2007 D'Oliveiras Madeira Verdelho Colheita

Community Tasting Notes (1) Avg Score: 93 points

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  9/1/2022 - forceberry wrote: 93 Points

  The wine is made with purchased Verdelho. After 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 15 years of aging, labeled as "medium dry".
  
  Moderately deep mahogany color with a reddish, coppery core and pale golden-yellow rim. The nose feels sweet and, attractive and quite evolved yet not particularly oxidative with nuanced aromas of maple syrup and apple jam, some creamy custard notes, a little bit of clove-driven Christmas spice, light marzipan tones, a hint of Sultana raisins and a touch of butterscotch. Lovely! The wine feels quite sweet, intense and a bit hot on the palate with a medium-to-moderately full body and layered flavors of apple jam and tart, lemony citrus fruit, some Christmas spices like cinnamon and cloves, a little bit of maple syrup, light creamy notes of vanilla custard, a hint of burnt sugar bitterness and a sweet touch of Sultanas. The high acidity lends great sense of freshness and structure to the wine while at the same time letting the richness from the residual sugar lift the sweeter flavors. The finish is juicy, textural and quite acid-driven with a somewhat sweet and very lengthy aftertaste of butterscotch, some creamy custard tones, a little bit of lemony citrus fruit, light sweet notes of apple jam and Sultana raisins, a hint of cloves and a touch of peanut butter.
  
  A beautiful, harmonious and wonderfully textural Colheita. Stylistically the wine is quite close to the younger d'Oliveiras Frasqueiras, but compared to the older Frasqueiras, this is quite a different thing - the wine seems sweeter and more textural as the wine doesn't have any of the concentration that the older wines have developed. Especially the "lack" of acidity is quite apparent: while nobody in their right mind would say this wine is lacking in acidity, because it is actually very high in acidity, it is nowhere near as sharp and incisive as the old Frasqueiras can be with their piercing acidity. Furthermore, even if this wine shows some really lovely complexity and sense of development, the wine is still missing the concentrated mouthfeel and intensity in the flavors one can find in wines that have been aged in oak casks for a century or even more. I guess that might also explain why the alcohol shows here a bit more than in the older wines - in those wines the immeasurable flavor intensity just masks all the alcohol away. But even if this wine is a mere shadow of the best d'Oliveiras wines, it is still an excellent and immensely delicious fortified wine in its own right. Outstanding stuff, solid value at 46€.

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