1999 D'Oliveiras Madeira Sercial

Community Tasting Notes (3) Avg Score: 92 points

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  7/12/2023 - forceberry wrote: 93 Points

  The wine is made with purchased Boal grapes. After approx. 5-6 days of fermentation, the must is rectified to approx. 20% ABV with 96% ABV grape spirit to halt the fermentation. The fortified wine is transferred to old oak casks which are moved to age in Canteiros, ie. in warm warehouses in which the wines age in casks that are never topped up. 20% alcohol. Bottled in 2022, after 23 years of aging in casks, labeled as "Dry".
  
  Pale-to-medium-deep maple syrup color with a deeper, slightly reddish coppery core. The nose feels fragrant and fascinating with seductive aromas of mahogany, arrack and maple syrup, some red-toned dried fruits, a little bit of caramel, light raisiny tones, a hint of bruised apple, a touch of peanut butter and a whiff of sweet smoke. The wine feels dense, concentrated and quite bracing on the palate with a medium body and medium-sweet flavors of syrupy richness and sharp lemony notes of citrus fruits, some apple jam tones, a little bit of oxidative nuttiness, light dried-fruit nuances of Sultana raisins and dried dates, a hint of burnt sugar bitterness and a touch of mahogany. The wine is slightly sweeter and richer than most Sercial Madeiras, but not really as rich as, say, a Verdelho. Typical of the variety, the acidity feels sharp and racy, offsetting a great deal of sweetness from the residual sugar. The intense, focused finish feels quite dense and concentrated with a very long, medium-sweet aftertaste of syrupy richness, some tart lemony tones, a little bit of apple peel bitterness, light baking spice notes of cloves and star anise, a hint of smoke and a touch of oxidative nuttiness.
  
  A classic Frasqueira Sercial with relatively modest sweetness and sharp, bracing acidity - both which are the hallmarks of this Madeira style. Although the overall feel was "Madeira-Dry", ie. "just" medium-sweet, the wine seemed a bit sweeter and richer than I'd expect a Sercial to be, but otherwise this was more or less as classic as a Madeira can be. The overall feel was still super youthful for a Frasqueira, meaning that despite the wine was quite oxidative, it still retained some red-toned fruit flavors and the level of complexity was still relatively far from what these wines can show when they are truly old. As these wines develop complexity mainly with barrel aging, I really don't expect this wine to turn into anything stunning with any further bottle aging, but if there are going to be any later releases of this same wine in the future, one can expect them to be quite excellent. At 88€ from the winery, this was priced more or less according to its quality.

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  12/14/2022 - gouldcampbell77 Likes this wine: 93 Points

  This is the 2022 Frasqueira bottling. Decanted 48hrs.
  
  Signature D'Oliveira's dark mahogany colour and as you'd expect for such a recent bottling, crystal clear and shimmering in the glass. As Chatters has said, this smells like Christmas cake but there's also something a little bit dusty too, like the rind on a fresh Brie (a good thing). The palate is medium weight and beautifully balanced with delicious sweet tangy fruit, like satsumas at Christmas but then comes that bracing, almost shocking acidity on the tongue that slowly spreads to every corner of the mouth. It reminds me of when we were kids, daring each other to lick the terminals on top of a 9v battery. Lovely lingering nutty aftertaste. Sercial isn't my favourite style, but this is really good. Glad I have a few bottles stashed away.

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  11/23/2021 - chatters Likes this wine:

  Smells like Christmas cake; all nuts; walnuts, almonds, even a touch of hazelnut and dried fruits; dried cherries, raisins, figs but also bruised apple, brown sugar sliding to molasses, touches of brandy butter as well as a smidge of salinity. In the mouth it has juicy acidity, bone dry but with all of the flavours of the nose, a little alcohol warmth intrudes on the finish, drying, slightly woody, tannic grip rasps at the back palate. Joyous.

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