Early thoughts from a newbie

[Tim Nicholson]

Before buying my first bottles, I thought that I'd read a little more into the background of Madeira Wine. So, I've just read Trevor Elliott's book on the subject. Coming at the subject wearing my 'malt whisky tinted' glasses, the following points struck me forcibly.

(1) How little wine is actually produced overall;
(2) Of the wine that is made, what tiny proportions actually come from the 'noble' grape varieties;
(3) The incredible degree of regulation exercised by the Institute;
(4) For 'bog standard' bottlings, the stated age is an 'average' for the liquid in the bottle (with whisky it is the age of the youngest drop).

Also, given the very reasonable (at least in a whisky context) price of old vintage bottlings, I'm guessing that the demand for 'top end' Madeira must be in decline.

[Andy Velebil]

Well, it was very popular when the cigar craze in the US was also popular, then it faded and prices were fairly low (by current standards). It again gained in popularity several years ago, although it seems to have leveled out or even declined based on what I've seen in sales (I've not seen actual data from the governing body though). Others here could probably give you better and more up to date info than I, sorry.

[Eric Ifune]

I think Madeira is becoming more popular. More is being written about it, more sommeliers are serving it. Prices, according to Mannie Berk's auction price appendix in the new edition of Noel Cossart's "Madiera The Island Vinyard;" seemed to peak in 2007 but are still high. More volume and more variety are available via good retail outlets than ever before.

[Timothy B.]

I don't know how it factors in, but a local big-box wine-store (Total Wine) I was in recently had a few bottles of the Broadbent 96, and one each of d'Oliveira Bual 68 & d'Oliveira Terrantez 88.

--- T

[Eric Ifune]

The 68 d'Oliveira Bual is a great wine. Maybe the best post WWII Madeira.

[Guest]

[quote="Eric Ifune"]The 68 d'Oliveira Bual is a great wine. Maybe the best post WWII Madeira.[/quote]


I *love* this wine too!

[Moses Botbol]

I don't know how it factors in, but a local big-box wine-store (Total Wine) I was in recently had a few bottles of the Broadbent 96, and one each of d'Oliveira Bual 68 & d'Oliveira Terrantez 88.

--- T

Wow. Good selection at least! What were the prices? All 3 are winners.

[Timothy B.]

Wow. Good selection at least! What were the prices? All 3 are winners.

The 1996 Broadbent was $43, the 1988 Terrantez was $98, and I think the 1968 Bual was $150.

The last two would be slightly less expensive for me to order from Rare Wine Co., since their case shipping within California is just $15, and I'd have to pay CA sales tax either way.

One thing that makes Total Wine interesting, though, is that they occasionally have email coupons for $15 off each $100 I spend or even $10 off each $50. It's only good on 750 ml and 1.5 l wines, so if I found a 500 ml bottle of Madeira I'd be out of luck, but on the other hand it does apply to mead, so I can buy that to get up to the next level of the coupon.

--- Timothy

[Moses Botbol]

500 ML bottles of Madeira are the exception; virtually most are 750's.

[Roy Hersh]

Moses,

In recent years there are a LOT more 500 ml bottles than ever before. Besides some of the Colheitas that come that way, several special bottlings are also done in 500 ml so although you don't see Vintage (Frasqueira) bottlings that way, there are still plenty of recent bottlings in 500 ml. The first that I saw that way was the first release in the middle part of the last decade of the Barbeito VB with lots since.

[Roy Hersh]

Andy wrote:

Well, it was very popular when the cigar craze in the US was also popular, then it faded and prices were fairly low (by current standards). It again gained in popularity several years ago, although it seems to have leveled out or even declined based on what I've seen in sales (I've not seen actual data from the governing body though). Others here could probably give you better and more up to date info than I, sorry.

I respectfully disagree with the entirety of the above comment. The cigar craze did affect Port in a big way ... but many here were not drinking Port or Madeira back then, the author above included. That said, the cigar craze did nothing for the improved sales of Madeira. Like Eric mentioned, Madeira has slowly but surely been regaining steam for the past 15 year or so. That had nothing to do with the cigar situation and was not only the case in the USA, but the UK and other EU countries and Brazil as well. New bottlings were the catalyst. Actually to be more accurate it was the launch of Colheita Madeira with release of early to mid-1990's bottlings that has really reinvigorated interest and sales. RWC has done a lot, in working with Barbeito in particular to come up with many new blends to launch on the market to keep Madeira in focus, rather than just the old bottlings that are around of Solera and Vintage Madeiras. But the Colheita category has brought Vintage quality to the consumer before the wines have had a chance to reach 20 years of age in wood. Although far from mature and fully developed, these young bottlings have been able to be sold at much more reasonable pricing and for years that was only achievable by buying Rainwater, 3/5/10/15 year old bottlings. This new dawning of Colheita has been a game changer for the category.

There has not been a decline in Madeira sales in the USA or UK. That is absolutely false and I have that based on discussions with importers and producers. Don't know where that comment came from? As to the future of Madeira: old stocks remain tight and pricing will only continue to increase as demand outstrips supply and the few remaining producers which hold the keys, are sure to protect their stocks for future generations and use the pricing as their leverage to do so. Buying Madeira at auction is far safer than Port itself as provenance is far less vital to receiving a high quality bottle of Madeira (vs. Port) by comparison. Port may be very hearty wine but Madeira is far more similar to Superman and almost nothing except dropping the bottle on the floor, is going to hurt the contents as long as they're not tampered with.

[Andy Velebil]

You may disagree, but the figures from the IVBAM don't lie. While 2007 saw an uptick in sales from 2006, since then overall sales has declined in almost all areas (with a few very slight up ticks in certain categories in some years, but still significantly below 2007 levels overall).

Here is an interesting quote from 2008

Madeira wine increased its production by 12% in volume and almost 14% in profit in 2007, compared to 2006. These numbers were given by the Chairman of the IVBAM, before participating in a conference on wine and embroidery from Madeira island.
For the president of the Institute, this result is "very interesting", but it will be "difficult" to be achieved again in 2008, admitted Paulo Rodrigues.

Based on their own figures since this statement, he was right in that they weren't able to sustain it.

[Andy Dremeaux]

I had a chance to meet Mannie Berk the other day, and asked him if the madeira market was growing. He responded with "completely flat." I found that rather surprising, considering the incredible growth other artisinal alcoholic beverages are seeing, including craft beer, scotch, rum, mezcal, and general micro-spirits.

I feel a lot of it has to do with just a general lack of knowledge. When I tell people I'm into madeira, 9 times out of 10 I'll get "isn't that stuff for cooking?" in response. The madeira world could see IMO explosive growth with the right marketing tactics—increase knowledge; market to the same young, successful people that scotch is being marketed to; get vintage bottles into over-the-top crystal decanters and display them at duty free shops, etc—but do we want that to happen? The industry is not set up to handle that kind of capacity, and vintage stocks would be rapidly depleted within only a few years, with the remaining bottles rising in value astronomically. I can't help but feel a little selfish, knowing that this limited growth means I'll continue to have access to these truly world class beverages for comparatively reasonable prices.

[Andy Velebil]

Thanks Andy D. as that only reinforces statistics I've recently seen from IVBAM. What was interesting to discover (as of 2010) is that outside of the EU the USA and Japan are now the current largest buyers of Madeira. That was news to me as I didn't realize they liked it.

[Roy Hersh]

Still doesn't explain the cigar comment.

[Eric Ifune]

A Japanese company owns the majority of Barbieto.