Rare Wine Co "Baltimore" Rainwater Madeira Reserve NV

Alcohol: 18%

Grape(s): Verdelho, Sercial, Tinta Negra Mole

Localization:  Madeira, Portugal

Tasting Notes: Lush and spicy, with plenty of buttery notes to the open-textured flavors of chamomile, ripe pear and dried apple. The opulent finish features hollandaise sauce accents. 

Notes: Rainwater took its name from its pale color and delicate texture and flavor. Yet, the origins of the style are shrouded in mystery. Some attributed it to a Savannah wine merchant after the Civil War, but that cannot be, as Rainwaters existed at least a half century earlier. Others said Rainwaters were a freak of nature. Noel Cossart credited his own firm with creating Rainwater in the 1700s, after a barrel of wine was left on a beach.

The Domain: In 1998, The Rare Wine Company began a project to create a series of Madeiras unprecedented in the marketplace: moderately priced wines with the aromatic fingerprint and quintessential texture and flavors of far more expensive vintage Madeiras.
It took years of work, but in 2003, they began releasing the wines which are named in honor of American cities with strong ties to Madeira. New York Malmsey, Boston Boal, and Charleston Sercial all eerily resemble vintage Madeiras -- thanks to the inclusion of wines ranging in age from 30 to 60 years old in the blends. Working with Vinhos Barbeito, which possesses one of the great libraries of legendary 19th century Madeiras, each wine represents a style of Madeira popular in the cities they're named after.