Blandy's Verdelho and Malmsey ten years old

One type of wine that is many times overlooked are Madiera wine. Once you get by the cheaper cooking wines you will find a lot of very good Madeira wine. It is made in different styles from dry to sweet. A lof of the flavour of Madeira wine comes from the oxidizing process that all Madeira wines undergo. Because of this process it is one of the wines that can survive for several hundred of years, this is especially true for the high quality wines.

Blandy's is a one of the few producers of Madeira wine. This time I have tried two of their wines. One Verdelho 10 years old and the Malmsey 10 years old. Verdelho is a grape grown on Maideria that produce a version of Madeira that is between dry and sweet called medium dry. In the taste I get caramel, raisin, walnut and some citrus. A very good aperitif wine. This is one Madeira that I would go for on a warm summer day.

Next up is the ten year old Malmsey wine. This grape gives the sweetest Madeira wines of them all. In the taste I get a lot of rich sweetnes with burnt sugar, raisin, nuts and honey. Quite a complex taste and a very good dessert wine or even meditation wine.

Broadbent 10 year Verdelho and Blandy's 15 year sercial, Madeira wine

Broadbent is a bottler of for example Madeira wine. I have tasted their 10 year old Verdelho. Here the Verdelho is a grape that produces semi sweet Madeira wine going over to almost a bit dry style. In the taste I get notes of caramel, orange and some walnut in a drier style. Quite a delicate and not in your face as some other Madiera wines can be. A good meditation wine.

The Blandy's 15 year old Sercial is made with the grape Sercial with makes this Madeira wine to be quite dry. In the taste I get walnut, burnt almond, oak and it is quite dry. Perfect as an aperitivo or an after dinner drink.

White wine from Portugal and France

I usually stay with wines from Italy with occasional forays into Germany and France. This time I have a wine from Portugal. It is a white wine made from the grape Verdelho, this grape is often used for Madeira wine.  The producer is Herdade Do Esporao and the vintage is 2014. this wine is simply called V. In the taste I get apples and acidity with an almost buttery feel. A nice wine.

Next wine is a French white wine from Provence. It is by producer Paul Jaboulet Aine and it is called Parallele 45 Cotes Du Rhone Black 2014. here I get flowers on the nose. The taste is flowers and some fruits with a light tinge of grapefruit in the taste. A decent wine.