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Tasting Notes(3)
4.3
Same Madeira I came around to earlier in the year - dry wood, ripe citrus, floral notes, white sweet grapes, honey. Chocolate and dried apricots emerging this time. Smooth texture, mineral touch, fresh acidity holding everything in line despite the fortification. Still incredible how complex and multilayered it stays while keeping alcohol and sweetness in check.
I remember trying this wine a few years ago and I found it lacking, but yo, now I do enjoy drier styles of Madeira more, so now I find this bottle absolutely gorgeous. It's just incredible how complex and multilayered it managed to stay while controlling its alcohol and sweetness level. Dry wood, ripe citrus, floral notes, white sweet grapes and honey. Smooth texture, mineral touch with a fresh and energetic acidity and a lingering finish.
About
Barbeito (Vinhos Barbeito), founded 1946 in Funchal by Mário Barbeito de Vasconcelos - a former accountant who built the company on stocks of aged Madeira just as the post-WWII industry was at its lowest ebb. Run today by Mário's grandson Ricardo Diogo Vasconcelos de Freitas, who joined the company in 1991. The winery moved from Funchal to a purpose-built facility in Câmara de Lobos in 2008. Since 1991, Kinoshita International (Japan) has held a 50% stake.
Under Ricardo, Barbeito is widely credited as Madeira's "game changer" - the first producer to bottle vineyard-specific Tinta Negra and single-vineyard Sercial, Boal, and Verdelho; champion of the slower, costlier canteiro method (cask ageing in warm lofts) over estufa heating; creator of the "Signature" line built around historic vineyards and forgotten varieties.
This bottle is the Verdelho 10 Year "Reserva Velha" - "Reserva Velha" being the Madeira DOP designation for wines aged a minimum of 10 years in cask (next tier is Extra Reserve at 15+). 100% Verdelho, the medium-dry Madeira register ("meio seco"). 19.2% ABV, ~71 g/L total sugar. Aged canteiro in French oak casks; multi-cask blend (not a single cask). Source vineyards: São Vicente and Prazeres. Continuous press; fortified with 96% grape spirit at the desired sugar level.
