Boal

Boal / Bual

Boal is a name given to several varieties of white grape cultivated in Portugal, notably in the production of medium-rich fortified wines from Madeira Island. Confusingly it is also a “style” of Madeira, since four of the Madeira styles are named after the the dominant grape varieties: Sercial, Verdelho, Bual, and Malmsey. See Madeira for details on styles and varieties. The variety’s name is sometimes anglicized as Bual.

This varietal matures early on and produces light copper-coloured medium sweet wines that are medium bodied, round, rich in spice and dried fruit notes. Definitely sweeter and darker than Sercial or Verdelho, however typically less sweet than that from Malmsey.

Boal grape bunch Captain Caruana
Boal grape variety

Bual can often be recognized under blind conditions by its khaki coloured meniscus. This style has soft, gentle fruit with

noticeable fatness and ripeness, underscored by a baked, smoky complexity. Most of the Boal grown on Madeira is more fully known as Boal Cachudo (a synonym for the Spanish variety Doña Blanca, though the two may be different grapes), which has been shown by DNA profiling to be identical to the Malvasia Fina grown in the Douro valley. Bual tasters have identified vanilla raisin and other dried fruits as well as butterscotch. Boal is found mostly on the south of the island, in the areas of Camapanário and Calheta, located at altitudes ranging between 100m and 300m.
Buals are fortified when about half the sugars have been fermented.

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