NV Blandy's Verdelho Madeira 10 Year Old Medium Dry
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Tasting notes
Bottled 2023. This relatively rare variety is found in the north of the island in Porto Moniz, Santana and São Vicente and in the south in Calheta and Funchal. TA 6.5 g/l, RS 75 g/l. Transparent glowing orange tawny. Nutty with a hint of cheesiness and marked acidity and a slight lack of fruit in the middle. Chewy finish. The sugar/acid balance is not that different from the 10 Year Old Sercial though this is definitely a little bit sweeter, counterbalanced by a little ‘green’ streak. (JR)
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Average Score
Jancis Robinson MW
Julia Harding MW, jancisrobinson.com
More reviews and scores
Tasted from a 37.5-cl sample bottle. Average age of 10 years from oak casks in the canteiro system. TA 6.5 g/l, VA 0.42 g/l, RS 75 g/l, pH 3.4. Certified BCorp. Ginger root and fresh lime, lime pickle and sweet-pickled galangal. There is warmth in the gingery heat and a kind of sore-throat-balm of comfort that feels like a deep soul sough, at the same time as the acidity is brisk and racy and focused on the finely bitter end point. Pristine. Nails its category to the bullseye. (TC)
The 2024 bottling of the NV Verdelho 10 Year Old also mixed grapes from the north and the south of the island. It matured in a solera for an average of 10 years and came in at the usual 19% alcohol and retained 75 grams of sugar. This has an oxidative side, quite traditional, sweet, a little too young. It has the fruit and the nutty notes of an older age that are still a little incipient.
Approximate RS of 70–75 g/l. Less clarity of aroma than their 10-year-old Sercial – is that higher sugar muddying the waters? There's classic rancio character, while the fruit has slight underlying rancidity to it, which is neither unusual nor unpleasant for Madeira. (RH)