Tours
Learn more about our wines with a tour through the Old Blandy Wine Lodge (OBWL) - you will encounter the large oak, mahogany and satinwood casks and vats containing many gallons of the finest wines; learn about the unique traditional "canteiro" system used for their ageing and you'll have a chance to inspect the seventeenth century wooden lagar and visit our private museum. Here, amongst other items, one can see letters from Winston Churchill, accounting books from the last 3 centuries, artefacts related to the history of winemaking and examples of the grape varieties which exist on the island. All this helps to keep the fascinating history of Madeira wine alive.
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History  |
Built in the seventeenth century as the annex to a Franciscan Monastery, the site was acquired in 1840 by Charles Ridpath Blandy and converted into an "Adega" (winery). 12 years later during the phylloxera epidemic he had the foresight to buy up the majority of the stocks of old Madeira wine held on the island turning the building into the heart of the Blandy wine activities. While the production of the wines has moved, the OBWL continues to be a working winery and stores all premium wines during their natural ageing process. Due to the wines' outstanding ageing capability, some of the casks hold vintages dating back to the last century. |
This room contains murals depicting the various stages of winemaking painted by the well-known German artist, Max Romer (1878-1960). He adopted the island of Madeira and its people to the extent that he lived the last 38 years of his life here. He became highly regarded for his ability to portray Madeiran life in paint. His work can nowadays been viewed in public buildings such as the São Lourenço Fort. Here a selection of Madeira Wines is available for tasting.
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| The Vintage Room - Sala Frasqueira | |
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With Frasqueira-Vintage Madeira playing such a large role in the Madeira Wine Company's history, a separate tasting room has been dedicated for the storing and tasting of the wine. Lining the shelves around the room are wines that have been ageing in bottles - some since 1908 - and that arguably make up the largest and most famous collection of Madeira Frasqueira-Vintages in the world. |
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Frasqueira-Vintage Madeiras are made exclusively from one of the traditional grape varieties from a single year and have to spend a minimum of twenty years in cask. To learn more about our available Frasqueira-Vintage Madeiras, please go to Frasqueira-Vintage Chart. There are specialized Frasqueira-Vintage tours available. If you would like to participate and increase your knowledge of the wine then please contact us for further details. |
Shop Available to purchase: |
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Opening times: Our wines can also be purchased at the airport shop which is open Monday, Tuesday , Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday from 5:00 to 21:45, Friday and Sunday from 5:00 to 23:45 |
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