1982 Verdelho

The 1982 Verdelho contains 108g/L residual sugar and was aged for 40 years in very old oak casks. Deep amber in color, it has a well-defined, mellow bouquet with mahogany antique bureau, crème brûlée, singed leather and bonfire aromas that cohere nicely in the glass. The palate is very well balanced with fine tannins and just the right amount of acidity to counter that sweet edge on the finish. This feels like an animated Verdelho, with impressive tension and real finesse coming through toward its slight oxidative finish. This is a classy offering. 1,206 bottles produced.

Tasted from a mini sample bottle. Verdelho grown on vineyards in Porto Moniz, on the north coast of the island. Aged 40 years in very old oak casks. TA 10.3 g/l, VA 1.3 g/l, RS 108 g/l, pH 3.33. 1,206 bottles, 204 half bottles, 80 magnums, 15 jeroboams and 3 melchiors released in 2023. Smells of manuka honey and molasses-sticky gingerbread, of heady tropical-rainforest flowers and glue. Spinning with intensity, luminous, like liquid jacquard silk, lacquered inlaid wood; absolutely shimmering with life. It holds in the mouth with the trembling, almost-spilling tension of a dewdrop on a spider's web as dawn light shafts through it turning gold into green and pink into red and blue shadows into indigo. Peach, apricot, warm pecans, cinnamon and the forest-floor scents that rise up cool and yet warm as you kick through the crisp crackle of coppery autumn leaves. Just stunning. (TC)