1904 D'Oliveiras Madeira Boal

Community Tasting Notes (4) Avg Score: 96 points

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  4/14/2024 - Charlie Carnes Likes this wine: 96 Points

  This was terrific! I enjoyed it with various friends and family for about three weeks. This was deep, and spicy, with a memories tickled of so many ancient things, living and dead. I love how fluid this wine was. There were thoughts of mulled spice cake, fruit cake, desserts cooked in various alcohols, cherries jubilee, bananas Foster, bourbon bread pudding, etc., etc. I had thoughts of an active antique store, sweet ripe tobacco, freshly ground coffee. I got a hint of sweet orange, too, which was cool.

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  11/18/2023 - acyso wrote: 95 Points

  Nebbiolos, white truffles, Volume VIII (Chicago, IL): Bottled in 2022. The nose has some old Eiswein-adjacent aromas of maple and horseradish, along with the perhaps more usual brown sugar and caramel notes of very old sugars. Moderately sweet, and counterweighted by the intense acidity that you get from this sort of concentration. Impressive stuff, but a little goes a long way.

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  8/31/2022 - forceberry wrote: 98 Points

  The wine is made with purchased Boal grapes. After 3-4 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 2021, after 114 years of aging in casks, labeled as "Medium Sweet".
  
  Very deep, clear and evolved syrupy-brown color with a reddish hue. The nose feels evolved, sweet and so complex with fine-tuned, nuanced aromas of raisins and dried dates, some pipe tobacco, a little bit of peppery spice, light pruney tones, a hint of dusty mahogany, a touch of maple syrup and a faint whiff of crème brûlée. The wine is so powerful, intense and just ridiculously concentrated on the palate. It is full in body with just otherworldly sense of concentration, yet it crisp, sharp and surprisingly light on its feet - all thanks to its bracing, zippy acidity. There are intense flavors of syrupy richness, dried figs, some butterscotch, a little bit of dried flowers, light notes of pipe tobacco, a hint of burnt sugar bitterness and a touch of lemon juice. The incisive acidity lends tremendous sense of structure, intensity and electric energy to the wine. The finish is sweet, very powerful and unbelievably long with intense flavors of lemon marmalade, caramel and syrupy molasses, some dried dates and raisiny tones, a little bit of smoke, light oxidative notes of nuttiness, a hint of quince jam and a touch of old, dusty mahogany.
  
  An otherworldly Boal. The structure, the intensity, the complexity and depth of flavor - they all are just beyond words here. I can repeatedly say the wine is exceptionally concentrated, but even then I don't think it's just possible to convey the sense of power and intensity one can find here. Oliveiras claims they never "freshen up" their old Madeiras with younger wines (unlike most other producers, who won't admit making this, yet are known to do it), which results in continuously increasing concentration of sugars, acidity, body and flavors as the wine ages and slowly evaporates in the casks in their Canteiros. It's hard to verify the veracity of d'Oliveiras claim, but tasting a wine this intense, it's quite easy to believe that what you're tasting is a wine that has been concentrated for more than a century, which explains the extraordinary complexity, intensity and lasting power. At 1000€ this wine is really expensive stuff, but then again, it's a singular wine - something that has been aged for more than a century and still is fully alive and kicking. Although the wine might not evolve any further from here, there's no hurries with it - it can be drunk now or within the next two to three centuries.

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  10/15/2021 - mryev Likes this wine: 95 Points

  A truly amazing boal with a long, long finish. This was the first bottling in 2020.

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