Weekly tasting group RWP: Really Special Wines (@ DJ): This is really special of course! For the age, but also in the impressive bouquet and taste. Oxidized and nutty bouquet with raisins, mandarin, apple syrup, nuts, intense sweetness, and also good acidity. I don't score this. Thank you DJ for sharing!
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The Rare Wine Company and Vinhos Barbeito Madeira Tasting (celebrating a 20 year partnership): I wine I know well, as it was one of the first serious Madeiras I purchased back when I first started collecting wines. I haven't had this for some time and forgot what a black hole of sugar this was. Dark like cola and stuffed with caramel, toffee, fruitcake, fudge and coffee. This was tremendously sweet with a hint of volatile acidity; the structure is just barely harnessing the sweetness here. This really sticks out in the Barbeito portfolio with its unusually aggressive sweetness. Certainly a polarizing wine, as some would surely find it too much of a good thing - but if you have a sweet tooth, this is for you. While I did enjoy it and can see this as a wine I would serve with dessert rather than by itself, I'm not sure I can drink more than a glass of this concentrated elixir. I can only imagine what could have been if it spent less time in cask.
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I can't find words that do this justice. I don't have much experience with incredible dessert wines that have been aged for 100 years in original cask. Right or wrong, this is the standard that all other dessert wines will be judged for me until I have something better (which I doubt will ever happen). Perfect balance of sweetness, acidity, texture and...well, everything I can think of. Caramel, orange zest, apple pie, rosemary brown butter, vanilla, coffee...um...none of this makes sense. Words can't describe the depth and complexity of flavors. 10-20-10-10
Chocolate brown color. Very intense bouquet with a lot of chocolate, coffee and also some acetone which after a while in the glass blew off. On the palate also coffee and chocolate, a nice amount of sweetness, a lot of bitterness and acidity like in Aceto Balsamico. I did not drink this one blind and knowing it is 112 years old makes it very special, especially because it still a beauty to drink. I scored it 92, but that does not include the knowledge that the wine is more than a century old; it is just for this evening's tasting experience.
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1900 Barbeito Malvazia; Dark amber, towards brown with golden rim. Intense and rich nose, leaping out of the glass, nuts, fruit cake, dried fruits, almost massive. High acidity, fresh and lively, layered but lacks the extraordinary nuances and complexity of a perfect D'Oliveiras bottle. 95
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Madeira @ Triomphe (NYC): Very dark in color, the darkest in the entire tasting. Very masculine and forceful, knocking down everything in its path. Chock full of raisins, molasses, orange zest and walnuts. On the sweeter side of the Malvasia spectrum and perhaps a bit of a brute for those looking for more elegance. Overall, I preferred the 1834 Barbeito Malvasia, as it struck a nice middle ground between the elegance of the 1862 Blandy’s Malvasia and the power of this wine. VERY GOOD.
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Roy Hersh's Majestic Madeira Extravaganza (Seattle, WA): Cloudy brown color. The nose is a little stale and stalky, somewhat raisined. The palate is rich, searing, with caramel, acid and then a further tidal wave of acid.
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Decanted for three days, which removed quite a bit of muddy sediment. The removal of the sediment and the aeration seemed to have helped, as the wine was much more expressive than the last time I sampled it. Very big aromas of caramel and orange peel, with molasses and a razor sharp acidic tang. Gloriously long and rich.
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(Dinner w/ Joao Roseira of Quinta do Infantado, NYC) Typical tawny colors with a hint of green on the edge. Nice, but a bit disjointed on the palate. Sweet and perhaps a bit flabby? Caramel and coffee but dull on the palate. I would guess that this needs a lot of air to perhaps show better.
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10/12/2021 - Peech Likes this wine: 96 Points
lots of nuts, medjool dates, plum, and honeydew melon. Needed time to open up.
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7/2/2018 - humagne wrote: 98 Points
Almost perfect. Sweet but well balanced by stunning acidity. The nose is extremely complex and rich.
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10/17/2016 - Zweder wrote:
Weekly tasting group RWP: Really Special Wines (@ DJ): This is really special of course! For the age, but also in the impressive bouquet and taste. Oxidized and nutty bouquet with raisins, mandarin, apple syrup, nuts, intense sweetness, and also good acidity. I don't score this. Thank you DJ for sharing!
