1969 DOliveira Sercial Vintage Madeira - dry
€ 604.00
| Producer | D'Oliveiras |
| Region | Madeira |
| Grapes | Sercial |
| 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 | 94/100 Wine Spectator |
A 1969 Sercial: 94 points from Wine Spectator.
Tasting note
Sercial is the palest Madeira: a lovely golden yellow, aromatic and floral, with citrus notes in youth that turn nuttier over time and even recall older Riesling. Ginger is a hallmark aroma. Its high acidity makes it the ideal aperitif wine.
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.
Sercial is the white grape behind the driest style of Madeira: the spirit is only added at the end of fermentation, when almost all the sugar has fermented. Its very high acidity when young earned this late-ripening grape the name Esgana Cão (dog strangler), and it is why Sercial usually ages for a long time. It grows in the highest vineyards in the south, at around 600-800 m, or in the cooler north. Sercial is somewhat reminiscent of Riesling.
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
Lightly chilled as an aperitif with olives and almonds, or with sushi, oysters, squid carpaccio with tomato-coriander vinaigrette, salmon tartare, prosciutto, crab and fresh tuna (sashimi).
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
94/100 Wine Spectator | Tasted: Apr 2016
92/100 CellarTracker (14 notes)
Reviews
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