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Malmsey, Blandy’s Madeira 2007

Tasting Notes

Balsamic nose, nudging a narrow channel between volatile acidity and wisteria blossom. Higher residual sugar than the Cossart Gordon 2008 Malmsey tasted alongside, yet it doesn’t taste sweeter – just very different. The Blandy’s is redder and slightly deeper in colour, smells more of fresh fruit, of ambergris, of sandalwood and musk. The flavours shimmer in the mouth, piquant with intensity, with pixelated freshness, with thrumming excitement. Dried mango, intense candied clementine peel. Warming; melting toffee curling through iris blossom, fiery root ginger poached in caraway-scented syrup, Seville oranges drenched heavy and languid in bright morello-cherry syrup. But stone on the finish. In the words of Marjorie Allen Seiffert, 'And my windows / Are orange to the night. / They are set in grey stone that frowns / At the black wind. / Inside, there’s a guest at my hearth, / And a fire / Painting the grey stone gold.'

18.5
Tamlyn Currin, JancisRobinson.com, December 2022
Please note that these tasting notes/scores are not intended to be exhaustive and in some cases they may not be the most recently published figures. However, we always do our best to add latest scores and reviews when these come to our attention. We advise customers who wish to purchase wines based simply on critical reviews to carry out further research into the latest reports.