Blandy's : Malmsey Colheita Single Harvest 2010

Characteristics and tasting notes for Blandy's Malmsey Colheita Single Harvest 2010

Tasting

Colour
This Malmsey Colheita 2010 shows a clear, brilliant amber colour shot through with golden hints that immediately signal the wine's richness.

Nose
The nose opens with indulgent notes of jam and sweet candied fruit, alongside touches of brioche and honey that reflect the wine's long ageing.

Palate
The palate is sweet, rich and velvety, lifted by a pleasant freshness that balances the wine's generosity. The long finish reveals warm notes of marmalade and spice.

Food and wine pairings

This Malmsey is ideally enjoyed as a digestif, but it also pairs beautifully with fruitcake, cream biscuits or crème brûlée, and more broadly with rich, indulgent desserts.

Serving and cellaring

Decanting the Malmsey Colheita Single Harvest 2010 before serving is recommended, as this style of wine can develop a natural sediment over time. Store the bottle upright, away from light, in a cool, dry place, ideally at a constant temperature not exceeding 16°C.

A rich, spicy Madeira Malmsey, the signature of Blandy's

The estate

Blandy's has been producing Madeira wines since 1811 under its own name and, seven generations on, remains the only founding family of the Madeira wine trade still to own and run its original house. Based in Funchal, on the island of Madeira, the company is today majority-owned by the Blandy family, several of whose members sit on the group's management board. True to its heritage, Blandy's upholds time-honoured expertise while standing out for its quality-driven initiatives, particularly with vintage wines in the colheita style.

The vineyard

The grapes for this Malmsey come from São Jorge, on the north coast of Madeira, where the Malvasia grape thrives on volcanic soils made up of basalt, trachyte, tuff and conglomerates. This Portuguese variety is trained using latada, a traditional pergola system that encourages air circulation in this temperate, humid oceanic climate. The harvest is carried out by hand, with the grapes carefully selected over several weeks according to their ripeness.

The vintage

This Terras Madeirenses wine comes from a single harvest: 2010. The grapes were rigorously sorted by hand, gradually over several weeks, so as to follow their ripening as closely as possible before vinification.

Vinification and ageing

The Malmsey Colheita Single Harvest 2010 was aged using the traditional "canteiro" method, in 650-litre casks kept at ambient temperature until it was bottled in 2023. The wine was made by winemaker Francisco Albuquerque at the time of the harvest, before being bottled under the supervision of Tamlyn Currin.

Grape variety

This wine is made from the Malvasia grape, grown on the terraces of São Jorge, on the north coast of Madeira.