Madeira Wine Tours & Tastings
Madeira is one of the world’s great fortified wines — nutty, tangy, almost indestructible, from bone-dry Sercial to lush Malmsey — tasted in the historic lodges of Funchal, alongside the island’s espetada, black scabbardfish and the sugarcane rum poncha. Compare the top-rated Madeira wine and food experiences below, then read our notes.
Madeira wine lodge tours and tastings in Funchal
Food and wine walking tours
Formats: wine lodge tours and tastings in Funchal (Blandy’s and the others); food-and-wine walking tours of the old town and the Mercado dos Lavradores; poncha and tavern crawls; day trips to vineyards and the levada country.
What you taste: Madeira across its four grapes — dry Sercial, off-dry Verdelho, rich Bual and sweet Malmsey — plus the island’s food: espetada, bolo do caco, black scabbardfish with banana, and poncha.
Price: roughly 20 to 40 dollars for a lodge tour and tasting; 45 to 70 for a food-and-wine walking tour.
The wine that survives anything
Madeira is made almost immortal by estufagem, a deliberate heating and long ageing that once happened by accident in the holds of ships crossing the tropics — which is why an open bottle keeps for months and old vintages still drink beautifully. Its four noble grapes run a scale from dry to sweet: Sercial (bone dry), Verdelho (off-dry), Bual (rich) and Malmsey, or Malvasia (lusciously sweet). The place to learn them is a lodge tour in Funchal, above all the historic Blandy’s Wine Lodge, where you can taste century-old vintages.
The food and the poncha
Pair the wine with the island’s cooking on a walking tour that takes in the Mercado dos Lavradores, Funchal’s market of tropical fruit, flowers and fish. The classics are espetada, beef skewered on a bay-laurel stick and grilled; black scabbardfish (espada) served with fried banana; and bolo do caco, the garlic-buttered flatbread. The island’s drink is poncha, sugarcane rum with honey and lemon, mixed with a wooden caralhinho in the old taverns.
How to do it
Funchal is compact, so lodge tastings and food-and-wine tours are all walkable in the old town; day trips add vineyard visits and the dramatic levada and mountain scenery. Madeira is a year-round destination with a mild climate; the wine harvest and its Funchal festival fall in late August and September. Book the walking tours ahead in high season.
Frequently asked questions
What kind of wine is Madeira?
A fortified wine, heated and long-aged so it lasts almost indefinitely, ranging from the bone-dry Sercial to the sweet Malmsey. Tasted in the Funchal lodges.
Which Madeira lodge should I visit?
Blandy’s Wine Lodge in Funchal is the historic one, with tours and tastings including very old vintages; others in town offer good-value tastings too.
What is poncha?
Madeira’s traditional drink: sugarcane rum (aguardente) mixed with honey and lemon, stirred with a wooden tool called a caralhinho in the island’s taverns.
How we choose
We list only experiences with a strong rating over a meaningful number of reviews and free cancellation where available, and we favour small-group and family-run hosts. FindEatLocal earns a commission when you book through GetYourGuide or Viator links on this page; it doesn’t change the price you pay. More about how we choose.