Blandys Madeira

Blandy’s Madeira was founded by John Blandy in 1811 and is well-known for producing quality Madeira, a fortified wine, from Portugal’s archipelago off the northwest coast of Africa. The Blandy family is one of the original founding families of the Maderia wine trade and is the only family to still own and operate their original wine company on the island of Maderia.

The history of Madeira and Blandy’s history go hand-in-hand. In 1925, the export market for Madeira experienced an all time low, requiring wine companies to forge together under the Madeira Wine Association. The Blandy family headed this association and was able to stay in business while many individual Madeira companies ceased to exist. Madeira lacked the popularity it once had so in order to expand the global market, the Blandy’s offered the Symington family, Port producers since the 19th century, a partnership in the newly named Madeira Wine Company in 1989. Together, these families have greatly expand the distribution network and marketing of the company's premier Madeira brands including Blandy's, Leacock's, Miles, and Cossart Gordon. 

Blandy’s produces many styles and quality levels of Madeira but is best known for its traditional, top quality, dated Madeiras capable of aging over 150 years. These Madeiras are produced from a single vintage and single grape variety and are categorized as either Vintage or Colheita dependant on wine character and the number of years a wine has spent in cask.

Beyond tradition, Blandy’s Madeira Wine Company has challenged accepted Madeira production norms to re-establish the fortified wine in the marketplace. Blandy’s was the first in Madeira to produce a youthful, vintage dated Madeira for early consumption with their 1994 Malmsey and created another new category for premium Madeira in 2002 with the introduction of “Blandy’s Alvada,” a blend of Malmsey and Bual.

Blandy’s produces Madeira from the principal grape varieties Malmsey, Bual, Verdelho, Sercial, and Tinta Negra Mole. The vines are planted on steep terraced vineyards throughout the island and are handpicked at harvest. At the winery, known as an adega in Madeira, grapes are tank fermented in stainless steel. Fermentation is stopped by the addition of brandy once the appropriate amount of grape sugar has been converted into alcohol.

All styles of Madeira, from the dry Sercial to sweet Malmsey, are fortified up to 19 percent alcohol by volume, then heated for some months—a process known as estufagem. Blandy’s premium Madeiras are heated over a period of years in seasoned American oak casks. After aging in a warm environment, Blandy’s wines are aged a second time in a cooler environment for a period of years and become oxidized, allowing these wines to have extensive life spans. Dependant on final quality of the wine and grape variety, Blandy’s Maderias are either blended between vintages and labeled by the average amount of years each wine spent in cask, or dated by a single vintage.