Hello Little Bastardo,
Welcome to Vol. IV of the Bastardo Society Port Club, where we’re diving deep into Verdelho — and St. Amant’s long, winding history with this Portuguese variety in port-styled wines.
Verdelho is believed to have originated in Portugal, possibly in the Minho region a. But it found its greatest fame on the island of Madeira, where it became one of the core grapes used in the island’s legendary fortified wines.
My dad became fascinated with Verdelho back in the late ’90s and early 2000s, eventually grafting over seven rows to this relatively obscure white grape. His original plan was to produce dry, crisp table wines and experiment with a white port. For a few vintages, we released a wine called Vino do Sol — a youthful, fresh, aperitif-style white port aged just one year in barrel. It was a tough sell at the time, and we stopped bottling it in 2004, though we still made a couple of barrels in 2005.
A decade later, in 2015, we returned to Verdelho — but with a new inspiration: Madeira.
Madeira is crafted like no other wine in the world. After fermentation and fortification, the wines undergo extended barrel aging, often in warm cellars where they’re intentionally exposed to oxygen and heat. Barrels are left to bake in the summer sun, and over time, the wine undergoes slow, natural oxidation and concentration. This process transforms the wine — caramelizing sugars and developing nutty, smoky, dried fruit aromas, along with rich golden to mahogany hues. These wines are remarkably stable — you can leave a bottle open for months and it won’t change.
Time, of course, is the secret ingredient. The longer the wine rests in barrel, the more complex and concentrated it becomes. And depending on cellar humidity, you’ll notice a rise in both alcohol and sugar concentration as water slowly evaporates.
This shipment tells that story through three expressions of our Verdelho, aged 5, 10, and 20 years — from the 2020, 2015, and 2005 vintages. These wines are one-of-a-kind, and as far as we know, no one else in California is doing anything quite like it.
Like our Bastardo Port vertical, these wines are best enjoyed together with friends. Open all three, compare, linger, and enjoy. You don’t need to finish the bottles… but fair warning, the 20-year is hard to put down.
Enjoy,
Stuart Spencer
2020 VERDELHO PORT – 5 YEARS
The lightest and most vibrant of the trio. You can still catch glimpses of our original dry Verdelho in its lemony, grapefruit-driven aromas and flavors. While it doesn’t have the same depth or texture as the 10- or 20-year-old versions, its freshness and liveliness are remarkable. It retains a clear sense of fruit, whereas the older ports lean more into nutty, caramelized notes. What surprised me, despite the age difference, all three wines share a remarkably similar color. 396 bottles (500ml)
2015 VERELHO PORT – 10 YEARS
After a 10-year hiatus, this was our first white port we produced back in 2015. Since then, it’s been sitting quietly in our cellar virtually untouched…occasionally we must move the barrels to get other ones out, but the wine has not been racked or topped in 10 years. The result is a rich, concentrated Verdelho Port that balances a lively freshness with deeper, nutty complexity. It’s slightly sweeter than the 2020, with about 6.8% residual sugar, adding a touch more viscosity and roundness. 350 bottles (500ml)
2005 VERDELHO PORT – 20 YEARS
If you’ve been with us since the very first Bastardo Society Port Club shipment, you’ll recognize this wine. That inaugural release featured the 2005 Verdelho Port aged for 18 years. Now, with two more years in barrel, the wine has reached a new level — and the results are stunning. What makes this wine especially meaningful is that it was crafted by my father. It was his final vintage before he passed away in 2006, and after 20 years of aging, it stands as a tribute to his vision and craftsmanship. This Verdelho is the sweetest of the trio, with 9.2% residual sugar, giving it a luxurious viscosity and a decadent, dessert-like profile. It’s rich and deeply concentrated, with a nutty, zesty finish that lingers for minutes — truly a wine to savor. We won’t have another 20-year Verdelho Port for at least a decade. This one is a treasure! 320 bottles (500ml)
PS – I may not have a man bun, a scruffy beard, or sip on Kombucha — but the three wines above are the hipster’s hipster wines. They’re what the cool kids call “zero-zero” wines: completely natural, with no additives, no interventions, and no added sulfur. That’s zero manipulation from vineyard to bottle — hence the name. It’s the most radical form of natural winemaking — punk rock in a glass.
