New Releases from Blandy’s and Cossart Gordon
Every year the Madeira Wine Company bottles small quantities of older wines that they consider to be ready to drink. This year’s releases includes wines from 1965, 1986, 1994, and 1996, all aged for longer than the minimum 20 years in wood that qualifies them for frasqueira or ‘vintage’ Madeira. Some stock is often kept back to bottle at a later date; hence the importance of the bottling date on a bottle of Madeira when the same wine may be bottled a number of times in succession over a period of half a century or more. I am grateful to Chris Blandy and winemaker Francisco Albuquerque for this preview. I tasted the wines in order of sweetness, driest first, rather than age.
Blandy’s 1965 Sercial *****
Bottled after 60 years aging in cask, just 867 bottles in total: mid-deep golden amber hue with an olive green tinge to the rim; this really sings from the glass with its complex, lifted character combining spiced-candied fruit and singed autumn leaves with perhaps a just an hint of exotic mango chutney; a beautifully woven filigree of flavours with the green leafy character of Sercial combining with a touch of toffee apple mid-palate (60 g/l residual sugar), the acidity having the upper hand of the finish which is long, racy yet just slightly mellifluous. Perfect counterpoint: classic Sercial at its best. 19.5
Blandy’s 40-Year-Old Verdelho ****/*****
Grapes from the Seixal and Ribeira da Janela on the north side of the island make up this newly blended wine: mid-deep amber with a glint of orange and green; lovely, complex smoky-casky-cedary aromas on the nose with just a hint of rather endearing rancio and quince marmalade richness underlying; glorious textural richness (78g/l residual sugar), silky-smooth initially with a lovely tawny marmalade tang which grips mid-palate, leading to a long well defined, candied yet zesty finish with a just hint of salinity. 18.5
Cossart Gordon 1986 Terrantez *****
Terrantez is the rarest of all the white grape varieties on Madeira and back in the 1980s Terrantez was very rare indeed. The grapes for this wine were grown at Estreito de Calheta to the west of Funchal on the south side of the island: deep amber; gently but exquisitely lifted on the nose, slightly perfumed with an exotic floral character (lilies) and a hint of toffee and all-spice underlying; classically bitter-sweet in style with that twist of citrus peel evened out by candied richness mid-palate (88 g/l residual sugar) and a long, delightfully poised finish. Outstanding. Just 755 bottles. 19
Blandy’s 1994 Bual ****/*****
Like policemen looking younger, 1994 doesn’t seem to be very long ago in Madeira-time yet, when you count up 31 years in wood, this is quite sufficient to lend a wine like this the necessary depth, concentration and focus. Made from grapes grown at Calheta on the south side of the island where, sadly, vineyards are giving way to buildings today: a lovely deep amber with a glint of reddish copper and olive-green on the rim; enveloping, beautifully melded aromas of butterscotch, malt, fruit cake and spice, reflected in the mouth with well-rounded, fruit cake richness (130g/l residual sugar) and lovely piquancy and grip which leaves crystalised fruit offset by invigorating citrus acidity on the finish. 18.5
Blandy’s 1996 Malmsey ****
Not that deep in colour for a Malmsey, amber-topaz and long way from the deep, dark mahogany wines of yesteryear; gentle honey and raisin aromas with a hint of underlying spice; gloriously smooth initially with soft, quince marmalade richness, raisin and sultana sweetness mid-palate (140 g/l residual sugar) with a fresh peachy finish that combines texture and persistence. 17.5
