Blandy’s 10 Year Old Verdelho
Verdelho is grown on the north of the island in Porto Moniz, Santana and São Vicente at an altitude up to 400 metres and in the south at Calheta and Funchal. Golden in color, this has marginally more body than the Sercial, and is a tangy fine textured wine.
Bright amber color with golden reflections. It presents a characteristic bouquet of dried fruits macerated in brandy. Notes of dried fig, dates, exotic spices and resinous wood. The attack is medium dry. Good freshness is balanced with salinity and sweetness leaving a long and rich aftertaste of smoked fruit and some iodized elements.
Reviews
This medium-dry verdelho shows salted caramel on the palate. It’s incredibly saline, penetrating and harmonious, with acidity, sweetness and oxidation in perfect balance. This is aged in a canteiro system, in 650-liter American oak barrels, up to bottling. - JGL
Deep nose with an earthy depth under glossy mahogany and cherry jam. Zesty juiciness in the mouth with lively fig leaf, maraschino cherries and pickled walnut resting with both weight and liveliness on the palate. Outstanding balance, especially on the finish, perfectly offsetting the nutty richness with zesty precision, all outlined by vivid acid.
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. - LG