Blandy's, Bual Madeira 1920
Standard - 75cl
Stock location: United Kingdom
In Stock
Wine Critic Reviews
I tasted the 2020 bottling of the 1920 Bual when the wine was 100 years old, after having spent 97 years in cask. For winemaker Francisco Albuquerque, this was the last bottling, and the rest (the other half of the wine) was put in glass demijohns and was at the limit, with 22% alcohol and very high dry extract, with notes of old wood, smoke, iodine and low tide. It's intense and pungent, with a volatile twist (it has only 1.56 grams of volatile acidity). It has very high extract—you can chew it—and it stays with you for a very long time. This is also a wine to sip that would last forever. 1,199 bottles produced.
- Drinking Window: 2024 - 2050
- Reviewer Name: Luis Gutierrez
- Review Date: December 2024
Blandy’s 1920 Bual (2020 Bottling) delivers 110g/L residual sugar with 10.74g/L total acidity. Deep amber in color, it is endowed with a fabulous nose evocative of walking through a stately old English manor house; touches of dried honey, quince and barley sugar emerge with time. But overall, this 2020 Bual displays resinous aromatics, touches of lanolin and, later, a hint of sesame. The palate is very harmonious, with tangy marmalade and quince opening the show, followed by walnut, white pepper, clove, fennel and liberal shavings of ginger. It does not possess the length of the 1975 Terrantez or the 1976 Verdelho in this tasting, yet after a century it retains elegance and style, perhaps more so than previous releases. 1,199 bottles produced.
- Drinking Window: 2020 - 2040
- Reviewer Name: Neal Martin
- Review Date: September 2020