1979 Verdelho
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Tasting notes
Grapes from 26 farmers in five regions around the island: three in the north (Porto Moniz, Santana and Sao Vicente) and two in the south (Funchal and Calheta). Aged for 36 years in seasoned American oak casks. It spent five years in the warmest top floor of the Blandy's wine lodge, 25 years in the second floor and six years in the 'coolest' first floor. TA 8.92 g/l, RS 80.19 g/l. Bottled 2015. Deep cherry-wood colour. Nougat. Rose-scented honey. Cherries. Floral. Roses. Hibiscus tea. This glass compelled me to come back, over and over. One moment it was demanding. Then defiant. Then seductive. Rose-hip syrup. Lavender. Then perfunctory and essential and so-busy-working-and-worthy, aproned in herbs and red-concrete-floor-polish and library-dusting feather dusters. Then it flipped a tiny bit of VA. Then softened into a submission of dustiness and ground ginger and white pepper and nutmeg. Then it remembered itself. Pivoted slowly, on the finish, precise and tense and strikingly dramatic and lean. Proud. Such a bone-dry finish, shimmering with life and tension. This, I think, must be what Lidia Yuknavitch tastes like, if you turned her writing into wine. (TC)
Critic scores
Average Score
Tamlyn Currin, jancisrobinson.com
Neal Martin, Wine Advocate
More reviews and scores
The 1979 Verdelho marks the first Blandy's release from this vintage. Bottled in 2015, one notices its refulgent amber color. The nose is very comely with dried peach, fig, walnut and smoke, quite voluminous and generous while maintaining admirable definition. The palate is medium-bodied with a viscous opening (at least for a Verdelho), smooth in texture with dried honey, orange zest and ginger that segues into a focused finish that needs just a little more depth. However, there is a lovely Sichuan pepper aftertaste that almost "cools" the mouth. What a fantastic wine from Blandy's - a Verdelho with genuine character.