Henriques & Henriques has established an impeccable reputation as one of the top sources of high-quality Madeira. It is the leading independent Madeira shipping house and practises an uncompromising devotion to the quality of its vineyards and wines. Henriques is the only house we know of that owns and farms a significant proportion of its own vineyards, and it is unique in the holdings of extensive stocks in bottle and cask—some more than a century or two old.
Vintage Madeira, or Garrafeira, must be aged for at least 20 years in cask and a further two years in bottle before release. On the category, Alex Liddell, author of Madeira [Hurst & Company, 2014], has written, “These wines are the glory of Madeira and, with the best examples of dated wines from the past, the yardstick by which it is to be judged to be a world-class wine.” Put simply, these compelling Garrafeira wines can be considered Henriques’ Grand Cru offering.
Long oxidative ageing has given this Bastardo, the variety known in France as Trousseau, an aromatic composition of great complexity. Notes of prunes, tobacco, coffee, caramel, toasted walnuts and hazelnuts, and propolis unfold in the glass. The palate is rich, unctuous and persistent: a wine of real depth and character.