Tasting - “American Madeira”

 Name: Paul Masson American Madeira

Type of Grapes: Malvasia grapes

Country and region of origin: This specific bottle is from New York in the United States but the type of wine is originally from Madeira, which is a Portuguese Island.

Year: 2020

Price: $4.91 (I bought it on sale at Kroger - I believe it is normally around $6-$10) 

Shop/wine critic/winery review of the wine: I watched a Youtube video that a wine critic made about the wine (link below) and he started by saying it had a strong, spicy, nutty aroma. He also pointed out the wood taste and said it had an intense aroma. The reviewer said that it is sweet, sugary, and dessert-like with a crisp finish. He said he would rate it 95/100. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=36xwWAimLd4) 

Reference to Wine Folly Book: The Wine Folly book on page 160 refers to Madeira as having the tastes of Burnt Caramel, Walnut Oil, Peach, Hazelnut, and Orange Peel. The book mentions how it is a dessert wine and has a strong body with a high level of sweetness (this is an older edition of Wine folly book because mine is still being shipped but Barnes and Nobles had an older edition that I looked at for this so the page numbers might be off). 

My first impression was on the color of the wine, as I expected it to be a dark red color since the bottle was a dark color. However, the color was more of an amber color which surprised me. Overall, the wine was not for me, but I could see why some people like it. My first impression was that it tasted very “alcohol-like” and not like traditional wine taste. I also thought it tasted like a mix between whiskey and wine, because it had both a woody and grape taste. I started with not particularly liking the wine, but it started growing on me. I still do not think it would be a wine I would choose because it was too woody for me. 

I drank this about 10 minutes after eating chili for dinner because the bottle said it is a good dessert and after dinner wine. I do not think the food affected the wine.