Perhaps one of the most poetic of wine reviews I have seen in many years, I have got to hand it to Tamlyn Currin of Jancis Robinson for her more than vivid description of this top-notch Madeira. In terms of world events, 1978 was equally powerful. As Disco music was raging in the background, test tube babies, Jonestown, and a talented group of US female astronauts were introduced to the world. A lot going on!
1978 Blandy's Terrantez Madeira
19.5 JR / 95 WS
$399.89/bottle (In Stock This Week) Buy Now
Tasted from a 5-cl mini sample bottle. TA 9 g/l, pH 3.35, VA 1.25 g/l, RS 90 g/l. Harvest winemaker João José Teixeira, bottling winemaker Francisco Albuquerque. Bottled 2022. 204 half-bottles, 1,206 bottles, 80 magnums, 15 double magnums, 3 solomons (18 litres). There are only 4 ha of Terrantez on the island (22 growers).
An old copper pot, dimpled and burnished with the batter and patina of time, lost, half-hidden in the sifting, restless shadows of susurrating trees as they brush-cymbal with the cooling omen of the first autumn wind. Filling slowly with golden, russet, fox-red puzzle of leaves; the scent of wet earth, mycelium, juniper berries, moss under wood, cloves. In the mouth, an electric shock. Almost burningly minty. Peppermint. Angry and the rumble of dark storm skies; the sweet taste of bitterness; long, long, long and salt-drenched and iodine. Cutting the sky like the steel wires of a suspension bridge in a high wind. Vibrating with the tension of its own pent-up power. Vibrating with restraint. Vibrating with the glory of sunset splitting a storm-bruised-brooding sky wide open with empyrean light. Like tasting the Hallelujah Chorus. --Tamlyn Currin, Jancis Robinson
Also Available:
1968 Blandy's Sercial Madeira
99 DE / 19 JR / 95 WE
$1995.00/750ml (In Stock Next Week) Buy Now
Best in Show 2018 Decanter World Wine Awards
The Blandys established themselves on Madeira in 1811 and are now in charge of the Madeira Wine Company. Aged for 49 years in seasoned American oak casks before bottling in 2017, this wine is mid-deep amber in colour with an olive-green glint. Fine, lifted woodsmoke characters on the nose are redolent of autumn leaves and bonfires. It has crystallised fruit on the palate with rapier-like power and intensity. The hint of sweetness (59g/l residual sugar) is offset by a streak of acidity, leading to a mouthwateringly fresh greengage finish yielding to a touch of savoury complexity. A wine that sings contralto from the glass. Just 2,000 bottles in total.—Richard Mayson, Decanter
RS 59 g/l, TA 10.07 g/l. Bottle. Released 2017. 1,588 bottle released.
Deep golden brown. Really nutty, walnut skin. Fabulous aroma of burnt toffee, though perhaps not as sweet as that suggests. There's also a delicate smoky character a bit like lapsang but more fruity. Sour, almost bitter, dried apricot and still so full of fruit. Rich, definitely not dry but tastes dryish because of that stunning acidity. A light note of umami on the finish. A meal in itself, rich and refined and infinitely long. Even though there is perceptible sweetness it is overshadowed by the amazing freshness and the complexity of the flavours and endless, bitter-orange finish. (JH). –Julia Harding MW, Jancis Robinson
This beautifully golden-colored, oak-aged wine is bone dry, with the intense acidity working with an orange-marmalade character. Together they give a mature wine that is ready to drink.--Roger Voss, Wine Enthusiast
1980 Blandy's Sercial Madeira
97 DE / 17.5 JR / 94 WA / 94 VM
$319.00/750ml bottle (In Stock) Buy Now
Platinum Medal 2020 Decanter World Wine Awards
Full yet lithe, showing very inviting aromas of pecan, pastry and burnt citrus peel with delicate mirabelle plum. A tangy dryness belies the sugar level, and there's a lovely saline finale to the fig and dried apricot palate. - Decanter
The just-released 1980 Sercial from Blandy's is showing very well, opening in the glass with aromas of toasted walnuts, candied peel, white tea, orange oil and aromatic bitters. On the palate, it's full-bodied, deep and multidimensional, with racy acids, excellent tension at the core and a long, sophisticatedly saline finish. This Sercial spent 36 years in barrel, and 202 cases were produced.—William Kelley, The Wine Advocate
1985 Blandy's Malmsey Madeira
17 JR
$389.00/750ml bottle (In Stock) Buy Now
Silver Medal 2010 Decanter World Wine Awards
Pure, lifted marmalade, candied peel, cold tea, toffee, citrus and coconut. Beautiful cleansing acidity to finish. - Decanter World Wine Awards
TA 8.47 g/l. RS 117 g/l, pH 3.51. Matured on 650-litre seasoned American oak casks at the Blandy’s Wine Lodge for 24 years. Only two casks were bottled (2009), producing 1,420 bottles. Described as a ‘small year, producing delicate wines’. Richard Blandy was to take over the helm the following year, in 1986.
Amber with a pale gold rim. Sweet-sour and spicy and tamarind, very savoury undertow. Lots of orange peel and huge tang in the mouth. So sappy and fresh and sharply energetic. Very three-dimensional. Gingerbread note. Steely acidity braces the broad sweet juiciness of peach, apricot and mango. TC,- JancisRobinson .com
1887 Blandy's Verdehlo Madeira
19 JR
$1,989.00/750ml bottle (In Stock) Buy Now
Verdelho Identified in 2011 and bottled from demi-john in 2013. Intriguing history! The wine, authenticated by Christie's, is one of the 14 wines stored in 27 demi-johns in the Funchal wine lodges of the Madeira Wine Company, owners of Blandy's. This wine was bottled only last August. Chris Blandy, who masterminded its rescue, asked the tasting organisers to open and decant the wine three days before the tasting. TA 10.5 g/l, VA 1.26, pH 3.35, RS 91.25 g/l.
Bright pale orange. I kept looking for the word 'Solera' on the label! A little old on the nose but with excellent acidity and life. It certainly tastes of mahogany somehow. Almost painful but such vitality. Long. Not worth spitting. Dry and such a testament of youth. - Jancis Robinson
