These past 2 months have been delicious...I could really just stop there. But I won't.

The Wine:

Medium amber in colour with a pronounced nose that’s all umami and dried tropical fruits. From marmite and sea kelp, to dried apricots, mangoes and pineapples, to prunes, figs, molasses, walnuts, caramel, honey...with a generous squeeze of tart oranges and lemon zest.

And all that is waiting for you on the medium sweet and high acidity palate. No prizes for guessing this has a long finish.

Conclusion:

Balance (1) + Length (1) + Intensity (1) + Complexity (1)  = An outstanding wine

I stand by this conclusion - but please note that I've realised that I am heavily biased towards canteiro method Madeira...my instant assessment is always outstanding!

Viti + Vini:

The grapes were sourced from vineyards in Estreito de Câmara de Lobos (Jardim da Serra), Seixal, Porto Moniz, Ponta Delgada, São Vicente and Arco de São Jorge. As I understand it, most of Madeira's vineyards are terraced (poios) , pergola trained (latadas) and planted on the nutrient rich soils of volcanic origin.

The grapes were destemmed, crushed, pressed, and the must fermenteed at 16ºC in stainless steel tanks.  Fermentation was stopped after 6-7 days by adding a 96% abv neutral grape spirit. The wines were then aged in the traditional Canteiro system. After maturation, the wines wer racked, fined and filtered before the final blend and bottling.

• Alcohol (ABV): 19 %
• Acidity: 7.50 g/l
• Residual sugar: 59.00 g/l
• pH: 3.34

Final thoughts:

Before opening the Gravner, I thought this would be my wine of the year. I then learned that my fancy pants Madeira was actually categorised as ‘plonk’ when I was lucky enough to attend a tasting of 12 Madeira wines. I didn’t even know that Bastardo could be used in Madeira production! I never dreamed I’d taste the rare and elusive Terrantez! And I kinda also didn’t realise how quickly my palate would be exhausted by all the sweetness and acidity. Tip for the day: don’t do a 12 Madeira flight if you have a baby palate like mine!

Find the Wine:

I picked this up at https://www.carolineswine.com/

To find out more about the producer:  www.justinosmadeira.com