1968 was a year that changed American history. It was a year of social unrest, political turmoil, and technological innovations that would change the world forever. I often drink older wine, and reflect on what was happening in the world during a wine's birth, and 1968 was an eventful year to say the least. 

1968 Blandy's Sercial Madeira

99 DE / 19 JR / 95 WE

$349.00/bottle (In Stock This 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

Also Available:

1920 Blandy's Bual Madeira

19.5 JR / 97 WA / 96 WE

$1995.00/750ml (In Stock This Week) BUY NOW

Bottled in 2020. This particular bottling has aged for 100 years in American oak casks and then, from 1 March 2017, in glass demijohns. Only 1,199 bottles released. TA 10.74 g/l, VA 1.44 g/l, pH 3.53, RS 110 g/l, volumetric mass 1,027.69 g/l.

Deep mahogany colour. Very very quiet on the nose when first poured. Dark. Smells like cherry wood. Then it unhurriedly starts to offer glimpses of its century of secrets. Christmas cake and cherry tobacco. Maraschino. Dark chocolate. Stem ginger. Cinnamon bark. Salty quinine. The masses of acidity begin to build, in a silent roar. It feels, in the mouth, like a carved-emerald bolt of shocking purity. Lime marmalade. Dried lime peel. Dill, tarragon, fennel, caraway, cumin. The spices whorl up and up and catch the light, as if we've walked into an old chapel and disturbed a century of dust. A century of memories. Sweet but it’s bones are dry and the vibrating edges of it are dry. Firm; fierce yet full of grace; the slender power of a ballerina. Rose petals and pine oil. Agonisingly, I had no time to really sit with this wine. My tasting note simply doesn't do it justice. –TC, Jancis Robinson

The centenary bottling of Blandy's 1920 Bual is showing superbly, unwinding in the glass with aromas of dried figs, walnuts, caramelized citrus rind, bitter honey, warm spices and nori. Full-bodied, deep and immensely concentrated, this is a searingly intense, multifaceted and pungently sapid wine of immense vibrancy and persistence; indeed, given its protracted maturation in wood, this Bual represents almost a reduction of Madeira, and each small taste lingers on the palate for minutes. The 1920 Bual remained in oak barrels until March 2017, when it was racked to demijohn, and any of the 900 bottles that constitute this release will be worthy of ardent pursuit.—William Kelley, The Wine Advocate

Dark gold-green, this 100-year-old wine is extraordinary in its age and its flavors. The concentration is immense, sweetness vying with the most intense acidity in a welter of flavors. Such is its focus that it is for sipping rather than drinking—a wine for amazed meditation. Drink now. –Roger Voss, Wine Enthusiast

1957 Blandy's Bual Madeira

19 JR / 96 DE / 95 WE 

Gold Medal 2018 Decanter World Wine Awards

$369.00/bottle (In Stock This Week) BUY NOW

Bottled 2017. Mid brownish gold with a hint of green. Smells sweet and nutty and vaguely of polished wood. The most perfect balance between sweetness and mouth-watering acidity. That nutty flavour comes through strongly on the palate but also with the orange of long-matured dark marmalade, though not as sweet as that would be. Stunny nutty, walnut-bitter complexity clothed in burnt caramel and then with spiced bitter orange on the finish. Layers and layers of flavour. –Julia Harding MW, Jancis Robinson

Joy unbounded, a kaleidoscope of pleasure, such complexity it's difficult to identify all the elements...marmalade, fruit cake, nuts, caramel richness and a delicate saline finish. - Decanter

Bottled in 2017, this wine aged in old oak for 60 years. It still has all the sweetness you would expect from a Bual Madeira while also having that old wood, almost golden character. Acidity balances the opulent fruit. Drink this wine now. –Roger Voss, Wine Enthusiast. 

1980 Blandy's Sercial Madeira

17.5 JR / 94 WA

$319.00/750ml bottle (In Stock This Week) BUY NOW

Frasqueira. Matured in American oak for 36 years. Bottled 2019. VA 1.3 g/l, TA 10 g/l, pH 3.3, RS 55 g/l. 96 half-bottles, 768 bottles, 45 magnums, 22 jeroboams and three 18-litre bottles filled.
Mid amber. Distinctive, unusual nose – woodsmoke notes but with a green-melon-like core and something that reminds me of rooty gin botanicals. Piercing acidity cuts through a comparatively rich sweetness, for a Sercial. Saline and powerfully smoky – lots of concentration and power on the palate, with a roasted nut finish. Lots of length. Definitely different, even if it isn’t the most elegant! Tim Jackson MW, Jancis Robinson

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