Blandy’s bolsters large format Madeira

Blandy’s is hoping to entice consumers to Madeira using magnum and jeroboam formats, with its “indestructible” nature making it perfect for large formats, according to its CEO.

Chris Blandy, CEO of Blandy’s Madeira

Alongside a rebrand of its entire range, Blandy’s has introduced several new formats to its range, including a smaller 50cl bottle for its blended wines, and up to a magnum and double magnum for all of its vintage wines.

While Blandy’s has produced large bottle formats in the past, a change in the law in 2015 has spurred it to increase its offer. Blandy’s now bottles every vintage, which for Madeira wine must have spend at least 20 years in barrel, in magnum and jeroboam formats.

Speaking to the drinks business at the Fell’s portfolio tasting in London yesterday, Chris Blandy, CEO of Blandy’s, explained that because Madeira wine is “almost indestructible”, it is perfectly suited to larger formats.

“We could take this cork out and come back here in five to 10 years and the wine will taste the same”, he said. “It’s already oxidised. Madeira is great for the on-trade as you will never lose money, even in large formats. The trouble for producers is we want people to drink it, not keep it for years. Larger formats are about that. Larger formats make sense and are making a lot of head way in the on-trade. It works really well.”

However bottling in larger formats has not always been straight forward for Madeira producers.

“Before we couldn’t legally bottle a Madeira above 75cl unless we had written permission from the president of the Institute of Madeira Wine”, explained Blandy. “You can imagine the frustration when you want to be a bit more dynamic. In 2015 the legislation changed so that we could bottle anything up to a magnum without asking. Anything above that we still need permission. The day after the legislation changed we put three magnum bottles on display in our wine shop in the centre of the town.”

Blandy’s has also rebranded its range as part of a project that began in 2014, simplifying and freshening up its labels to shift focus to the “varietal and age of the wines”, said Blandy. A new range of 50cl bottles for its younger, blended wines has also been introduced.

“What we are doing is quite unique”, said Blandy. “The 50cl bottles give consumers a bit more and reduce the price point. The 50cl is important for that. We are doing a lot of the range in 50cl and some of the younger dates.”

While the UK is still its biggest export market, with its Duke of Clarence blend its most important product, there is still work to be done in communicating the qualities of Madeira wine to the public, says Blandy.

“We are constantly struggling as Madeira wine producers to overcome people’s perceptions of Madeira”, said Blandy. “People don’t know a lot about it. People think it’s a cooking wine. Supported by sommeliers and the press there now seems to be this positive energy toward Madeira wine and consumers are starting to catch onto it. It is increasing in the UK, and it’s increasing in value rather than volume, which is very positive.”