Monday, 26 December 2011

19th Century Madeira

This is a bottle of 19th century wine, a Bual Madeira from 1863. It was bought in Hong Kong a few years ago and it cost around the same as what the current vintage of first growth was selling at the time, a few thousand dollars (HK). This seemed most eminently reasonable for such a rare antique. The lower label stated that it was matured in cask for over 50 years, before being transferred to large glass containers, being finally bottled in 1978, at a princely age of 115 years!
Will I drink it? I think so, but that should be a very worthy occasion. Would it be good? Why not? After all, madeiras are wines made to last, and with their warm aging process, virtually indestructible. After all, even if you cannot finish it in one go, how much more can you throw at a wine which has undergone at least 50 years oxidative aging?


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