Let’s start by painting a picture: A politically charged room. Men in powdered wigs buzzing around a single piece of parchment. Quill and inkwell adjacent. We’re in Independence Hall, 1776. And after signing this country-defining document, the Continental Congress toasted with none other than a glass of fine Madeira. To this day, a glass of legitimate, properly matured, blue-chip Madeira is an unforgettable experience.
We always say what surrounds a wine is what makes it memorable, but today’s special 1954 Garrafeira (a special, long-aged vintage Madeira) is one of those rare exceptions where just you and a two-ounce pour will create a lifelong memory. Aged nearly 40 years in (purposefully) heat-exposed casks and 25 more in bottle, this tiny allocation of vintage Madeira has never left—and at this very moment still sits—in the cellars of Henriques & Henriques, one of Madeira’s benchmark wine houses. Whether you’re one of few lucky subscribers who share a birth year with this bottle or someone who appreciates true wine fossils, you’re receiving a slice of Portuguese history that will preserve its fascinatingly rich complexities for generations to come.
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*PLEASE NOTE: This wine is being specially ordered from H&H in Madeira, so please allow 8-10 weeks for delivery.]
Madeira: What is it? At its core, simply a fortified wine (e.g. Port, Sherry, Marsala) from the Portuguese island (far) off Morocco’s coast, but let’s delve into the layers that make it unique. Historically, Madeira wasn’t fortified. The concept for Madeira started centuries ago when international trading ships would stop on the island for quick respite and subsequently pick up a load of Madeira’s still, unfortified wine. These barrels would sit in the cargo hold, acting as both a ballast for the ship and thirst-quencher for the mariners. Long voyages heated the wines, especially across the equator, and sailors soon discovered they preferred the taste. So, they started sending boats around the world—sometimes twice—and began labeling them as vinhos da roda or ‘round-trip wines.’ Later on, in the mid-1700s, winemakers began realizing that acetobacter (the bacteria which turns wine into vinegar) couldn’t survive after a certain alcoholic threshold, so they began fortifying their wines with cane sugar distillate.
In recent history, two methods are used to replicate the old “round-trip” heating and oxidation process, known as “maderization”: estufagem and canteiro. The former is the quicker and cheaper method, where wines are heated to around 120 degrees Fahrenheit for several months in stainless steel vats. Only the finest labels, like today’s, are made via the canteiro process, which requires cask aging for many years in lodge attics or outside with direct sun exposure, during which time the casks “breathe” and the wines undergo slow, controlled oxidation.
Henriques and Henriques is one of Madeira’s most time-honored and respected names. Legend has it that explorer Infante Dom Henriques planted the first vines in Madeira in the early 1400s after stumbling upon the island! The wine house, however, wasn’t established until 1850 by João Joaquim Gonçalves Henriques. By 1925, they were exporting Madeira entirely crafted from their own vineyards—a rarity. Since then, H&H has built up an impressive library of old wines while maintaining their own vineyards. Today’s once-in-a-lifetime wine is a special vintage Madeira, denoted by ‘Garrafeira’ plastered near the shoulder of the bottle. This indicates that the wine must age at least 20 years in cask and two in bottle. H&H, however, went a few steps further than that: nearly four decades in barrel and 25 in bottle. It’s made from 100% Bual—a noble grape known for producing rich, semi-sweet wines—that was hand harvested in 1954. After a natural fermentation in lagares (shallow, open-top vessels), the wine was fortified with a traditional cane sugar distillate and then transferred into canteiro for 38 years. After bottling in August of 1993, it was sent back to the cellar, where it hasn’t moved to this very day.
The only possibility of offering this wine was as a cellar-direct pre-offer, so we express shipped a bottle to our warehouse to put it to the test. Upon tasting, our jaws hit the floor. This rarefied 1954 Vintage Madeira pours an intensely viscous tawny color with thick tears that immediately cling to the walls of glass. After 65 years of containment, countless breathtaking aromas can finally come out of their cage: dried apricots, crème brûlée, dried prunes, candied orange peel, caramel, red plum skin, chocolate, sandalwood oil, candied walnut, leather, preserved quince, and vanilla. It’s a full-bodied wine that is incredibly pungent yet graceful, possessing sweetness that is intertwined with dried fruits, caramel, and rich savory components further amplified by vibrant acidity. This is an extremely rare bottle full of wisdom and intoxicating flavors that sit on your tongue for an eternity. In the same vein, this will age for an eternity—it will keep for weeks and months after opening, and easily another 65 years in the cellar should you want to stash it away. Serve a couple ounces in an all-purpose or fortified wine stem around 55-60 degrees and savor either on its own; alongside aged hard cheeses and almonds after dinner; or with a main course incorporating some of the same nutty, concentrated, oxidative flavors. In addition to a mature red you may even want to sneak this wine in next to a braised meat dish incorporating some mushrooms and Madeira wine (something much younger and way less expensive, of course!).
