New Releases from Blandy and Cossart Gordon 2013 - 1976
It is that rather wonderful time of year when the Madeira Wine Company release their new wines. I used the word ‘new’ with reservation because none of the wines listed below can be described as ‘new’ given that the youngest is 16 years old and the oldest has been aging in wood for no less than 50 years! Living proof that there is no substitute for age when it comes to the best Madeira. These wines are merely ‘new’ because they are new to us, recently bottled and launched on to the market. All the wines were bottled in 2026 by Francisco Albuquerque who is the Madeira Wine Company’s head wine maker but many were made by people who are no longer with us, notably Ferdinando Bianchi who I recall was a great help to me when I was writing the first edition of my book, Madeira, The Islands and their Wines.
At a time of so many changes in the world, it is profoundly reassuring that wines of such style and eminence are still being bottled, as they have been for hundreds of years. But the quality and consistency of Madeira is better than ever before. These are wines made with conviction. You might think that I am getting a bit effusive with my scores but, believe-you-me, these wines deserve them.
Blandy’s 2013 Colheita Sercial ****
From grapes grown in Seixal on the north west corner of the island, aged in 650l casks until bottling in 2026, this is from a single cask no. 26087: lovely pale, golden-amber hue with the merest glint of green; attractive fragrant aromas, gently green and leafy with a touch of citrus, white pepper and spirit, open and forward; lovely fresh grassy style, clean and linear with some textural weight and richness offset by rapier sharp-acidity all the way through to a seemingly dry, elegant savoury finish with a slightly crystalised citrus peel tang (40gl/ residual sugar). Lovely example of well-made, modern Sercial. Just a little searing, as a good Sercial should be (9.5g/l total acidity) but not at all punishing. I sincerely hope that there is some more of this wine to bottle as a frasqueira/vintage in a few more years. 18
Blandy’s 2013 Colheita Verdelho ****
Grapes from Porto Moniz on the most north westerly corner of the island, aged in 650 l casks until bottling in 2026, this is from a single cask no. 24206: just a shade deeper than the Sercial and therefore quite pale for a Verdelho with a lovely golden-amber hue; delicate, savoury appetising character on the nose with a touch of citrus leaf and lime marmalade, perhaps a spicy hint of turmeric, with the spirit just below the surface; gentle lemon and lime marmalade (80g/l residual sugar though, again, this doesn’t really show) soft initially with a lithe streak of acidity keeping the wine fresh all the way through to the seemingly off-dry savoury-spicy finish. Lovely balance and poise. 17.5
Cossart Gordon 1976 Sercial ****/*****
A wine made by the late Ferdinando Bianchi from grapes grown at Jardim da Serra at high altitude (c. 800 metres above sea level) on the south side of the island and aged in cask until bottling in 2026: still pale in hue, amber-brown with a pronounced green glint on the rim; a little subdued initially for a Sercial of this age, delicate yet focused with a gentle resinous character and touch of rancio, a hint of green pine and, dare I say, Twiglets; a lovely lithe citrusy character in the mouth with a distinct tang and just a savoury hint of cask on the finish, long and so lithe and fleet of foot after 50 years. The 75g/l residual sugar and 9.6 g/l total acidity are a near perfect foil for each other. 18.5
Blandy’s 1987 Verdelho *****
A wine made originally by Ivo Couto a wine maker I remember well, from grapes grown in Ribeiro da Janela on the north west corner of the island and bottled in 2026: pale red-tinged mahogany with a broad green glint to the rim; a rather inviting antique–savoury character on the nose, redolent of opening a highly polished and cherished wooden box for the first time in many years with just a hint of Elvas plum underlying; rich, a touch savoury and leathery with some exotic spice on the palate, seamless all the way through to the savoury finish with a little crystalised sweetness (90 g/l residual sugar) offset by a gentle streak of acidity and a touch of leather. Already glorious in its weight and complexity despite its relative youth in Madeira years. 19
Blandy’s 50-Year-Old Terrantez ****
A blend made from the days when this, the rarest of grapes still grew on the outskirts of Funchal, as well as Santa Cruz (near the airport) and Câmara de Lobos, all on the southside of the island; mid-amber with a green glint on the rim; beautifully lifted on the nose (1.25 g/l volatile acidity) which lends this wine an extraordinarily evocative garden-like perfume (spring wallflowers?); lovely singed bitter-sweet fruit, spiced toffee-apple backed by textural richness mid-palate and a rich plum and prune finish offset by a characteristically astringent streak of acidity. It all sounds like a rather extraordinarily glorious amalgam and it is. 18
Cossart Gordon 1992 Bual *****
Made from grapes grown at Calheta, traditionally the best source of some of the best Bual, bottled in 2026; a lovely deep amber-brown with a thin green tinged rim; gloriously rich, heady nose with a compote of dried fruit (a predominance of dried fig), creamy vanilla and a hint of all-spice; more definition on the palate than on the nose with dried apricot and fig-like richness (118g/l residual sugar), almost buttery in texture, thrilling with crystalline freshness to counter balancing the richness on the finish. Great poise: a very, very beautiful wine. 19.5
Blandy’s 1980 Bual ****/*****
A wine made by João Teixeira (who I don’t remember) from grapes grown at Campanário on the southside of the island just to the west of Câmara de Lobos: mid-deep amber-mahogany with a green glint on the rim; immediately rich and quite exuberant on the nose with beautifully melded aromas of dried fruit (dried fig, dried apricot and Elvas plum) with a hint of wood smoke and of spiced vanilla; rich and suave initially with gently singed piquance mid-palate and a glorious fusion of dried fruit (prune) and spice on the finish (116 g/l residual sugar). 18.5
