NV Blandy's - Madeira Sercial 10 Year Old (750ml)

John Blandy first set foot on Madeira in 1807 and founded the company that bears his name in 1811, beginning a tradition of family ownership that continues seven generations later. In 1989, the Symington family became partners with the Blandys, helping to reinvigorate the broader Madeira trade while the family retained ownership of its historic house. In 2024, Blandy's released a new generation of its 10-Year-Old range, developed by winemaker Francisco Albuquerque after extensive research into how each grape variety ages best across the company's dozen aging rooms, split between the historic Wine Lodge in Funchal and a newer winery in Caniçal.

Sercial is grown at the coolest, most demanding vineyard sites on the island and ripens latest of Madeira's four noble grapes, whether at 600 meters on the south-facing slopes of Jardim da Serra or in cooler sites at sea level in the north at Seixal and Porto Moniz. This wine blends lots averaging ten years old, matured in seasoned oak casks under the traditional canteiro method, where the wine ages slowly through the natural seasonal temperature shifts of the lodge, then fined before bottling.

The wine shows a pale, bright topaz color with a golden tinge, offering dry fruit, wood, and citrus aromas that lead into a fresh, nutty, persistent finish lifted by lively acidity. Bone dry in style, it's a lovely aperitif and pairs beautifully with salted almonds, sushi, or aged hard cheeses.