14.05.10
AN OLD MADEIRA M’DEAR?
100-YEAR-OLD MADEIRA ON SALE AT WAITROSE
Oscar Wilde famously wrote, "One should never trust a woman who tells one her real age. A woman who would tell one that, would tell one anything." Thankfully the same is not true of an aged Madeira, which comes into its own as the years pass by.
For the first time, Waitrose will sell a 100-year-old Madeira. The D’Oliveiras 1910 Sercial Madeira (70cl) goes on sale this month, thankfully a little goes a long way, as each bottle will cost £250.
Described as a magnificent example of the heights aged Sercial can reach, the D’Oliveiras is a deeply complex and rich Madeira. Presented in an elegant dark wood box, this is a wonderful and unique gift.
But there are more affordable bottles available as Madeira sales are seeing something of a renaissance boasting a twenty per cent increase year on year with the top selling Blandy’s Duke of Clarence (75cl) selling for £11.99.
According to Nick Room, wine buyer for Waitrose, “The beauty of Madeira is that it does not spoil once the bottle is opened which makes perfect sense if you like the occasional tipple – there’s no pressure to finish off the bottle!
“Our customers love to cook and entertain at home and Madeira seems to be the drink they’re turning to. They tell us they are serving the sweeter varieties over ice instead of the old fashioned ambient aperitif straight from the cupboard.
“The less expensive bottles continue to prove popular in cooking, it is the ‘go to’ wine, the perfect ingredient in many of our mushroom dishes”.
Continuing Madeira’s upward trend; online at Waitrose Wine Direct, the Madeira pages are some of the most visited on the gift site with bottles ranging in price and age. The most expensive is our 100 year-old D’Oliveiras 1910 Sercial (70cl) there are only twenty-four bottles available at £250, less expensive but still with age on their side are the seventy-year-old Blandy’s 1940 Madeira (75cl) at £180 and the 1968 bottle of D’Oliveiras Boal (75cl) for £65.
More affordably on sale are much younger bottles including the fifteen-year-old Madeiras from Henriques & Henriques, a Bual and a Verdelho at £19.99 (50cll).
A full range of Madeiras are stocked in stores nationwide and at Waitrose
Wine Direct (www.waitrosewine.com).