Tasting back to 1899 with Luís d’Oliveira
Pereira d’Oliveira, to give them their full name, is an independent family company established in 1850. They have subsequently merged with or bought up five other firms, most recently Barros e Sousa which is located next door on the Rua dos Ferreiros in the centre of Funchal. This goes some way to explain their remarkable stock of wines going back to the year of the company’s foundation. As Luís d’Oliveira explains ‘we have never been in a hurry to sell [our wines] -it is a step -by - step process for us and we have always kept more wine that we sold. We tend to launch between four and six new wines year.’
A tasting with Luís d’Oliveira is always a high spot on my trips to Madeira, particularly when they have only just launch wines from 1904, 1900 and 1899 (all three bottled in 2020 or 2021). The wines below are listed in the order they were presented to me and tasted. There’s more on this remarkable family firm and the wines they produce in the new edition of my book, Madeira, The Islands and their Wines to be published by Infinite Ideas.
D’Oliveiras 2007 Verdelho ****
A 2021 bottling from a lote of 8,500 litres: mid-amber in colour with a rather spirity bouquet akin to a blended Scotch whisky and a touch peaty, but quite rich in style; pronounced marmalade tang on the palate leading to a lovely clean toasty-spicy finish. This is well on the way to being a very good frasqueira. 17.5
D’Oliveiras 20 Year Old Tinta Negra Dôce/Sweet ****
Deep mahogany with a lovely rich, pungent aromas redolent of dried figs and raisins; gorgeous raisiny sweetness offset by fresh acidity leading to a full, rich finish. Long and smooth. 17
D’Oliveiras 1998 Tinta Negra Dôce / Sweet ***
Bottled in 2020, this just qualifies as a frasqueira (although curiously D’Oliveira don’t make the distinction between this and colheita on the label): lovely deep red-mahogany colour; rather strange on the nose, ripe but also rather dusty and biscuity; pruney richness on the palate, quite powerful with a long, powerful tangy finish. 16
D’Oliveiras 1978 Terrantez ***
Bottled in 2020: very deep mahogany in colour; very powerful and concentrated on the nose, rich and pruney with rather pungent cooked fruit; very rich in style for a Terrantez (despite being officially meio seco) but with characteristic bitter-sweet fruit leading to a rather rustic, casky finish. 16
D’Oliveiras 2000 Malvasia ***
Bottled in 2021 so on the cusp of being frasqueira: mid-deep mahogany colour; restrained and a bit sullen on the nose but with ripeness and richness underlying; full and rich with raisiny sweetness, just a hint of cask, long and astringent with a thick cut marmalade tang. 16
D’Oliveiras 1992 Boal ****
Bottled in 2019: deep in colour with singed, leafy, autumnal bonfire of a nose; rich and powerful, a touch leathery and peaty with butterscotch richness, full, spicy and very satisfying. 18
D’Oliveiras 1994 Verdelho ***/****
Bottled in 2019: mid-deep mahogany, deep for a Verdelho, with a slightly rustic peaty / malt whisky aromas, pretzels too; rich and malty with considerable raisiny/figgy sweetness mid-palate, lovely texture and a powerful leathery-spicy finish but somehow slightly coarse overall. Contrastingly dry length. 16.5
D’Oliveiras 1990 Sercial ***/****
Bottled in 2019: deep amber in colour, deep hue for a Sercial; malt whisky nose, peaty and spirity, quite rich in style; similarly rich mid-palate with full fruit and toasty complexity leading to a dry (but not austere) finish. 16.5
D’Oliveiras 1994 Malvasia ****
Bottled 2019: deep, red tinged mahogany; ripe pruney-figgy fruit on the nose; similarly rich and pruney on the palate with a lovely fresh tang cutting in mid-palate and racy acidity cutting through a leaving a fresh, spicey salt and pepper finish. Rich, complex and very good. 18
D'Oliveiras 1904 Boal ****/*****
Bottled in 2021: very deep, dark mahogany colour as you would expect from a wine that has spent so long in cask, with a touch of olive green on the rim; wonderfully concentration the nose, black olives and dried figs – wild and pungent! Glorious richness and spice, quintessential Boal with a hugely powerful rich leathery-casky finish. 18.5
D’Oliveiras 1899 Terrantez *****
Bottled for the first time in 2020; very deep mahogany colour; powerfully concentrated yet also quite restrained with just a hint of wood smoke; slightly singed, toasted flavours with glorious texture and mouthfeel (but meio dôce in style), bitter-sweet just as it should be mid-palate, despite all the power and richness, leading to a magnificent peacock’s tail of a finish. 19.5
D’Oliveiras 1900 Moscatel Graúdo *****
Bottled in 2020, just 120 bottles but there is still more to come, Moscatel thought to have been grown in São Martinho: deepest darkest mahogany, nearly black in colour; super-concentrated, molasses and bolo de mel (Madeira honey cake) on the nose without anything in the way of Moscatel perfume remaining; coffee and molasses on the palate, Turkish coffee with amazing richness and texture, like a PX Sherry but not cloying and after all that going on the palate the finish appears quite dry. An amazing, unique wine that almost defies belief. 19
D’Oliveiras 1980 Boal ****
Bottled in 2019 and winner of an IWSC Trophy in 2020: mid-deep amber-mahogany in colour; a little subdued on the nose, lovely ripe and raisiny concentration; lovely freshness retained on the palate, greengage with a touch of Elvas plum, beautifully balanced with a wonderfully fresh, spicy finish. 18
