Henriques & Henriques - Boal 1954

The history of Henriques & Henriques goes back to 1425, when, according to legend, Infante Dom Henriques planted the first vines on the island of Madeira. However, the firm Henriques & Henriques was founded in 1850 as a partidista — someone who buys stocks or makes their own wine and sells it to the larger shippers — from the family's vineyard holdings on the island. In 1925, H&H began to bottle and export Madeira made entirely from their own vineyards, something unique among producers and shippers. To this day, Henriques & Henriques own the largest single vineyard on the island — the 10-hectare Quinta Grande — and boast an impressive selection of vintage and solera bottlings dating from before 1925 in the family's cellars. Perhaps most important, H&H have been in the vanguard of vineyard plantings and preservation of the noble grapes of Madeira: Sercial, Verdelho, Boal and Malvasia. Their age-statement varietal wines are viewed as the benchmark of quality.

Henriques & Hernriques 1954 Boal was aged for 38 years in the traditional canteiro method before being bottled in 1993. “The bouquet is outstanding, as it offers up a deep and complex blend of heather, orange zest, cherries, peaches, a bit of garrigue, honey cake, salty soil tones and a touch of new leather. On the palate the wine is deep, full-bodied, complex and powerfully built in style, with a rock solid core, tangy acids that are beautifully buried in sweetness and outstanding grip and balance on the very long finish that closes with a nice touch of savory nuances ... There is an awful lot to like in this very long and very complex wine.” —John Gilman, “View from the Cellar”