Madeira Wine Company - São Francisco Wineries
In addition to an interesting exhibition area, the Saint Francis wine lodge and cellars, "The Old Blandy Wine Lodges," is also made up of a set of representative buildings from the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, including a few old warehouses, a small cobblestone street of rolling stone and the remains of an ancient chapel.
The Saint Francis Wine lodge and cellars are open to the public and are often the scene of a number of initiatives promoting Madeira Wine. This location has tasting rooms, warehouses and a shop, and is thus targeted towards the exposure of the history of Madeira wine, starting from the vineyard production process up until they are transformed into Madeira Wine in its various varieties; Sercial, Malvasia, Verdelho and Boal.
Many of the exhibits were collected from within the company and were used in wine production work, including documents such as order forms, labels, old bottles, etc.
The Madeira Wine Company was established in 1913 and incorporated several companies and independent producers. Among them are William Hinton, Welsh, Cunha & Co. Lda., Henriques & Camera, Cossart Gordon, Blandy, Leacock and Miles. The company played a crucial role in the promotion and internationalization of the image of Madeira wine, which has been famous since the sixteenth century.