Visiting Blandy's wine lodge

When there is wine tasting to be done, we love to be there. And on this particular day, we found ourselves in Funchal, Madeira. And what better opportunity than learn all about the famous Madeira wine, and off course taste a few during the course of the day.

​Blandy's wine lodge  (www.Blandyswinelodge.com) is located in a historical building in the centre of Funchal. After having purchased our tickets, we proceeded with a guide to the magnificent Canteiro ageing rooms where we admired the old casks filled to the rim with Madeira wine. before we tell you more about the tour, let's first tell a little bit more about Madeira wine.


What is Madeira wine? 

Madeira wine is a fortified wine that is produced in a variety of styles ranging from dry wines which can be consumed on their own as an aperitif to sweet wines that are paired with desserts.

The history of Madeira wine.

Where Madeira has a long winemaking history, Madeira was a popular port of call during the Age of Exploration. When wine was taken onboard the ships travelling on long sea voyages, neutral grape spirits were added to stop the wine from spoiling.
The wine onboard the ships was exposed to excessive heat and movement which transformed the flavour of the wine. this was the start of the wine making process that is still used today, basically oxidizing the wine through heat and ageing.

Now that we have dug into the history of Madeira wine, let's talk about the different tours at offer on Blandy's wine lodge. There are 3 tours available, the lodge tour, the premium tour and the vintage tour.

Each of the tours brings you to the Cooperage, Canteiro ageing rooms, vine to wine exposition, satinwood vats and tasting. With the premium tour, you also get to visit the Blandy's museum where you can admire unique items from the history of Madeira.
The vintage tour will also give you access to the attics of the wine lodge where the wines are aged in the Canteiro system, you also get to admire the huge vats in the Lion's room and you get an exclusive view of the Blandy's family private collection of unique vintage wines.
And to round it all off, the tasting on this tour includes one vintage Frasqueira sample.

Where the younger blends are produced with artificial methods that heat and accelerate the ageing process, the older blends like Colheitas and Frasquerias are produced using the Canteiro methods. 
​During the tour , we learned about the cooperage where local farmers sell their grapes to Blandy's , discovered the process to turn grapes into Madeira wine and got to admire the different vats and ageing process.

To round it all off, we got to taste 2 different Madeira wines. And we must say, we enjoyed the tasting a lot. Afterwards, we browsed the shop in search for some special Madeira wine. 
You can look for a bottle of the wine made in the year you were born,.... They also provide a great service allowing you to purchase a bottle at a reduced rate (this is as part of the entrance ticket), then pick up your bottle in the airport terminal when you head back home.

Highly recommended tour if you are interested in the history of Madeira wine.