Blandy's Wine Lodge

The tour was okay, I think our guide just ran out of energy by the time she got to us. I recommend the tour so they you learn how wine is made on the island which is completely different than anywhere else I've been thus far. I.E., some of their wines they heat, along with adding alcohol, the wine is not kept cool, but rather stored warm, purposely using the sun to heat various barrels - in the end the final product is very different than say a California or even a Spanish wine. Service was okay, they seem short staffed & do they best they can with the staff they have. The winery has an easygoing atmosphere to it.

Being in Madeira, I needed to familiarize myself with their famous wine. Apparently it's so delicious that the founding fathers toasted the DOI with it.

Blandy's is (or at least was, not sure) family owned. They do not pressure you into taking a tour, which is good because as I said, I've toured many distilleries, breweries, etc. Sometimes you just want to drink it!

They do have a tasting room that offers you a choice of 3, 5, or 10 years. They're all reasonably priced. We chose the 5. I believe it was a one ounce pour of each. They were all very pleasant, but I preferred the semi-dry and dry.

A visit to Blandy's Wine Lodge is essential for anyone travelling to Madeira for the first time. There are many Madeira wine makers on the island but Blandy's is one of the oldest at most prolific.

I came here as the first stop on an all-day wine tour I was participating in. We started off getting to see some hictoric artifacts and were given a history lesson in regional wine making. We also learned about the techniques used to make Madeira wine and the grape varieties that go into Blandy's products.

It was a really cool experience getting to see the giant vats that they use to store the wine. Very different from many of the vineyards I have visited elsewhere. The tour concluded with samples of 3 different Madeira wines. This was my first time trying it so it was nice having someone to walk me through the different types.

I ended up picking up a couple things at their store before I left. They have sell a sampler pack with 4 different miniature bottles that is great for gifts if you're looking for something to bring home. Overall, my visit to Blandy's was definitely one of the highlights of my trip.

when in Madeira, it would be crazy to not enjoy some Madeira wine. our cruise offered tours of wine lodges, but they seemed awfully overpriced. so we did some research and Old Blandy's kept coming up. with a name like that, you may question the authenticity - but the history buff in me recalls the Anglo-Portuguese alliance as being one of the oldest in existence, so we decided to investigate.

as it turns out, yes, there is a British connection - a lengthy family legacy dating back to the early 19th century and continuing to this day.

the tour is a blast. we learned a lot from Karina, our guide, who enthusiastically explained the manufacturing process, the company history, the building's history, and more. the process for making Madeira wine is different, and learning about it was the perfect union of my interests in engineering and alcohol.

seeing the old manual wine-making equipment brought back memories for me, as my grandfather used to make wine in his basement in Brooklyn with similar tools and manual machinery (most of which he brought over from Italy).

I had emailed them to confirm and they reserved two spots for us. the price (I think it was around 7 Euro per person) can't be beat, especially since you get two free samples at the end and a discount if you buy directly there. it's also easy to reach as soon as you get into town from the cruise terminal. the tour is in English and starts at 11 on Saturdays; it ends around 12:30 since they wait for everyone to get there, and handing out samples takes some time.

Interesting and informative tour, good wine tasting, stuffy rooms. I enjoyed learning and tasting, but found 45 minutes long in the stuffy rooms. Would still recommend a visit and tasting, though.