These are the top wines from Madeira. The ripening potential is almost unlimited.
This madeira of the highest quality must have been at least 20 years in barrel plus two years in the bottle before sale can take place. This wine used to be vintage madeira. A frasqueira must consist entirely of one of the top varieties mentioned on the label, together with the harvest and bottling year. Frasqueira's always come from one good harvestyear. They have undergone a mild temperature treatment and have been stored for a long time in wooden barrels. After bottling, the quality of frasqueira no longer changes.
These madeira wines are inventoried in view of their uniqueness.
Food-pairing
Cheeses such as blue cheeses, Stilton, Gruyere, manchego, & Emmenthal
Crème Brulee, caramel desserts based on apples, apricots, pecans, cherries, almonds, hazelnuts, dried figs & vanilla ice cream desserts.
The excellent companion with a pipe, cigar or aromatic tobacco.
Grapes
Malvasia (Malmsey)
Alcoholcontent
19,5%
Store & Serve
Serve at 18 °C
Keep a Madeira wine always upright.
The acids of Madeira are so strong that they attack the cork if the bottle is stored lying down.
Madeira is a wine that has ripened for several years in an oxidative environment, and then enters a reductive environment when bottling. It is therefore useful to open the bottles a few hours in advance. The bottles can then be kept almost unlimited, since the air has no influence on Madeira wines. In fact, the wine tastes better after months - if it remains - than when the bottle is opened.
Critics & Awards
95/100 - Robert Parker The Wine Advocate
95/100 - Wine Spectator
93/100 - CellarTracker (5 notes)