D'Oliveira Madeira Terrantez 1988

Alcohol: 20%

Grape(s): Terrantez

Localization: Madeira, Portugal

Tasting Notes: Roasted almonds on the nose and hazelnuts. Dry in taste, with notes of dry fruits like apricots and mango, walnuts, mineral, almost sweet and sour. Lovely long tangy finish.

Notes: Terrantez is one of the rarest grapes, saved from the brink of extinction and Terrantez Madeira wines are not so easy to find. The founders of D’Oliveiras were visionaries that saw the true value of Madeira Wine: its ability to improve over time. D’Oliveiras is the only Madeira Wine company that owns Madeira Wine bottles and barrels from as far as the 1850s that can still be commercially purchased. Bottled and painted by hand in 2019, this 1988 Terrantez has been aged for 31 years in old French oak barrels in the 17th-century wine lodge in the heart of old Funchal.

Food pairing: Good pairing for cigars or on its own. Serve at 16°-18°C

The Domain: D'Oliveira is one of the greatest Madeira shippers, and one of the few who have survived from the pre-phylloxera era. The firm was originally founded in 1820, its cellars date back to 1619, and it is still owned by the same founding family. However, the real jewel of the firm is their priceless stocks of extremely old Madeira wine, all from their own vineyards and cellars. D'Oliveira believes that all Madeira ages best in cask, and all of its vintages are kept in wood for a minimum of 20 years, some for 100 years! They bottle only enough wine to meet their short-term needs, keeping their valuable stocks in cask as long as possible. These wines are the reference point for vintage Madeira and are some of the oldest and most complex wines in existence today.