2011 Colheita Sercial

Bottled 2024. Very much more rancio than their 10-year-old Sercial with prominent acidity that cleans up the sweetness on the finish with forceful power. Incredibly nutty with intense dried fruit on the finish. (RH)

Tasted from a 50-cl mini sample. Sercial grapes from Seixal and Jardim da Serra. Aged in the canteiro system, in 650-litre casks at room temperature until bottling. TA 8.6 g/l, VA 0.54 g/l, RS 50 g/l, pH 3.35. 1,733 75-cl bottles. Harvest and winemaker Francisco Albuquerque. One of Blandy's 2024 releases. It's seems odd to be tasting autumn in such a crisp wine on a blisteringly hot summer day. But it really does smell of crackling, russet-rustling, golden leaves; and it smells of tobacco leaves when they're still golden and silky limp, just beginning to curl. It's a piercingly precise, pin-point staccato of a wine, tasting of pickled lemons and tamarind paste. Of grapefruit and lime in the liminal spaces between the laser lines and tiny scintillas of honey sparking tings of sweetness just where you least expect it. Long after it's gone, your mouth will still be tingling. (TC)

The 2011 Sercial Colheita Single Harvest is aged in 650-liter casks with 50g/L residual sugar and a total acidity of 8.6g/L. This has a fragrant bouquet. It's a little more floral than last year's release, with elderflower and wilted rose petal hints filtering through the quince and marmalade scents. Fine delineation. The palate has arresting spiciness on the entry with upfront stem ginger and lemongrass notes. Slightly viscous in texture, this feels harmonious with modest complexity on the finish. Maybe it just needs a little more length, but otherwise, this will do nicely. 1,733 bottles released.