AJ | Pale, translucent orange-amber; lightly coloured. For me, not a successful aromatic profile: lots of hessian and some coarsely casky notes occlude the fine fruits. Let's give it some time in the glass ... little improvement, alas. We'll try a second bottle. Bott 2: This seems to me to be a little lighter than the first bottle. Still rather dominated by hessian and cask. Once you get beyond the nose, this isn't too bad a wine: it has length and line, concentration, purity and drive. One might even say the concentration is impressive But I do have to ask questions about the handling as (for me|) the obtrusive aromatic cask notes mitigate from the pleasure this fine wine might otherwise afford. Drink Dates: 2025 - 2035. 87
SF | The trinity of Boal finishes here, alas. Our disappointment is assuaged by the fact that this one dates from 1978 and therefore must be just about getting into its stride. Jut about. Early days for Boal! Maybe a little less star bright than its younger colleagues, this is nevertheless a fine example, its aromatic rehearsing a gamut of sweet and savoury potential, its palate profile both generous and marvellously restrained; the secret of all great Madeira, Boal in particular, is the apparent concealment of the acidity beneath encyclopaedic structural nuance. And yet the acidity, the essential life force, control is everything with calm and benevolent poise. Drink Dates: 2025 - 2050. 94
RM | Pale-mid golden amber with the merest glint of green on the rim; lovely complex smoky-savoury aromas, funky in a wonderful way with a hint of yeast extract (Twiglets) that strangely does not detract from the nose overall; gently poised on the palate with the toasty richness of age offset by pungency and acidity, gentle but seems a little austere for a Boal on the finish. It is still a wine of great beauty and articulacy and will be for a very long time to come. Drink Dates: 2025 - 2100. 95