Hooray, hooray… it’s Wine Blogging Wednesday.  It’s been a few months since I’ve taken part in this event due to the fact that the last few themes were “off equity” for me, as we say in the marketing business.   Actually, I considered sitting this one out too as “dessert wine” is an area I don’t know as well as other wines.  But I was ultimately compelled to challenge myself with something new, plus a personal connection to the theme sealed the deal.  More on that in a minute, but first…

“What the heck is Wine Blogging Wednesday?” you ask.  It’s a monthly event when dozens of wine bloggers, like me, from around the world all write about the same theme.  There is a host each month who picks the theme and summarizes all the contributions.  The host today is Joe Roberts at 1WineDude and the theme he’s picked is “Baked Goods.”  By that he means wines that are deliberately heated, or Madeirized. The resulting wines are sweet and caramelized.  Since these wines can be hard to come by, he’s also allowing fortified wines such as Port.

The wine I picked for this occasion is a Madeira—the style of wine from which the term Madeirized was coined.  I wanted to do a Madeira specifically because of the personal connection I mentioned… I have Madeira in my blood!  Not because I’ve consumed too much of it or participated in strange intravenous things.  According to some research my father found, part of my ancestral lineage tracks back to a guy named Domingo Madeiras, who supposedly was born in Portugal in the early 17th century and immigrated to the US.  Based on the name, I have a hunch that the lineage leads back to the island of Madeira in some way. I don’t know if it’s 100% accurate, but I like the idea of having a bit of Portuguese in me so I’m running with it.

Madeira wines can be quite pricey, especially as you get into the well aged Madeiras which are the most prized.  For this reason my options as a “cheap wine” guy were limited and the brand I selected, Broadbent, is a fairly common option on the Madeira shelf.  As such, I’m probably not the only wine blogger writing about this wine today.

I didn’t just go for the absolute cheapest price I could find and instead opted for a $20 bottle that has spent at least 5 years in oak in hopes to find a moderate upgrade in quality.  While I advocate finding great deals on inexpensive wines, I haven’t had much luck on finding good, cheap dessert wines.  Thus, my rationale for spending my upper limit here.  Of course I should note that although the bottle price is at the upper end of my preferred price range, this is a type of wine that you don’t drink much of in one sitting and the bottle lasts longer than a typical, everyday wine.

As I previously mentioned, Madeira is intentionally heated in what’s referred to as an “estufagem” aging process, meant to replicate the effect a long sea voyage through tropical climates would have on aging the wine.  In inexpensive wines this can be done in a concrete cask surrounded with heating coils for a minimum of 3 months.  It can also be done in large wooden casks in a room heated much like a sauna for 6 months to a year.  But the highest quality Madeiras are aged in barrels in sun-heated rooms, where they are left to age for years.  That’s the case with this Broadbent Madeira.

The Broadbent Madeira Reserve has been aged for 5 years.  The grapes in this wine include Negra Mole, Complexa, Tinta da Madeira and Triunfo.  While not as refined as some vintage Madeiras aged for 20 years or more, this is still a very good and interesting treat.

The color is a rusty caramel hue.  The nose presents a smoky, molasses bouquet with a hint of orange peel.  The orange came out a lot stronger on the palate, along with toffee, figs and nutmeg.  The toffee flavor lingers on the finish, which also brings a touch of heat.

You can definitely smell and taste the oxidation, but it isn’t a turn off like it would be in a dry wine.  There is a lot of character to this wine.  The toffee characteristic is dominant and enjoyable.  It’s been a while since I’ve really enjoyed a dessert wine and this is a nice welcome back.

Wine: Broadbent Reserve – 5 Years
Varietal: Madeira
Alcohol: 19%
Rating: 89
Price: $20.00