Blandy's : Bual Vintage 1994

Characteristics and Tasting Tips for the Blandy's Bual Vintage 1994

Tasting
Appearance
This Bual Vintage 1994 shows a golden amber colour with coppery highlights, a hue particularly characteristic of this grape variety, shaped by long ageing in cask.

Nose
The nose is intense and generous, driven by notes of sweet spices such as vanilla and cinnamon, together with toasted and candied dried fruits, toasted biscuit and fruit cake, evoking the patina of time.

Palate
The palate is beautifully balanced, round and full-bodied, with a perfectly controlled medium-sweet richness. The long, lingering finish recalls buttery biscuits and vanilla, the signature of an exceptionally accomplished ageing.

Food and Wine Pairings
This Bual Vintage 1994 is ideally paired with desserts rich in dried fruits, caramel or spices, such as fruit cake, walnut tart or vanilla custard. It also pairs very well with aged hard cheeses, whose nutty and dried fruit aromas echo the richness of the wine.

A Rich, Spicy Madeira Wine, Expression of the Calheta Terroir by Blandy's Madeira

The Estate
Founded in 1811 by John Blandy and his brothers, Blandy's Madeira remains the only founding family of the Madeira wine trade that still owns and runs its original company. Based in Funchal, on the island of Madeira, the brand now manages around 10 hectares of vines spread across the Terras Madeirenses. The Blandy Group is currently chaired by Katrina Blandy Mayson, while Chris Blandy leads the holding company Blandy SGPS as CEO. More than two centuries after its creation, Blandy's continues to uphold a unique family savoir-faire, combining winemaking tradition with an uncompromising commitment to quality.

The Vineyard
The grapes for this Bual Vintage 1994 come from the Calheta region, on the south coast of the island of Madeira, where the vines are trained on trellises. The vineyard rests on varied volcanic soils derived from basalt, trachyte, tuff, scoria and conglomerates, which give the grapes a distinctive minerality. The harvest is carried out by hand, in several passes, in order to select the bunches at their optimal stage of ripeness.

Winemaking and Ageing
The Bual Vintage 1994 is crafted using the traditional canteiro method, a slow ageing process in oak casks kept at ambient temperature rather than in artificially heated cellars. This extended time in wood, overseen by winemaker Francisco Albuquerque, encourages gentle oxidation and a gradual concentration of aromas. After more than three decades of maturation, this Portuguese wine was bottled in 2025, revealing all the complexity acquired over time.

Grape Variety
This wine is made from Bual, an emblematic grape variety of Madeira, renowned for its ability to produce rich, spicy wines with exceptional ageing potential.