The Wine Thread

[mosesbotbol]

Originally Posted by landhoney

Isn't this because at 21 years old it can be declared with a vintage date?

21 is not a recognized vintage. I think it's about 20 years for Madeira to be vintage. Would have to look it up to verify. It's much longer than for vintage port which is three years.

[landhoney]

Originally Posted by mosesbotbol

21 is not a recognized vintage. I think it's about 20 years for Madeira to be vintage. Would have to look it up to verify. It's much longer than for vintage port which is three years.

Yep, not sure why I thought it was 21, but I guess it is 20. In any case, I imagine the reason you don't see 20 year old Madeira listed as such is because once it gets that old they can put a vintage on it, correct?

[mosesbotbol]

Originally Posted by landhoney

Yep, not sure why I thought it was 21, but I guess it is 20. In any case, I imagine the reason you don't see 20 year old Madeira listed as such is because once it gets that old they can put a vintage on it, correct?

They may just keep it on hand in pipes to blend their 5-10-15 year Madeira too.

[JohnnyFlake]

Originally Posted by mosesbotbol

21 is not a recognized vintage. I think it's about 20 years for Madeira to be vintage. Would have to look it up to verify. It's much longer than for vintage port which is three years.

I looked it up and for a Madeira to be considered as vintage, in modern times (?), it must spend a minimum of 20 years in a cask. Any anything older is also vintage and the longer the better it should be. In the old days (?) it was often left in a cask for as long as 30 and even 40 years. Very old Madeiras are considered impeccable wines.

(?), I have no idea what modern times or the old days mean, with respect to actual dates.