A Bual beauty – The 1980 Vintage Bual from Blandy’s.

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If there’s one match, one battle I would have loved to watch live, then the answer is easy. The Miracle on Ice in the Lake Placid Olympics in 1980. That battle must have been one of the most thrilling games ever played, David against Goliat. In 1980 I was eight years old and hence not able to fully appreciate the match and the political complexity surrounding it.

The 1980 Bual from Blandy’s, bottled after 29 years in cask, has nothing to do with the classic hockey fight in Lake Placid. It shares the year though and perhaps one personal discernment as well; Bual is the Madeira grape which took the most time for me to fully understand. The appreciation came with age, personally and wine wise. Today I find it next to Verdelho and Terrantez to be amongst my favorites. Perhaps when I think about it, it is not showing as well in its youth as for example Verdelho. With age though, the Bual wines are sublime and with a feeling of terroir which you normally don’t think of in fortified wines.

I was honored to take part at the bicentenary tasting at Blandy’s in Funchal last year. A memory for life, to be guided by the current Blandy’s generation, Chris Blandy, and the company’s winemaker, Francisco Albuquerque. And when I run through my notes I quickly realize that again, the Bual wines represented the most lasting memories. Not one average wine was served, not even nearby, but wines such as the 1968, 1920, 1874 and the 1811 Buals I hope every winelover gets to taste at least once in life. The 1920 for example I consider the reference, for the potential of Bual. It is an amazing wine, an elixir of life. Taste it! Gather a bunch and split a bottle. A wine like this needs to be shared!

Francisco Albuquerque (to the left)

A sixty years younger wine is the 1980 Bual. I’ve had it at two occasions now and was even more impressed the second time, as if the wine had settled in the bottle. With such an elegant nose, gently showing scents of vanilla, Oolong tea, burnt sugar, walnuts and cherries in syrup, it’s easy to fall in love with the 1980 Bual. There’s also a slight hint of that dusty summer road which I love and tend to find in Madeira with age to it.

Well, the wine doesn’t disappoint on the palate either. Also here, elegance leads the way. The first impression is a relatively sweet Bual, but that feeling lasts for a nano-second only. Then a quite high, mouth-watering acidity enters the show and
with elegance and balance it adds classy structure to the palate. Intense with smoke, caramel, nutmeg, Oolong tea, pipe tobacco and vanilla notes. The acidity reminds me of a perfectly ripe orange. A clean long-lasting finale ends the whole thing and I
feel lucky to have tasted this great Bual again.

As always when it comes to the vintage wines, there are few produced. In this case only a 1,000 bottles.

Tempted to buy a bottle of the 1980 Bual? Check out wine-searcher for retailers or ask Blandy’s directly.

NB. The residual sugar in the 1980 is 96 grams per liter.

MAM Opinion: