TN: 1959 Blandy's Vintage Bual Madeira

[Alan Gardner]

Tasted August 2009

Opened and poured without decanting.
First sample sweet but VERY simple, lacking structure. Alcohol and slight volatile acidity, but the taste itself seemed to lack complexity. Just sat in glass and didn't seem to evolve at all. Still a sound wine, but lacking any pizazz.

24 Hours later
Now showing a bit of orange jam (rather than marmalade). Still flabby by madeira standards, but a definite improvement over the previous night. Good, but not great by any means.

Another 24 hours later
Similar to the first impression. Pleasant but uninspiring. No WOW factor at all.

Too bad! (But fortunately the other 1959 wines opened were spectacular).

[John Danza]

Thanks very much for the information on this wine Alan. I've been looking at this stuff on Winebid, but was concerned about the $300+ price tag for an off year in Portugal. Given that it's my birth year, I wanted it to augment the wines I have for my 50th birthday celebration later this year. Based on your comments, I'll be taking a pass. Not enough value for the price.

[Andy Velebil]

John,
thats a lot of money for a 1959. Money that could buy a much older, and sounds like much better Madeira.

Alan,
Thanks for the TN on this