1986 D'Oliveira Boal Vintage Madeira - medium sweet
€ 355.00
| Producer | D'Oliveiras |
| Region | Madeira |
| Grapes | Boal (Bual) |
| Ageing | At least 20 years in cask (Frasqueira) |
| Alcohol | 20%vol |
| Serving | 15-18°C, open a few hours in advance Store upright, keeps almost indefinitely once opened |
A 1986 Boal: salted caramel, molasses and maple syrup.
Tasting note
Salted caramel on the nose. Astonishingly sweet and rich on the palate, with molasses and maple syrup, balanced by beautiful lemony acidity. Very long finish with notes of toffee and liquorice.
The story
These are Madeira’s finest wines, with almost unlimited ageing potential. A Frasqueira (formerly called vintage Madeira) must spend at least 20 years in cask and two years in bottle before it may be sold. It comes from a single good harvest and a single noble grape, both stated on the label with the harvest and bottling years. After gentle heating it ages for a long time in wooden casks, and once bottled its quality no longer changes. Because they are so rare, these wines are inventoried.
Boal is the Portuguese name of the grape, Bual the English one (it is also called Boal Cachudo). It grows mainly in the south of the island, between 100 and 300 m altitude, and in the north near São Vicente.
Madeira spends years ageing in an oxidative environment and moves into a reductive one at bottling. It is therefore best to open the bottle a few hours in advance. After that, air no longer affects the wine: an open bottle keeps almost indefinitely and often tastes even better months later. Always store Madeira upright, as the acidity attacks the cork if the bottle lies down.
Food pairing
Delicious on its own, but also with cheese, fresh tropical fruit, tarts and fruit tarts, butter biscuits, cream cakes and wild berries.
The producer
D’Oliveiras (Pereira D’Oliveira) is one of the most traditional Madeira houses and is still owned by the founding family, whose roots lie in São Martinho, above Funchal. Through the purchase of other houses, the oldest of them founded in 1820, D’Oliveiras holds the island’s largest stock of old vintages, going back to 1850. In 1968 the brothers Aníbal and Luís D’Oliveira joined the firm, which then began to export. Since Aníbal’s death in 2017, Luís and Aníbal’s son Filipe have carried on the house.
The house is convinced that Madeira ages best in cask. Old vintages therefore stay in wood, and only as much is bottled as is needed. D’Oliveiras was one of the first on the island to print the bottling year on the back label. The lodge is on Rua dos Ferreiros in old Funchal, in buildings dating back to 1619.