D'Oliveira Sercial 1969

The 1969 Sercial from d’Oliveira was bottled in 2008, with the casks having been part of the purchased the historic cellars of Adega do Torreão in 2002. The wine is really stunning on the nose, soaring from the glass in a beautiful blend of leather, caramel, a touch of orange peel, sweet almonds, cinnamon, cherries, a really lovely base of soil and a delicate topnote of rancio.

On the palate the wine is deep, full-bodied and very elegant in profile, with the powerful personality of youth, great focus and mid-palate intensity and outstanding focus and grip on the very long, tangy and perfectly balanced finish. By Madeira standards, this is still a fairly young wine, but I have absolutely no difficulties drinking it today! A really superb and refined bottle.