Blandy's 10 Year Old Verdelho 500ml

The history of the island of Madeira is fascinating. In 1419 Madeira was discovered in the name of Portuguese Price, Henry the Navigator. Despite being dubbed the Navigator, unsurprisingly he stayed in Lisbon sipping on a White Port & Tonic, while he got two other chumps to sail around the coast of Africa. Legend dictates the Portuguese started a fire to clear some space in Funchal and the fires burned for 7 years & that's why the soil is so nutritious. That sounds apocryphal to us, we can't even keep a log burner going and we have matches, fire-lighters and rolled up copies of The Telegraph. Nonetheless, the soil is certainly well nourished and contributes to this astonishing wine, expressing a fresh and fragrant bouquet of dried fruits and spice with luxurious warm orangey aromas. Medium dry and full- bodied. Concentrated and fresh with a pleasant zesty bittersweet edge from a finally balanced acidity. Long lingering aftertaste of exotic fruits with spicy overtones.

The Blandy’s are unique in being the only family of all the original founders of the Madeira wine trade to still own and manage theirown original wine company, maintaining a tradition that goes back to 1811. Blandy's Madeira is a family owned business with over 200 years of experience in producing the finest quality Madeira wines and prevails totally dedicated to the preservation of the Madeira wine production traditions whilst maintaining the highest quality standards. In 1925, Blandy's decided to join the Madeira Wine Association; a group of wine companies which formed together. In 1989 in order to further expand the global market, the Blandy's approached another Anglo-Portuguese family, the Symingtons of Oporto (Port producers since the 19th century) and offered them a partnership in the newly named Madeira Wine Company (MWC). This partnership continues and today Michael and Chris Blandy, members of the 6th and 7th generations, continue to work in the company, which is today run by Chris and is the world's leading producer of premium quality Madeira wine. Today, the company continues to lead the way in the re-establishment of Madeira as one of the world's great wines.