This is a young wine in Madeira terms. That means it is full of fruit, with bitter orange and ginger to balance the acidity. The wine is sweet, always cut with that acidity and with a burnt character in the background. It is ready to drink, although some bottle age will still make it even better. \n \n Producer Information \n Blandy’s Madeira was founded by John Blandy in 1811 and is well-known for producing quality Madeira, a fortified wine, from Portugal’s island of the same name, several hundred kilometers west 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 recent history of Madeira and that of Blandy’s are closely aligned, enjoying the growth associated with an island on a major sea lane in the 19th Century. However, by 1925, the export market for Madeira experienced an all time low, requiring wine companies to come together under the Madeira Wine Association. The Blandy family headed the 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 grape variety, and are categorized as either Vintage or Colheita dependant on wine character. 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 Madeira in 2002 with the introduction of “Blandy’s Alvada†– a blend of Malmsey and Bual. Blandy’s produces Madeira from all 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 (or "adega" in Madeira) grapes are tank fermented in stainless steel. Fermentation is stopped by the addition of neutral grape spirit 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 to around 18 or 19 percent alcohol by volume. The wines are then heated for months and sometimes years (a process known as "estufagem" – designed to mimic the original barrel storage under the hot roofs of Madeira houses). 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 moved for a second aging period in a cooler environment. Over this time the wines become oxidized, which imparts their characteristic flavors. 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.
