A Taste of History: The Leacock Family Madeiras

Hotel Monaco, San Francisco, CA
Tasted Saturday, June 6, 2009 by mdefreitas with 907 views

Introduction

This historic tasting of the Leacock family Madeiras was put together by Mannie Berk of the Rare Wine Company. The wines came from the personal cellar of William Leacock, the only son of Edmund Leacock. These gems went up for auction at Christie's on December 11, 2008, and Mannie Berk was fortunate (and astute) enough to win many of the more interesting lots.

Originally scheduled for June 7th, response was so great that a second, identical, tasting was scheduled for June 6th as well.

While most of the Madeiras available today see very little bottle aging, this tasting was unique in that these wines are heavily bottle aged and will show quite a different character to what one would normally experience.

The wines were opened for a week, with the hope that extended aeration would eliminate any bottle stink that typically develops from so much time in the bottle.

As one climbed the stairs towards the dining room, you could already smell the rich and intoxicating perfume of the Madeiras being poured.

Flight 1 - PREFACE (1 Note)

A little something to get the taste buds going...

Flight 2 - CHAPTER 1: The Dry (3 Notes)

This flight consisted of wines deemed to be Sercial or Sercial-like.

  • NV Leacock Madeira "A" (undated) 94 Points

    Portugal, Madeira

    Relatively light in color; golden tawny hue; slight green rim. Very perfumed and cognac-like. Some volatile acidity. Good citric, floral and dried apricot flavors. Certainly dry, but not austere. Incredible "cling" on the palate with some "warmth". A slight bit of "earthiness" in the mid-palate was the only detraction. Lingering pit-bull of a finish. For such a dry wine, there is good richness here. My favorite of the flight, I thought this was super. Mannie mentioned that this reminded him of old, barrel-aged aguradente -- but without the alcohol or heat. Could this have been a diluted aguradente? Is that what the mysterious "A" on the bottle stood for? [Update: Mannie has met up with Ricardo Freitas of Barbeito, who is convinced this is an aguardente - but from wine "lees", not sugar cane. It was probably single or double distilled and the wood aged. Ricardo also mentioned seeing aguardente bottles in family cellars with the distinctive painted "A".].

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  • 1825 Leacock Madeira Seco 89 Points

    Portugal, Madeira

    Medium copper in color. A bit ungiving in the nose. Not as dry as the Leacock "A" and not quite the acidity of that wine as well. Medium length, a bit spirity and raw on the nose. This was (relatively) soft in the mouth, but still very nice. The finish was mouth-watering, but the flavors somewhat muted. Perhaps this was a Verdelho? Mannie mentioned that Sercial was quite prestigious at the time this was produced -- so if it was a Sercial, you would think it would be labeled as such.

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  • 1890 Leacock Madeira Sercial 84 Points

    Portugal, Madeira

    Similar copper color as the 1825 Leacock Seco. Odd bottle stink on the nose. I couldn't get the weird "stewed vegetables" (brussel sprouts?) flavors off my mind. Tangy, but dry (this time austerely so). Interesting from an intellectual standpoint, but this didn't give up much "love" for me.

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Flight 3 - CHAPTER 2: The Off Dry (3 Notes)

This flight consisted of wines deemed to have an off-dry, Verdelho-like character.

  • 1928 Leacock Madeira Verdelho "EEL" 90 Points

    Portugal, Madeira

    Medium-amber in color. Leather and nut skin on the nose. Very dry; Sercial-like. Beautful old wine cellar scents -- like decending into an ancient wine cave. Lingering tart finish, but some heat is evident. This was probably a private family wine for Edmund Erskine Leacock ("EEL").

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  • 1934 Leacock Madeira "SJ" 83 Points

    Portugal, Madeira

    A single vineyard Madeira from the famous, but now defunct, São João vineyard. It was here that the Leacock family ran experiemnts to halt the spread of phylloxera. Medium dark caramel color. Ungiving nose. Somewhat flat on the palate. Not a bad wine, but lacks the vibrancy I crave from Madeira. You really need to work this to get any flavors. Some spirit on the finish. Some nuts and caramel, but this was generally closed in on itself.

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  • NV Leacock Madeira Malvazia "VMA" (undated) 82 Points

    Portugal, Madeira

    Another ungiving nose here. With time in the glass, floral scents were revealed. Better on the palate. Medium sweet, soft and velvety on the palate. Relative to the other wines in the flight, this seemed lower in acidity. Nice wine, but I would personally prefer more drive and energy. Nobody seems to know what the "VMA" stands for. [Update: Peter Reutter (of www.madeirawineguide.com) noticed that the "MA" is superscripted and underlined, meaning that the "VMA" was an abbreviation for "Velhissima", which translates to "Very Old" or "Ancient".].

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Flight 4 - CHAPTER 3: The Odd Couple (2 Notes)

A couple of unusual private family wines, believed to have been laid down for John Milburne Leacock's sons.

