteen other flavours. Absolutely amazing.

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  3/1/2017 - BordeauxBuff Likes this wine: 99 Points

  Tasted at the winery in downtown Funchal. The 1850 was the highlight of my tasting (tasted through 34 different wines from the estate).
  
  The 1850 Verdelho is an ethereal wine. At first sip, the wine was completely shut down (disappointed), but I had the pleasure of slowly sipping this golden brown elixir for over 2 hours. And it continued to "wow" me with every small sip that I took. This beauty kept on getting better and better in the glass. What a fascinating journey and exploration this was.
  
  The wine continued to evolve and show great secondary and tiertiary characteristics of fine, old, Verdelho; toffee, caramel, candied lemon, tobacco, marzipan.
  
  The finish of this wine lingered for minutes. Yes, you are drinking history. And it's absolutely worth it, if you can track down a bottle. I cannot wait to open up my bottles and home and will be sure to follow up with my notes back in the U.S.
  
  The best Madeira that I've ever had...its a tie with the 1839 Acciaioly Verdelho; the two greatest Madeira's I've ever tasted.

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  2/4/2016 - isaacjamesbaker wrote: 99 Points

  Madeira Pilgrimage; 2/1/2016-2/4/2016 (Madeira): It's so difficult to wrap my head around an historic wine like this. First of all, it's an intellectually fascinating experience, which evokes dreams of centuries past. I won't claim to be able to separate the historical significance of the wine from the sensory experience of tasting the wine. But, tasting the wine itself is one of the most amazing experiences in my wine lifetime. I'll attempt to describe this thing. First off, it still has fruit on the nose, kind of like quince paste and preserved lemon, but I get complex elements of clove, old furniture shop, cigar smoke and wood varnish. On the palate, this wine shows a pleasant bitterness, while the sweetness balances perfectly with the high acidity. One flavor evolves into another, and into another, and then back again, like a blissful circle. I'll throw some words at a few of these flavors: caramel, varnished wood, cigar box, candle wax, leather, sea salt, yellow raisins, candied lemon peel, old library books, sweet floral potpourri, spiced tea. The complexity is ridiculous. So, this is an incredible intellectual experience in and of itself, but the aromas and flavors of this wine are ethereal. Perhaps the best thing to ever grace my palate.

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