Perhaps the most popular export of Madeira is its dessert wine that carries the same name. So it seemed only natural to seek out its origins when I was on vacation in Madeira recently. And of course, continue the tradition of exporting it.
Blandys Wine Lodge in Funchal, Madeira
Many visitors to Madeira will stay in Funchal, the island’s capital. Madeira seems quite underdeveloped for tourism in the sense that it caters to daytrippers from cruise ships that stop over en route to the canaries or the coast of west Africa. There are no big resorts to be found, but many small bed and breakfasts, boutique hotels, and design places, most of which are in or around Funchal.
While staying in a city may not seem the natural thing to do on an island holiday, it is actually not a problem as the city feels quite small even though it counts over 100,000 inhabitants, and it is quick and easy to get out into the mountains or other places of interest. But more importantly, it is full of things to discover in itself.
The Old Blandy Wine Lodge
Right in the middle of Funchal is the Old Blandy Wine Lodge. It dates back to the 1840s when Charles Blandy bought the annex part of the monastery complex and converted it into a winery.
Nowadays the wines are produced outside the lodge, but the Old Blandy Wine Lodge continues to store all the premium wines as they age naturally. There are two things you can do: take a tour and learn all about the history of the winery and how Madeira wine is produced, and of course, a wine tasting.
You can taste the wine either in the main tasting room or in the old vintage tasting room, where hundreds of bottles of Madeira wine line the shelves around the room. Some date back as far as 1908!
Vintage Room at Blandys Wine Lodge, Funchal, Madeira
Types of Madeira wine
Madeira wines come in four different varieties and are named after the grape from which they are made: Sercial (dry), Verdelho (medium dry), Bual (medium rich/sweet) and Malmsey (rich/sweet).
Blandys Madeira wine, Blandys Wine Lodge, Funchal
It is fairly safe to say that there is a Madeira wine for everyone due to the varying degrees of sweetness and dryness. All you have to do is walk up to the counter and select the age of the Madeira wines you would like to try: 3, 5, 10 or 20 years. Prices are very affordable regardless of the age you choose. And given the very nice ambiente in the Max Romer tasting room it’s not only your taste buds that will have a great experience! Take a look around by clicking on the 360 degree panoramic photo below:
What’s the best wine lodge you’ve been to? Is wine tasting something you do while on vacation?
16 comments
Natasha von Geldern says:
Jun 8, 2012
LOL “95% turned out to be about New Zealand”. That reminds me I need to write more about NZ! I’ve heard so many good things about Madeira, gotta get there for the hiking… and now the wine tasting!
Christina says:
Jun 8, 2012
Please do write more about NZ, you can already count me among your readers. Madeira is really good for hiking. Best part: when you stand on the higher mountains, you can see the coast and ocean in the north and the south!
Leigh says:
Jun 8, 2012
I would never think of a tasting flight of Madeira -don’t know why. I love including wine tastings on my travels so I’d be sure to do the same thing here. Too bad it’s so far away to visot.
Christina says:
Jun 9, 2012
It was only a 3 hour flight for us, and a very last minute decision to go there – we originally wanted to go to the Azores! The latter have to wait, and we’re glad we went to Madeira, and totally unprepared, which made it even better for discovering. Loved stumbling upon that winery that was a 200m walk from our hotel!
Ruth (Tanama Tales) says:
Jun 8, 2012
I have heard of madeira wine before but didn’t know a lot of details. This looks like a fun way discover more of the island past (and pride).
Christina says:
Jun 9, 2012
A fun and tasty way indeed! Hope you can try it where you are. It is delicious as a dessert wine (the sweet varieties)
Cathy Sweeney says:
Jun 10, 2012
One of my favorite travel and leisure activities — wine tasting! Would love to explore Madeira’s wineries. Your photos are very inviting.
Christina says:
Jun 26, 2012
I love wine and beer tastings when travelling. You should visit Bamberg and do the beer diploma if you like beer – sampling beer from 12 different breweries
Brock - Backpack With Brock says:
Jun 10, 2012
Sounds like you had a great time! Wine tasting in different countries is an interesting way to experience a culture.
Christina says:
Jun 26, 2012
That’s right – they’re really proud of their wine, and it was great having a chat to locals while sipping on a glass of Madeira wine!
robin says:
Jun 11, 2012
You learn something every day _ I had no idea there was any such thing as dry Madeira wine. It makes it a lot more interesting to these tastebuds!
Christina says:
Jun 26, 2012
I personally prefer the medium sweet variety, but if I had to have a dry one I wouldn’t say no either
Cristina says:
Jul 8, 2012
Fantastic post. I’m all about cultural experiences and touring an old rustic winery, learning how wine is made, its origin and culture behind it would be quite the experience. Thanks for introducing me to Madeira!
Christina says:
Aug 13, 2012
Thanks Cristina! The winery tour is something I stumbled upon around the corner from my hotel, so it was a nice surprise and a great way to start the afternoon…
Madeira is beautiful, it has so much to offer.
Waegook Tom says:
Aug 7, 2012
Ahh I LOVE dessert wine, even if it does get me fairly tipsy after just one glass. Madeira sounds like a magical little place, although I had no idea that the tourism scene there is so under-developed in terms of not having big resorts. That’s a good thing in my book, but I’d always assumed it would be choc full of massive resorts rather than cute little B&Bs and guesthouses as you mention here.
Also, I think it’s safe to say that the alcohol content of my blood just went up from looking at that photo of the wine cellar.
Christina says:
Aug 13, 2012
Haha, Tom, glad the Madeira wine made an impression on you
Yup, I was quite surprised about Madeira myself, starting from the booking process. The lack of flights and packages in general made me curious, and our suspicion was confirmed once we arrived – it’s less touristy than the Canary Islands, and less serviced by flights and tour operators. Makes for a great island to be on in the Atlantic!