TN: Blandy's Duke of Clarence

[Ray Barnes]

I wish I had been there for that Roy. :)

The rabid fans of the Cleveland Browns, who look and sound like St. Bernards, really could use some 100 year old verdelho.

[Ray Barnes]

You gotta feel bad for Mike Holmgren. After all he has done in the NFL, this is not the way to make a graceful exit.

GO PATRIOTS!!

[Mahmoud Ali]

Ray,

I've discovered that Madeiras are almost indestructible.

Many years ago I picked up a number of bottles of Madeiras that were on sale at a government controlled ALCB outlet. They were Malmsey Madeiras with no age statement other than "Old Malmsey Madeira". I couldn't find any information on the producer so I assume it was some cooperative.

I went abroad for a number of years and an open bottle was left in the dinning room. About five years later, after dinner with some wine drinking friends, I spotted the bottle and asked if anyone wanted to try it. Naturally, as wine lovers, they did. It was beautiful. Rich, complex and long, nothing like how I remembered it to be. Some of my friends wanted to buy a bottle off me.

This bottle was only 2/3 full so it had plenty of air, and it sat in a warm dining room for 5 years. So I'm not surprised that your bottle of Blandy's improved with exposure to air. My Madeira motto is that if I were to see a bottle of Madeira sitting on a radiator next to the shop window with sunlight streaming in, I'd still buy it. After getting a discount of course!

Cheers......Mahmoud

[Ray Barnes]

Excellent to hear - an open bottle can last 5 years - which beats the usual prognosis of 6 months the popular reference books claim. :)