Blandy's 15yo Bual

Clear, amber color with a golden rim. Characteristic, complex, good intensity, strong bouquet of dried fruits (figs, prunes, almonds), wood and vanilla. Medium sweet, smooth, good balanced, long and exuberant aftertaste bodied and warm.

This varietal is quite vigorous and relatively easy to grow, only moderately susceptible to powdery mildew (Oidium) and botrytis bunch rot, and has a late budding, allowing it not be so exposed to the risk of spring frosts. Its bunches are large, and ripen early.

Maceration and auto-vinification techniques

Blandy’s Bual 15 Years Old is a blend of different wines which aged an average of 15 years in seasoned American oak casks at the Blandy’s Wine Lodge in Funchal. The ageing was done in the traditional ‘Canteiro’ system, whereby the wine is gradually transferred from the higher lodges’ attics, where the natural warmth of the sun contributes to the concentration of the wines, and temperatures are higher, to the middle floors, where temperatures are milder, and eventually, to the ground floor where temperatures are cooler. During this ageing, the wine underwent regular racking, and before finally being bottled, all wines are fined. All through the ageing process, the primary fruit flavors of the wine are gently transformed into tertiary dried fruit notes that produce Madeira unique hallmark bouquet.