Wondering about Madeira aging curve

Hi everyone, Thanks for all the great info from my recent post regarding aged Chartreuse. This is a related question about another “indestructible” drink- Madeira.

I don’t have the money to buy a super old bottle of Madeira, but I am curious about them nonetheless. Are the high prices paid for these bottles mostly for historical value, or does a very old Madeira taste much different than a moderately old Madeira? There most be some point at which these drinks plateau, I would think. They can’t really continue to get progressively better and better into infinite…or can they?

I haven’t been to these tasting for myself, but a friend of mine arranged three tasting on older Madeira that always started with wines from early-to-mid 1900’s Madeiras and went to mid-to-early 1800’s, except for one that went to 1795 and another that went to 1772.

Almost invariably the older bottles were described as the best of the evening, but I don’t think nobody said that the oldest were consistently the best. Age is not the only thing that matters - plus when wines are that old, provenance is of utmost importance - but yes, Madeira really gets better and better into infinity with age. As long as the wine is still in sound condition when it is bottled.

However, you have to remember that the aging curve halts almost completely when Madeira is bottled - they get progressively better only in cask. There might be some development happening in the bottle, but I’m not entirely sure if it’s always for the better - I’ve had once a tasting where we tasted the same vintage, but from two different bottlings; one was a recent bottling and another was much older, probably +10 years, bought upon release and kept in a cellar since. The recent bottling showed much more freshness and complexity, while the cellared one felt slightly flatter and lacking the vibrancy. It was great when tasted on its own, but the difference was remarkable when tasted side-by-side.

1 Like

There is cask aging and glass aging. Madeira relishes oxygen. It gets exposed to it in cask. After a certain time in cask, full oxidation is reached and concentration continues. This time depends on the wine. Oxygen keeps the wine fresh with it’s fruit intact. Concentration occurs to both sugar and acidity. Wine can be kept in cask too long however. For my tastes, the 1760 and 1790 Borges Terrentez, both famous wines, are a bit over the hill.
Once the wine is fully sealed in bottle, no further concentration occurs. There is a lack of oxygen. The wines will age, glacially. The fruit will gradually fade and the wines gain an “ethereal” lacy quality. The US was famous for it’s demijohn aged Madeira during the 19th and early 20th centuries. These wines were renowned for their elegance. This process takes decades however. One might not see changes for 40-50+ years. With extreme time in glass, the fruit completely fades and the wine can become astringent, especially if the wine did not see long aging in cask. There might be considerable bottle stink as well. Sometimes these old bottled wines can be saved by placing them back in wood. This is how the 1795 Barbeito Terrantez was treated.
I’ve had many examples of glass aged Madeira. Some are beautifully elegant, others are lacking in any fruit and are extremely astringent. The best version was from the Liberty Hall sale. A demijohn of “old Madeira.” Probably from the mid 19th century and in glass for at least 80 years. Likely a blend of Sercial and Verdelho. Beautifully clean and ethereal. Currently, no one is deliberately glass aging their Madeira for decades and one has to go back to the old US collections to try them. My favorite wines are those that are aged for long periods in both cask and glass. They still have lots of fruit and concentration yet a good deal of elegance as well. The D’Oliveiras “family reserve” wines are examples. These sell at a premium.

2 Likes

It keeps getting better until someone opens it or drops it.

Otto and Eric, thanks for your contributions on this one, I’ve learned something!