Sercial Dry Frasqueira (bottled 2017, 40yo) 1977

Bottled in 2017 at 40 years barrel aged, defining it as a Frasqueria (min. 20 years in barrel). Aged via the canteiro process, which stacks barrels in warehouses, where the wine is gently warmed to create madeira's distinct style. 100% Sercial, with <60g/L residual sugar and 20% ABV.

Citrus peel, several ways dominates the nose: rinded, spiced and preserved. It’s an orange-led melange with lime and mandarin. There's an abstract volatile element, a lovely sea-spray salty rim (an orangey margarita comes to mind) and an undercurrent of ripe date and Brazil nut. A characteristic damp-tropical-forest-floor vegetality runs around in the lower layers of a vital, fresh and incredibly complex, even textural, nose. Lithe, spiced and running in the mouth, nevertheless coating the tongue easily as it skips along, it’s entirely dry, super-delicate and dancy through to an utterly spare finish. It's hard to believe 20% alcohol can leave so little weight and so few traces.