Colheita Verdelho
⏳ Drinking Window
2024 - 2070
🍽️ Food & Wine Pairings
Chilled consommé, roasted duck, semi-hard cheeses like Comté or Gruyère
✨ Technical Specifications
Pereira D'Oliveira's Colheita Verdelho represents a masterclass in the medium-dry style of traditional Madeira. Sourced from the steep, volcanic terraces of the island—where the Verdelho grape thrives in cooler, high-altitude sites and northern coastal vineyards—this wine undergoes the historic canteiro aging process. Gently warmed by the natural heat of the sun while resting in seasoned oak casks, the wine develops its signature complexity over many years before bottling. Historically, Verdelho was one of the most widely planted noble grapes on the island before the phylloxera crisis, prized for its searing acidity and ability to balance residual sugar with smoky, saline, and dried-citrus notes. D'Oliveira's patient approach yields a Colheita of remarkable tension, weaving together stories of maritime trade, volcanic soils, and centuries of family winemaking wisdom.
🍾 About the Producer
Pereira D'Oliveira (widely known simply as D'Oliveira) is one of Madeira's most historic and revered independent shippers, established in 1850 by João Pereira D'Oliveira. Anchored in central Funchal within cellars dating back to 1619, the house is directed by the fifth and sixth generations of the D'Oliveira family, with managing director Luís D'Oliveira and head winemaker Filipe D'Oliveira preserving ancestral practices. While historically cultivating vineyards in São Martinho, the house now sources grapes from over one hundred long-contracted growers farming rugged, steep volcanic terraces across the subtropical Atlantic island. D'Oliveira's vinous signature is defined by exceptional power, bracing natural acidity, and unmatched oxidative concentration achieved through classical canteiro aging in ancient oak vats. The lodge holds one of the planet's most formidable libraries of vintage Madeira, bottling centuries-old Frasqueiras on demand, led by monumental vintage bottlings of Sercial, Verdelho, Boal, Malvazia Cândida, and extraordinarily rare aged expressions of Terrantez, Moscatel, and single-harvest Tinta Negra.
🍇 Grapes
Verdelho
🍷 ABV
19% - 20%