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This is nice

Great note. Thanks for sharing.

djewesbury wrote:Great note. Thanks for sharing.

Simmer down, I opened it last night but managed to get a bit of sludge in it so I shall have to leave it for a day or two, which indeed I need to anyway to let it open up a bit.

LGTrotter wrote:

djewesbury wrote:Great note. Thanks for sharing.

Simmer down, I opened it last night but managed to get a bit of sludge in it so I shall have to leave it for a day or two, which indeed I need to anyway to let it open up a bit.

The general rule I was always taught was that for every decade in the bottle, you should leave madeira in the decanter for a week before drinking.

AHB wrote:The general rule I was always taught was that for every decade in the bottle, you should leave madeira in the decanter for a week before drinking.

Sound advice which I followed.

I find madeira a difficult wine to describe, so bear with me. The smell which you get on opening an old bottle is entrancing and this had it, you could smell it from the next room. Something of mahogany, sort of convivial and inviting. It took a few days to settle down, with a piercing palate but also something less pleasant, a palm oil flavour which I have found in other D'Oliveira wines which is rather off putting. However this disappeared after a week of being open and it became easier to hold in the mouth as the piercing quality receded. And while it is clearly in a different league to the usual Madeira I drink (15yo H&H) I confess to feeling a bit underwhelmed by it. There are no faults or problems, it has a good Bual typicity (is that a word?) and a fine length and breadth but I hoped for more subtly. It is well rated by Alex Liddell who can be relied on in matters Madeira so maybe the fault is with my expectation rather than the wine.