2003 Bual Colheita Blandy's

A dry vintage, considered to be exceptional. Aged in American oak casks for 13 years, starting off in the warmest part of the Blandy's Wine Lodge, the Sotão de Amendoa, until 2007. It was moved to the middle floor for five years, and then in 2012 it was moved to the ground floor where it spent four years. Bottled in 2016. TA 6.75 g/l, VA 0.54 g/l, pH 3.3, RS 92 g/l. More reddish orange than the 10 Year Old, looks younger. Aromas of Jamaican gingerbread, sun-baked slate stones, croissants burnt to the bottom of the pan. Tamarind. OMG! My whole mouth is alive and watering and buzzing and my spine is tingling. This is extraordinary. Essence of bitter oranges, a trace of wild herbs –  fennel, thyme, verbena, laurel –  spices, tamarillo. Stunning mosaic of flavours that spins and whirls across the palate, a disco ball of flavours and light and this coruscating acidity. So long you feel slightly stunned. Coffee and chicory notes. Fennel seed. Bitterness and sweetness so indelibly entwined that you don’t know where one ends and the other begins. Only just at the very, very beginning of its life. (TC)