2003 Justino's Madeira Tinta Negra Colheita

Community Tasting Notes (1) Avg Score: 87 points

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  9/2/2022 - forceberry wrote: 87 Points

  The wine is made with Tinta Negra grapes sourced from Estreito de Câmara de Lobos, Câmara de Lobos and São Vicente. The grapes are fermented and macerated with the skins over a handful of days. Then the must is rectified to approx. 20% ABV with 96% ABV grape spirit to halt the fermentation, after which the fortified wine is transferred to old French and American oak casks. The wine is aged in Canteiros, ie. in warm warehouses, in which the wines age in casks that are never topped up. Bottled in 2021, after 18 years of aging in casks. Curiously the winery website says the Tinta Negra Colheitas are made only in the sweet (rich) style, yet the back label says this wine is "medium sweet". 19% alcohol.
  
  Pale syrupy-brown color with a reddish core. The nose feels sweet and quite straightforward with aromas of Christmas spices and oxidative nuttiness, some dusty notes of old wood, a little bit of dried dates, light raisiny tones and a hint of fruit cake. The wine feels mellow, balanced and somewhat linear on the palate with a moderately full body and moderately sweet flavors of lemon marmalade and bruised apple, some oxidative notes of dusty old wood and roasted walnuts, a little bit of something smoky and a rich hint of treacle. The moderately high acidity keeps the wine nicely in balance and lends it some sense of structure. The finish is rich and quite mellow with rather long flavors of roasted nuts and dusty old wood, some syrupy tones, a little bit of oxidative malty character, light bruised apple tones and a hint of honey.
  
  A tasty but otherwise a bit simple and quite mellow Madeira that comes across as somewhat soft and foursquare. The flavors feel surprisingly oxidative for the relatively young age of the wine and the acidity comes across as surprisingly modest for a Madeira. The acidity is still high in the context of fortified wines, but it is nowhere near the incisive zip one can find in Madeiras made with the noble white varieties. This is a decent effort, but nothing particularly memorable. Priced somewhat according to its quality at 25€.

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