Barbeito Verdelho 2007

Barbeito is a leading Madeira producer, and this bottling comes from Verdelho, one of the island's classic grapes and a step drier than the sweet Malvasia. Madeira owes its style to a heating and oxidative ageing process found nowhere else. After fortification the wine is aged for many years in cask under warmth, and this long, slow exposure to heat and air converts part of the alcohol into aldehydes and related compounds that build the roasted, nutty, dried-fruit character. Verdelho keeps a firm, tangy acidity and a faint smoky edge, so the wine finishes drier and more savoury than a Malmsey. The island's volcanic soils and humid Atlantic climate give grapes with the searing natural acidity that keeps decades of cask ageing fresh. The colour is golden with green reflections. The nose is intense and complex, with dried apricot, roasted nuts, orange peel, tobacco leaf and sultana. The palate is medium-dry, concentrated and layered, the oxidative depth balanced by racy acidity and a long, saline, nutty finish. Serve lightly chilled at 13 to 15 degrees in a small glass.