TN: 1922 D'Oliveiras Madeira Boal

[Jay Hack]

1922 D'Oliveiras Madeira Boal - Portugal, Madeira (6/2/2012)
My second foray with this wine. We had a bottle of it in 2007 for my mother's 85th birthday, and we had another one for her 90th. Last time, I decanted based upon the recommendation of the D'Oliveiras family and gave it only about 2 hours of air. I decided it was not enough, so this time I followed Roy Hersh's recommendation from 2007 and decanted it at about 5 hours in advance, poured it back into the bottle from the decanter about 2 hours before we drank it, and then poured 28 glasses of it for all the adults at the party and drank it as the opening taste for the Havdalah service we conducted at the restaurant before dinner. This is definitely a wine that should be savored carefully, and thus belongs either on its own or at the beginning rather than the end of the meal. The nose is explosively nutty and sweet with some vanilla. Although there is acid present, this one - probably because of the longer decant - was less sharp on the palate with no bitterness from the acidity. Sweet without being sugary or syrupy, with lots of roasted nuts, orange peel and lemon. Color was translucent but dark brown. Superb balance. My wife is not a sweet wine drinker, but she really enjoyed this, as did many others, who begged me for more. Alas, there were no "seconds" since I saved only the last ounce for myself to bring home and try in a few days. I have one ounce left from the bottle I opened in 2007, and I will drink them side by side to see what 5 years of air will do to a Madeira. With luck, I will need, and be able to find, another bottle of this in 10 years. (95 pts.)

[John Vachon]

Yes this a great bottle of Madeira.