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The release of Haak Winery’s 2003 Vintage Madeira has been a long time in the making. Raymond Haak began making Port Wine as an amateur wine maker over 30 years ago. Port Wine was one of the wines that Raymond had a passion for, and as his winemaking efforts progressed, he pursued gaining knowledge on the vinification techniques to make a great Port wine. Raymond’s dream of opening a commercial winery became reality in the year 2000, with the groundbreaking for Haak Winery. Haak Winery opened to the public one year later, in January 2001. One of the initial wine offerings was Raymond’s 2000 Port Wine. This Port Wine instantly became a customer favorite, and the entire offering was sold out in 2 weeks. Customers would call weekly to find out when the next release would be, which was approximately 1.5 years later. In 2004, Raymond attended a Wine Symposium featuring well known experts in the wine industry. This Symposium allowed winemakers to submit wines for experts to taste, and then get feedback on the wine. Raymond chose to bring his Port Wine. When the symposium was over, Raymond Haak approached the Master of Wine and stated that he had appeared to have enjoyed the Haak Port. The Master of Wine explained that the Port wine reminded him of authentic Madeira, and he loved Madeira. This sparked the idea of making a Texas Madeira. After two years of research and a trip to Madeira, Raymond was ready to take the next steps. An authentic “Estufa”, or temperature controlled cellar, was built onto the winery, enabling Raymond to process Port wine into Madeira in the traditional way. The Estufa maintains the wines at temperatures averaging between 102°F and 106° F. The 2003 Haak Vintage Madeira is the result of Raymond’s
persistence, ingenuity, and love of Port Wine and Madeira. This initial Madeira
was produced from the Jacquez grape. This little known variety is grown on the
Island of Madeira. Future Madeiras will be produced from Jacquez, Blanc du
Bois, as well as other Port and Madeira varietals. This wine will be publicly
released on November 5th 2006 at a special release party at Haak
Winery.
Grand Old Madeira Blind Tasting |
