1912 DOliveira Verdelho Vintage Madeira - medium dry
€ 1,500.00
| Producer | D'Oliveiras |
| Region | Madeira |
| Grapes | Verdelho |
| Ageing | At least 20 years in cask (Frasqueira) |
| Alcohol | 20%vol |
| Serving | 18°C, open a few hours in advance Store upright, keeps almost indefinitely once opened |
| Scores | 92/100 Wine & Spirits |
A 1912 Verdelho from the family’s own vineyards in São Martinho.
Tasting note
A fruity style with a lovely balance between acidity and sweetness, without Sercial’s high acidity. Dried fruit, nuts and honey on the nose, sometimes with a little coffee and chocolate on the palate.
The story
The D’Oliveira family drew its oldest Verdelhos, from 1850, 1890, 1900, 1905 and 1912, from its own vineyards in São Martinho.
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.
Elsewhere in Portugal, Verdelho is also known as Gouveio. The grape gives a lightly sweet, medium-dry style, is mainly planted in the north at 400-600 m and ripens late. It is the main ingredient of Rainwater.
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
As an aperitif, or with oxtail soup (served alongside, not in it), cream of shrimp or asparagus soup, lobster with tarragon vinaigrette, Caesar salad, smoked duck with mango chutney, pigeon with macadamia and star anise or Peking duck. Also good with hazelnuts, quark and aged, sweet or nutty cheeses, smoked salmon, prawn cocktail with Granny Smith, mussels and sardines. It suits almost any meat, from chicken and duck to pork and steak, and is a classic with smoked ham. A Madeiran speciality: swordfish with banana and passion fruit, or grilled pineapple.
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.
Critics & Awards
Commended – International Wine Challenge 2011
92/100 Wine & Spirits
94/100 CellarTracker (24 notes)
Reviews
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