The Madeira solera system has some parallels with that of the Sherry region. The production of the 1900 Solera was as follows: the cask was laid down in 1899, and in 1900, a tenth of the volume was replaced with the same amount of a younger wine. This was repeated another nine times until the whole cask volume was changed over once. The solera was then closed. The 11 different wines harmonise over the years and provide a good mixture of the depth of old wines and some freshness of the younger wines. Having said that, this “freshening” is not really required with Madeira as the wines start with such high acidity–here, the solera process is designed to add complexity and control the oxidation process.
The year named on the bottle indicates the starting date of the solera, in this case, 1900, released in 1999. This is a staggeringly beautiful wine.
Solera start date: 1900
Solera close date: 1905
Bottled in: 1999
# Bottles: 1040
Alcohol by volume 20%
Sweetness: 123 g/L
Grape variety: Malvasia