Blandy's, Bual, 1976 - Magnum

"Produced from grapes grown at Calheta on the sunny south coast. Deep amber/mahogany colour, this is rich and profound on the nose, with dried fruit compote and heady intensity. Powerful on the palate: the tang of tawny marmalade (115 g/l residual sugar) is offset by bracing acidity, which persists in parallel with dried fruit richness, all the way through the finish. Beautifully focused, this goes on and on. Glorious wine: the last release of a Blandy quartet from this successful vintage."

"Ginger root and rose-bud tea and tamarind. Exotic and heady and full of red-gold shade and hibiscus sharpness and chiselled intensity. Dried mangoes and a smoked cigar. Spectacular tension running through the soaring silken-flag of sweetness. The spices feel as if they've been whittled into the wine, mote by mote, like tiny red jewels winking through the long, curving, curling age-grain swirls of wood and dried fruit. Red-cherry-bright acidity explodes through time followed by miniscule marzipan kisses and then an electric current amping the finish."