A visit with H.M. Borges, including a foundation year 1877 Terrantez Madeira

Just in case you were frustrated by last Wednesday’s report, as in “wot no wines [yet],” today I’m reporting on a visit with another Madeira  House.  Naturally, having been established 135 years before Madeira Vintners, H.M. Borges had wines to show.  Still, I was not expecting to be treated to a Madeira from the company’s foundation year.  Better still, a Terrantez served by the great granddaughters of Henrique Menezes Borges, Helena and Isabel Borges (pictured).

H.M. Borges 5 Year Old Reserve Dry (Madeira)

We kicked off in modest style.  This is a very solid example of a 5 year Old Tinta Negra Madeira, quite citrussy with mellow malted chocolate, tobacco, earthy spices and smoky, scorched earth. The sisters tell me that the house style revolves around freshness and this wine has nice persistence. c. 52g/l residual sugar (dry for Madeira!) 18.5%

H.M. Borges 15 Year Old Boal Medium Rich (Madeira)

Rich, dark and a little sluggish on the entry but it gathers momentum.  Persistent, very tangy, pithy grapefruit and vanilla and chocolate orange notes combine to attractive sweet and sour effect. Good length.  19%

H.M. Borges 20 Year Old Verdelho (Madeira)

Up the quality ladder another rung and this medium dry Madeira has lovely vibrancy and edge to its smoke and tobacco-edged tangy dried apricot fruit.  The oldest component of this blend dates back to 1940 which probably explains its concentration, length and line.  Very good.  20%

H.M. Borges Sercial 1979 (Madeira)

A pale amber hue.  A frisky nose forecasts the variety – Madeira’s driest, tending towards austere.  And yet it’s surprisingly exotic with its perfumed mandarin and passionfruit palate.  A crunchy tart finish which puts me in mind of biting on zingy passionfruit seeds reminds you of its varietal heritage.  Unusual in a good way.

H.M. Borges 30 Years Old Malvazia Rich (Madeira)

The contents of this yet to be labelled bottle really tickled my palate.  Lip-smacking super tangy acidity belies its rich deep mahogany hue and honeyed palate.  It also carries a very fine, long – think extended trot – beautifully showy yet precise, balanced palate layered with caramelised oranges, chocolate, nuts, roasted almonds, dried fig and dates.  A feast in fluid form most seamlessly delivered.  The oldest blend component in this wine dates back to 1932.  Gorgeous complexity.

H.M. Borges 1877 Terrantez (Madeira)

From the family’s private collection our bottle, decanted perhaps a year ago, came from a stash of demi-johns still ageing in the darkest recesses of the cellar (pictured).  With as many layers as it has decades, this 19th century Terrantez has a beautiful patina of age. Deep amber in hue with a broad saffron olive green-edged rim, it reveals super-concentrated spices on the nose, black cardamom, sweeter vanilla, together with hints of jaggery and grapefruit pith which follow through on the palate.  A palate which is almost painfully intense. Tightly concentrated, its core of slightly mouldy, dusty but still discernably fruity kumquat is swathed in layers of smoke, guava and ethereal and earthy spices, the whole speared home by bracingly concentrated acidity.  Compelling.