In Funchal - what/where to buy?

[Yuri A.]

Hi everyone,

So at the moment I am on holiday in Funchal - beautiful place but I am here mainly for the wine
I am originally from UK, and choice there is very poor and it is quite expensive. I love madeira and drink it for a few years now but mostly the same entry level stuff - 3-5 year old Blandy's from supermarkets. The best one I've tried was 10 year old malmsey and 2006 single harvest and I thought those were outstanding.

But anyway, the choice here on the island is amazing, and I came with pretty much empty bag (together with my girlfriend), so I really wanna use this opportunity to stock up! The limit is something like 10 litres per person so I can purchase quite a lot but I could really use advice on the range I should go for.

I know that a lot of you guys have been there and any help would be greatly appreciated.
I want to get a few bottles for special occasions (maybe some 20 year old+ stuff), and a lot of bottles of something good that you can drink, say, every weekend. I really like sweet/medium sweet and not so much on the dry styles, but still I would like to have variety.

Thanks so much in advance to anyone who could suggest some ideas!

P.S. man, they offer a free drink of madeira in just about any place you go to, including supermarkets, i love this place

[Eric Ifune]

The Borges 15 year old Malmsey is just outstanding and a fabulous bargin. I really like all their wines. Definitely go to Borges.
Special occasion wines, D'Oliveiras. Their 1968 Bual is one of the best post WWII wines, IMHO.

[Yuri A.]

Thank you Eric. Went to D'Oliveiras and Borges today and got the price lists. Will definitely buy several 15 y.o and couple of vintages from them.

Now if you were to stock up a lot of 10 y.o wines, would you go for Blandys, D'Oliveiras, H&H, Barbeitos, what would you go for?

[Moses Botbol]

Their 1968 Bual is one of the best post WWII wines, IMHO.

Haven't had the Borges, but everyone talks it up. I can say the '68 Bual is great stuff.

[Eric Ifune]

I like H & H 10 year olds.
I haven't had enough of Barbeito's 10 year olds, but would think they would be good.

[Roy Hersh]

Hi Yuri and welcome to !

As a Madeira lover who has gone all the way to the island to then try to carry back 10 year old bottlings that you can likely find in the UK at fairly similar pricing. If you filled a case, you might save 100 GBP over what you'd pay back home. I would imagine unless you have enough status with a particular airline, they will charge you for the luggage which cuts your savings further. That is why I usually recommend people purchase bottles that they could not find back home or will be offered some significant discount compared to the prices found back home. That usually is reserved for the Vintage Madeiras. Your mileage may vary. Just my .

[Justin A]

I agree with Roys post 100%. Buy something special. While "special" is a relative term, I certainly recommend picking up something that is not available in your homeland. A few bottles I encountered on the island that were noteworthy are:


Barbeitos Mae Manuela (although most likely available at your home)
1979 Borges Sercial
1922 D'Oliverias Boal
HH 20 year Terrantez
Any 19th century bottles you can find (D'Oliverias seems to be the only place for these)

Good luck, and happy hunting!

[Yuri A.]

Thank you for replies everyone!
Being a student, it is not quite affordable for me to go for very old vintages, but I think with your help I managed to assemble quite a decent lot to take back home. So far I got:

1968 bual from d'oliveiras
x2 Borges 15 y.o malvasia
x2 Borges 15 y.o bual
x2 Borges 1994 bual
H&H 20 y.o malvasia
H&H 2000 bual
one of each style 10 y.o d'oliveiras

Still got to pay a visit to Barbeito and H&H in Camara de Lobos, and will probably get some Blandy's at the airport.
You may be surprised how poor is the choice here in UK, the places in my town have only 3 year old Blandy's dukes, and online there aren't that many options and significantly higher price than here.

Thanks again everyone

P.S. Would you say it is more dependant on the age and the grape rather than the brand of madeira? The prices seem to vary so much, 15 y.o Borges is just 21 euro, while oliveiras is 30, and blandy's almost 40.

[Niklas J]

Hi Yuri,

You have most comitted importers on both Barbeito and d'Oliveiras in UK! Look Raymond Reynolds up for Barbeito and Bovey Wines for d'Oliveiras.

Best

Niklas