Grape Guide
Verdelho
WhiteVerdelho is a white variety from the Atlantic islands of Portugal, best known as the grape behind medium-dry Madeira, where fortification halts fermentation with some sugar left and high acidity carries the wine for decades. It also makes unfortified table wines in the Azores, Australia and a few other warm regions, usually fuller and more tropical than the fortified style.
Key Characteristics
- Thick-skinned berries that ripen early and crop at low yields
- On Madeira the bunches are tight and carry few berries; in Australia they are looser
- Susceptible to botrytis, coulure and, less so, downy and powdery mildew
- Retains high acidity at moderate sugar levels in cool sites
- Probably a Savagnin offspring, and a probable parent of two Azorean varieties
Typical Flavors
Major Regions
Madeira (Portugal) · Azores: Pico, Graciosa, Biscoitos (Portugal) · Hunter Valley and Riverina (New South Wales, Australia) · Swan District (Western Australia) · Alentejo and Setúbal (Portugal) · Amador County (California, USA)
Also Known As
Verdelho Branco (Madeira) · Verdelho da Madeira (Madeira) · Verdelho dos Açores (Azores) · Verdelho Pico (Pico · Azores) · Verdello (Spain · Canary Islands)
Overview
Verdelho produces two quite different wines. On Madeira it gives a fortified wine that sits in the middle of the sweetness scale, between the drier Sercial and the richer Boal (Bual): amber to gold, smoky and nutty with age, with citrus peel, dried apricot and a salty, tangy finish carried by acidity that stays high for decades. Under the Madeira rules a bottle labelled Verdelho must contain at least 85% of the variety. Elsewhere the grape is vinified without fortification. In Australia it yields full-bodied, lime-and-tropical-fruit whites that are normally drunk young, though a few producers age them deliberately. In the Azores, on volcanic Pico, it gives both fortified Lajido-style wines and tense, saline dry whites. The berries are thick-skinned and ripen early, and the vine tolerates warmth and some drought, which explains how a grape from a damp subtropical island adapted well to warm regions of Australia and to Alentejo.
Origins & History
Verdelho has been grown on Madeira for centuries and was widely planted there by the seventeenth century. Before phylloxera reached the island in 1872 it is thought to have covered about two thirds of the vineyard. Its birthplace is disputed. The traditional view is that it travelled from Madeira to the Azores, where it is recorded from the sixteenth century. Some Azorean researchers argue the reverse, citing the earlier written record there and the absence of related varieties on the Portuguese mainland. DNA profiling has shown that the Madeira and Azores plants are the same genotype. Parentage work published in 2011 suggested a parent and offspring relationship with Savagnin, an old variety from eastern France. Later profiling, in 2016, indicated that two Azorean varieties, Arinto dos Açores (formerly Terrantez da Terceira) and Terrantez do Pico, may each be offspring of Verdelho; the other parent of Terrantez do Pico is tentatively Bastardo (Trousseau). These links are provisional. A colour mutation of Verdelho with red berries is called Verdelho Roxo. Verdelho Tinto, once grown in the Minho, is a separate variety. Verdelho do Dão is Godello. In Anjou, growers long took the vine for a Chenin Blanc clone, though that identification has not held up. The notion that it is a Sicilian Verdicchio carried to Madeira in the fifteenth century is contradicted by DNA profiles. Cuttings reached Australia from Madeira in the 1820s.
Viticultural Characteristics
Verdelho ripens early and yields little. On Madeira its bunches are tight and carry few berries, while in Australia they are described as looser, with thick-skinned fruit that copes with both drought and wet weather. It needs deep soils with some moisture and is a poor match for thin, dry sites unless irrigated. The principal hazards are botrytis bunch rot, coulure (poor fruit set) and, to a lesser degree, downy and powdery mildew, and spring frost can hurt early budding. Humid, rainy Madeiran summers favour fungal disease, which is one reason the variety is thought to suit the warmer, drier conditions of parts of Australia more comfortably. Acidity is high at moderate sugar levels in cool places such as the north coast of Madeira, but it drops quickly in hot, irrigated inland sites, where the wines can taste broad and sweet. Some Australian producers now pick earlier to keep freshness.
Wine Styles & Characteristics
On Madeira, Verdelho is made in the medium-dry style, sweeter than Sercial and drier than Boal. Fermentation is stopped by adding spirit while some sugar remains, and the wine then ages in cask, in the estufa or canteiro system, for at least three years and often much longer. Aged examples (10 years and above, and rare vintage frasqueiras) are among the longest-lived white wines made. Dry unfortified versions are sold under the Terras Madeirenses indication. In the Azores the grape is bottled as fortified Lajido and as dry whites with citrus, salt and smoke notes, made by producers such as Azores Wine Company. Australia produces vibrant, full-bodied whites with lime, passionfruit and honeysuckle, with a few sweet and fortified examples. Barrel-fermented and long-aged versions are less usual, with David Traeger in Victoria a known example of deliberate ageing. Californian and Portuguese mainland versions are small in volume.