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10/12/2015 - mdefreitas wrote: 93 Points
The Rare Wine Company and Vinhos Barbeito Madeira Tasting (celebrating a 20 year partnership): I wine I know well, as it was one of the first serious Madeiras I purchased back when I first started collecting wines. I haven't had this for some time and forgot what a black hole of sugar this was. Dark like cola and stuffed with caramel, toffee, fruitcake, fudge and coffee. This was tremendously sweet with a hint of volatile acidity; the structure is just barely harnessing the sweetness here. This really sticks out in the Barbeito portfolio with its unusually aggressive sweetness. Certainly a polarizing wine, as some would surely find it too much of a good thing - but if you have a sweet tooth, this is for you. While I did enjoy it and can see this as a wine I would serve with dessert rather than by itself, I'm not sure I can drink more than a glass of this concentrated elixir. I can only imagine what could have been if it spent less time in cask.
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12/14/2014 - CO_Roots13 wrote: 100 Points
I can't find words that do this justice. I don't have much experience with incredible dessert wines that have been aged for 100 years in original cask. Right or wrong, this is the standard that all other dessert wines will be judged for me until I have something better (which I doubt will ever happen). Perfect balance of sweetness, acidity, texture and...well, everything I can think of. Caramel, orange zest, apple pie, rosemary brown butter, vanilla, coffee...um...none of this makes sense. Words can't describe the depth and complexity of flavors.
10-20-10-10
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1/1/2014 - Zweder wrote: 92 Points
Chocolate brown color. Very intense bouquet with a lot of chocolate, coffee and also some acetone which after a while in the glass blew off. On the palate also coffee and chocolate, a nice amount of sweetness, a lot of bitterness and acidity like in Aceto Balsamico. I did not drink this one blind and knowing it is 112 years old makes it very special, especially because it still a beauty to drink. I scored it 92, but that does not include the knowledge that the wine is more than a century old; it is just for this evening's tasting experience.
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3/4/2012 - Christer Byklum wrote: 95 Points
1900 Barbeito Malvazia;
Dark amber, towards brown with golden rim. Intense and rich nose, leaping out of the glass, nuts, fruit cake, dried fruits, almost massive. High acidity, fresh and lively, layered but lacks the extraordinary nuances and complexity of a perfect D'Oliveiras bottle. 95
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6/10/2010 - PeterH wrote: 97 Points
Giant wine. When the somm popped the cork and decanted, you could smell it from 3 tables away. Wow..
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1/20/2007 - mdefreitas wrote: 93 Points
Madeira @ Triomphe (NYC): Very dark in color, the darkest in the entire tasting. Very masculine and forceful, knocking down everything in its path. Chock full of raisins, molasses, orange zest and walnuts. On the sweeter side of the Malvasia spectrum and perhaps a bit of a brute for those looking for more elegance. Overall, I preferred the 1834 Barbeito Malvasia, as it struck a nice middle ground between the elegance of the 1862 Blandy’s Malvasia and the power of this wine. VERY GOOD.
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1/7/2007 - Eric wrote:
Roy Hersh's Majestic Madeira Extravaganza (Seattle, WA): Cloudy brown color. The nose is a little stale and stalky, somewhat raisined. The palate is rich, searing, with caramel, acid and then a further tidal wave of acid.
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12/12/2003 - Xavier Auerbach wrote: 96 Points
Bottled October 1995. Magnificent, rich, concentrated, a beauty.
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5/10/2003 - mdefreitas wrote: 95 Points
Decanted for three days, which removed quite a bit of muddy sediment. The removal of the sediment and the aeration seemed to have helped, as the wine was much more expressive than the last time I sampled it. Very big aromas of caramel and orange peel, with molasses and a razor sharp acidic tang. Gloriously long and rich.
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7/3/2001 - Xavier Auerbach wrote: 93 Points
Tour and Madeira Tasting at Vinhos Barbeito (Funchal): Elegant, seems lighter than the others, Américo Pereira says this is because it was stored rather cool from 1996-1998.
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3/2/2000 - mdefreitas wrote: 87 Points
(Dinner w/ Joao Roseira of Quinta do Infantado, NYC) Typical tawny colors with a hint of green on the edge. Nice, but a bit disjointed on the palate. Sweet and perhaps a bit flabby? Caramel and coffee but dull on the palate. I would guess that this needs a lot of air to perhaps show better.
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1/1/2000 - dbg wrote:
excellent
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