Henriques & Henriques Tinta Negra 50 Year Old Madeira 50cl

Henriques & Henriques Tinta Negra 50 Year Old Madeira 50cl

Grape: 100% Tinta Negra, 102g/L residual sugar

The colour is slightly orange amber like. Complex bouquet with spicy oak scents; curry, clove and vanilla. Some dried tobacco notes, fresh walnuts and lime peel. 

On the palate, a Bual like feeling. Quite oily structure with an oolong tea like note, pipe tobacco, lime, sugar cane and vanilla. It is often claimed that Tinta Negra doesn’t possess the classy acidity of the green grapes. That’s so wrong.
At least here. This one has a backbone acidity that would make many more famous grapes envious. On the silky finale a drier feeling but still a quite rich style. Love the intensity which is in such harmony with the other components.

Critics' Tasting Notes:

"Delicious grippy iodine and pepper; rich yet elegant with lovely Christmas cake notes but always with the spice of citrus acidity. Savoury, long and lingering."

Awarded both Gold & Trophy, International Wine Challenge, 2016

"Gloriously rich, showing leathery, spicy complexity to date, prune and coffee aromas. Dried fig and molasses on the palate, backed by citrus acidity and a tangy, burnt-orange finish."

95/100 points (Gold Medal), Decanter World Wine Awards, 2020

"Sweet fortified (102 g/l of residual sugar) made exclusively from Tinta Negra grapes, with an average oxidative aging of 50 years in a `canteiro` (Barrel) system. The word that reigns here is acidity, so intense and sharp, that it balances its sweetness and brings verticality and depth to the wine. Full of layers of aromas and flavors, it shows dried fruits, followed by caramel notes, fresh herbs, molasses, black tea, umami and compote citrus. The Tinta Negra variety was considered for centuries to be a variety of inferior quality, but in 2015, to the joy of many producers, it was elevated to the same category as those considered “noble varieties”. To honor this fact, Henriques & Henriques launched this wine. A sublime wine that is excellent now and should remain so for decades. Alcohol 20%"

97/100 points, Revista Adega (Brazil), August 2024