  • 1896 Unknown Madeira HFS "E" 94 Points

    Portugal, Madeira

    Probably another private family wine; believed to have possibly been laid down for Edmund Erskine, born in 1891. Very dark in color; almost cola-like. Interesting camphor/sandalwood/tea leaf/pressed dried flowers and perfume. These are the scents I normally associate with extreme bottle-aged Madeiras -- and it was intoxicating. Initialy luscious and round on entry, but very good balancing acidity. Off-dry. Beautiful "sweet" bottle bouquet that I could not get enough off. An unusual wine in that the nose strongly suggested bottle-aging while, paradoxically, the color suggested cask aging.

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  • 1895 Unknown Madeira HFS "JPW" 92 Points

    Portugal, Madeira

    Dark, but not as much as the 1896 HFS "E" that preceded this. More "sweet" bottle aged flavors, although not as expressive as the previous wine. Medium sweet, elegant and nice juicy acidity, although again, not as precise as the previous wine. Lovely wine, but for me, overshadowed by the 1896 HFS "E". This is believed to have been laid down for Julian Philip, born in 1893, the son of John Milburne Leacock.

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Flight 5 - CHAPTER 4: Now We're Talking (3 Notes)

A big step up in overall quality.

  • 1881 Leacock Madeira Terrantez 95 Points

    Portugal, Madeira

    Medium dark amber. Highly expressive nose of burnt sugar and dried fruits. More torrefaction here that in the other wines. Incredible palate impact. Envelopes and carresses the palate with a luscious coating of semi-bitter nutskin. Tangy, with terrific cut and precision; lime-squit acidity. This deliveres an unforgettable punch, with facinating contemplative length.

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  • NV Madeira Wine Company Madeira A.G. Pacheco 87 Points

    Portugal, Madeira

    A famous wine among "old time" Madeira collectors. Bottled by the Madeira Wine Association in 1927. Medium amber in color. Quite a bit of sour flavors on the nose and mouth. Somewhat muddied in the mid-palate while showing a quite a bit of spirit. There is good length here, with some pretty dried floral notes... but the sour elements were somewhat distracting to me.

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  • 1868 Lomelino Madeira Very Old Boal E.B.H. 97 Points

    Portugal, Madeira

    Wow! My favorite wine of the tasting so far, and one of the wines of the entire tasting. Dark amber in color, with a slight green rim. A fascinating, lifted, fresh "green" herbal note to go with the caramel and dried fruits. This was astonishingly rich and luscious, reallly clinging to the palate -- yet this was a diamond of a wine, displaying clarity, cut and brightness. There are times when you just stop analyzing and talking about specific flavors and just take in the gestalt... this was one of those times. The EBH stands for Eugenia de Bianchi Henriques, who had many strong family connections in the trade.

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Flight 6 - CHAPTER 5: The Big Guns (3 Notes)

Some of the rarest wines of the tasting, including a Bastardo that was previously unkown to have existed and my wine of the day.

  • 1845 Lomelino Madeira Quinta da Paz 98 Points

    Portugal, Madeira

    A famous, yet ridiculously rare wine. Produced on the estate of Joseph Phelps, an early British shipper. One sip of this and I declared it the wine of the tasting for me. Dark caramel in color, root beer, treacle, figs. Expands slowly on the palate, where it mercilessly coats anything that happens to get in its way. Like "The Blob", resistance is futile. One of those wines where you can taste it minutes later by licking between your gums and lips. Uncanny combination of richness and nervous tension. Profound length... profound wine.

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  • 1836 Lomelino Madeira Bastardo 94 Points

    Portugal, Madeira

    This is the oldest Bastardo currently known to exist. Intriguing fruitcake and mocha nose. The flavors are "darker" than the other wines tasted thus far. More fruitcake, treacle and roasted flavors on the palate... almost like a liquid bolo de mel. Pleasing nut skin and coffee bean bitterness on the finish. This leans more towards the "bass" rather than "treble" spectrum of flavors that Madeiras can take on. More of an intellectual rather than hedonistic experience, but extremely enjoyable and unique. [I find it interesting that of the few Bastardos I've had, they've all tasted radically different... the 1875 Cossart Gordon displayed exotic tropical fruits (mangos/papaya/kiwi); the 1927 D'Oliveira was sharp and mouth watering with citrus and a bitter/chalky/mineraly almost Chinon-like flavor and acidity; the 1927 Leacock had a dusty dried strawberry and boullion/saline character. Tough to surmise a common thread among these little "Bastards". Mannie mentioned the classic bitter finish... perhaps the defining attribute?]

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  • NV H.M. Borges Madeira Terrantez HMB (undated; presumed 1862) 93 Points

    Portugal, Madeira

    Although undated, it is speculated that this is the famous 1862. I was immediately taken back by a prominent bottle stink. Trying to look past this, there was lovely orange zest, burnt sugar and nut skin flavors. Nice combination of richness and precision. Impressive complexity and a finish that hung on for dear life. This surely would have been one of my top wines of the tasting, had I not focused so much on the bottle stink. I would be curious to revisit this bottle again after more aeration.

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