Sandalford Sandalera Rare Liqueur Verdelho
Wonderful fruit concentration and nutty rancio flavours with a velvety and indulgent mouthfeel lending to a long, sustained finish.
Winemaker comments
Winemaker Notes
Made by picking the Verdelho fruit well after picking for dry white table wine. The extended ripening enables the fruit to acquire the elevated sugar levels and concentration required to craft this luscious fortified wine style. The handpicked fruit is crushed and left on skins for up to a week before it is fortified with a neutral grape spirit. The fortification will arrest the fermentation to retain the grape’s natural sweetness. After fortifying and pressing, the wine is allowed to settle in tank before transfer to old oak barrels and given extended maturation to build richness and complexity. Once the wine has reached the desired level of maturity it is then used as a blending component which is incorporated into the final blend before bottling.
Meet the maker
By the time I turned 18, I had become fascinated with wine. I was keen to learn as much about wine as I could and I received some great advice: to work in the industry before committing to any tertiary study....
Continue Reading > I was lucky enough to get my start at the cellars at Houghton Wines, here in the Swan Valley. I loved it, and it was the beginning of a career which was to eventually see me spend 20 years with Houghton’s. But first, I wanted to discover what traditional winemaking was like in the northern hemisphere. I took myself off to Burgundy, France, where I worked several vintages learning as much as I could about the craft of winemaking from some the best in the business. Returning to Australia I continued my career, picking up a few awards in the process of learning more and more about winemaking and achieving Bachelor of Applied Science and Oenology at Charles Sturt University, NSW. I was awarded the inaugural Gourmet Traveler Young Winemaker of the Year 2001, James Halliday’s Winemaker of the year in 2009, Winemaker of the Year in Ray Jordan's 2017 Annual West Australian Wine Guide, and I’ve judged extensively at capital city and regional wine shows. Australia makes some amazing world class wines! I’ve been fortunate to be Senior Winemaker at Sandalford Wines since March 2021 and I’m delighted every day by our estates’ old vines, the passion of the viticulture team here, and the outcomes we are able to achieve each vintage.
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Continue Reading > I was lucky enough to get my start at the cellars at Houghton Wines, here in the Swan Valley. I loved it, and it was the beginning of a career which was to eventually see me spend 20 years with Houghton’s. But first, I wanted to discover what traditional winemaking was like in the northern hemisphere. I took myself off to Burgundy, France, where I worked several vintages learning as much as I could about the craft of winemaking from some the best in the business. Returning to Australia I continued my career, picking up a few awards in the process of learning more and more about winemaking and achieving Bachelor of Applied Science and Oenology at Charles Sturt University, NSW. I was awarded the inaugural Gourmet Traveler Young Winemaker of the Year 2001, James Halliday’s Winemaker of the year in 2009, Winemaker of the Year in Ray Jordan's 2017 Annual West Australian Wine Guide, and I’ve judged extensively at capital city and regional wine shows. Australia makes some amazing world class wines! I’ve been fortunate to be Senior Winemaker at Sandalford Wines since March 2021 and I’m delighted every day by our estates’ old vines, the passion of the viticulture team here, and the outcomes we are able to achieve each vintage.
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Tasting notes
Varietals
Varietal
Verdelho
Colour
Other Notes
Deep amber with sepia tones.
Nose
Production
Caramel, walnut, dried orange peel, barley sugar, treacle, toffee and nutty rancio notes.
Palate
Tasting Note
Exhibiting a rich and complex flavour profile, the flavours follow onto the palate with wonderful fruit concentration and rancio nuttiness lending to a sustained finish.
Vintage Conditions
Vineyard Notes
Liqueur Verdelho is a fortified wine made from Verdelho grapes which are left to ripen on the vine for an extended period. It is a wine style synonymous with the Swan Valley wine growing region. The original vine cuttings were sourced from the Island of Maderia well over a century ago. The average age of our blend is approximately 30 years old (the ‘RARE’ classification is applied to wines with a minimum age of 20 years). The oldest component dates back to 1957.
