Text João Pedro de Carvalho | Translation Bruno Ferreira

The wine tradition in Madeira is secular. It all began in the XV century when Infante D. Henrique ordered the plantation of the Malvazia/Malmsey vineyards imported from Greece. Over 500 years later Madeira wine became one of greatest Wine World icons, as much by its longevity as by its quality, being present on important events such as the United States Independence Declaration on July 4, 1776 e.g..

On the recent trip to Madeira one of the the visited companies was the “Justino’s, Madeira, S.A.” created in 1953 whose founder was Justino Henrique Freitas in 1870 when it was still a family business, known as Vinhos Justino Henriques (V.J.H.). In 1981 Sigfredo da Costa Campos acquired the company and amplified its value with the purchase of Companhia Vinícola da Madeira’s stock. In 1993 associates to the french group “La Martiniquaise” and in 1994 moves out of the downtown facilities to the Parque Industrial de Cancela where it lies till today. With his death in 2008, the French group took hold of the company’s full control.

The tasting, excellent by the way, was held on the current and modern facilities which gave me some longing feelings of that atmosphere so characteristic of the oldest wineries where the passage of time has taken its toll. Fortunately, with the help of the served wines excellency, the nostalgia disappeared almost immediately. Before pinpointing the ones I enjoyed the most, a small note about the “Justino’s 10 Anos” better known varieties (Sercial, Verdelho, Boal, Malvazia). Wines which present us an above average intensity and maturity.

It’s from this point on that the “Madeira World” starts to be probably better understood, wines where the set’s harmony blends into a more mature bouquet making us aspire to higher stages.

Justino’s Terrantez Old Reserve
The Terrantez is a rare and nearly extinct variety, filling its wines with a mystery and fascination cape. We’re before a wine with over forty years, some nuances such as the greeny traces on the rim indicating it might as well be older than that. A concentrated and deep wine, some iodine notes, curry, lacquer, old cask wood, dried fruit with english cake, exotic and mysterious.
Mouth with an involving entrance, lining the palate with an unctuous aftertaste of nuts and almonds, orange jelly, and a great elegance along with a conquering acidity’s in a great and long ending.

Justino’s Sercial 1940
It’s the one needing the most time to develop and have presence in bottle, due to the high acidity which the variety conveys to the wines. My favorite of all with a lot of sea notes, lots of salty almond, lacquer, complexity and elegance, honey with an orange crystallized peel and at the same time exhaling a sharp freshness that tones the whole tasting. Great palate presence with a slight dried salty fruits greasiness. Iodine, citrus zest, plenty of emotion and flavour and once again an acidity focus, presenting an unforgettable wine! At all levels!

Justino’s Verdelho 1954
A wine wine exhaling both freshness and energy, complexity in droves in a dense and even quite pinched set at the start. A touch of ripe lemon jelly, green tea, flowers bouquet along with nuts. Plenty of life in a dry and strong set. Mouth contrasting the aromas, full of flavour with remarkable notes highlighting a dryness that revitalizes the palate and invites to one more gulp. Always with plenty of flavour and a soft unctuous touch in a wine with a spicy and huge ending.

Justino’s Malmsey 1933
A great wine, showing why there’s no comparison to the great Madeira’s! The longevity cohabits with a complexity/freshness hard to find anywhere else. This is one of the great, those that win us over immediately. It feels, by the variety’s nature, that is sweeter and “heavier” than the previously tasted wines. Great complexity with milk caramel, fig raisins, lacquer, dried fruits. An elegant set with the necessary acidity conferring it plenty of life, ground coffee, box of cigars, spices. All pronounced in a perfect harmony between mouth and nose. Unctuous and fresh palate passage with a tiny tip of sweetness in the ending making it sinful.

Contacts
Parque Industrial da Cancela
9125 – 042 Caniço
Madeira
Tel: (+351) 291 934 257
Fax: (+351) 291 934 049
E-mail: justinos@justinosmadeira.com
Site: www.justinosmadeira.com