NV 30 Year Old Moscatel Bodegas Malaga Virgen

[winesecretary]

Brown and gloopy. Extremely strong smell of eucalyptus. Congruent palate but that is not a criticism, it was really rather lovely. My #2, the group's #4. Tasted blind 09 January 2020 courtesy AHB.

[Alex Bridgeman]

Dark brown with a narrow green rim, the brown a lovely chestnut tone. Rich and concentrated honey on the nose, lots of dark treacle but with a vague citrus tone. Very thick on the palate but with levels of acidity that keeps an attempt at a balance. Intense honey flavours with a clover emphasis, rich and sweet. The acidity shows again on the aftertaste before a big clover honey finish. A very long lasting but intensely sweet finish.
88/100. Tasted 09-Jan-20. Decanted 1 hour.

[Mike J. W.]

Does Moscatel have an indefinite shelf life? Or is it somewhat limited? I have a lone bottle of Moscatel that I took a flyer on at auction (Jose Maria da Fonseca Trilogia). I know next to nothing about Moscatel de Setubal so I'm wondering how soon I need to drink it.

[Alex Bridgeman]

Malaga is one of those wines which lasts virtually forever - it’s fortified, it has high sugar content and the best have high acidity. I’ve drunk bottles which are decades old and which have been delicious - I had one recently which was bottled about 60 years ago.

[winesecretary]

@Mike J.W. - not all moscatel wine is Malaga wine (most moscatel wine comes instead from Setubal in Portugal, with a tiny amount also grown and made into madeira wine on Madeira) and not all Malaga wine is made from moscatel (some of it is made from pedro ximenez).

[MigSU]

There's also Moscatel fortified wine in the Douro (mostly from the Favaios/Alijó area).

[Mike J. W.]

Thank you Alex, George and MigSu. It's great to learn about another Fortified / Sweet wine. I'll have to do a little light reading.

[winesecretary]

Wait until you taste Carcavelos…

[Mike J. W.]

Wait until you taste Carcavelos…

George, I tried one about 2 years ago. It don't recall if it was a 12 year-old or 15 year-old, but it was just okay. I didn't take notes on it, but I remember being a little disappointed because I was expecting more from it. It's possible it was a bad bottle, but it didn't taste off. They're hard to find in the States here, but I will keep an eye out and try again.

Tokaji is another nice, fortified wine that I try from time to time. While they're not fortified wines, I also like Vin Santo and Sauternes. I probably have about a dozen Vin Santo in my basement and about 3 dozen Sauternes.

[MigSU]

Wait until you taste Carcavelos…

George, I tried one about 2 years ago. It don't recall if it was a 12 year-old or 15 year-old, but it was just okay. I didn't take notes on it, but I remember being a little disappointed because I was expecting more from it. It's possible it was a bad bottle, but it didn't taste off. They're hard to find in the States here, but I will keep an eye out and try again.

Tokaji is another nice, fortified wine that I try from time to time. While they're not fortified wines, I also like Vin Santo and Sauternes. I probably have about a dozen Vin Santo in my basement and about 3 dozen Sauternes.

Just a small correction: Tokaji wines are not fortified. They are late harvest wines, made from grapes affected by the Botrytis cinerea fungus, the so-called "noble rot".

[Mike J. W.]

Wait until you taste Carcavelos…

George, I tried one about 2 years ago. It don't recall if it was a 12 year-old or 15 year-old, but it was just okay. I didn't take notes on it, but I remember being a little disappointed because I was expecting more from it. It's possible it was a bad bottle, but it didn't taste off. They're hard to find in the States here, but I will keep an eye out and try again.

Tokaji is another nice, fortified wine that I try from time to time. While they're not fortified wines, I also like Vin Santo and Sauternes. I probably have about a dozen Vin Santo in my basement and about 3 dozen Sauternes.

Just a small correction: Tokaji wines are not fortified. They are late harvest wines, made from grapes affected by the Botrytis cinerea fungus, the so-called "noble rot".

The funny thing is, I thought it was noble rot, but while I was writing my response earlier, I wasn't 100% sure, so I Googled "is tokaji a fortified wine or not". The AI Overview answer came back with "Yes, Tokaji is a fortified wine". I figured what do I know, Google AI must be right. Mistake! I just googled it again and got the same answer as above (claiming that it is a fortified wine), but I read the Paragraph below it which is as follow...

What is fortified wine?
A fortified wine is a wine that has a distilled spirit, usually brandy, added to it.
What is Tokaji?
Tokaji is a sweet, dessert wine from Hungary's Tokaj wine region. It's made from grapes grown on Furmint or Hárslevelű vines that are affected by a mold called Botrytis cinerea, also known as "noble rot". The mold concentrates the grape's sugars and flavors, giving the wine a honey-like sweetness.

Lessons learned 1. I should have gone with my gut and 2. Google AI is a damn liar!

[MigSU]

God damn Google.

"Is Tokaji fortified?"

"Yes. Also, no."

[Mike J. W.]

God damn Google.

"Is Tokaji fortified?"

"Yes. Also, no."