Quady Winery

Based in California's central valley, Quady Winery is the foremost American winery specializing entirely in dessert wine and is devoted to the exclusive production of some of California's greatest dessert wines and ports. Among the wines pioneered by Andrew Quady is an orange muscat, the acclained essensia. It is a deep, amber gold color, fragrant as orange blossoms and sweet as clover honey, with just enough spiciness and a good acid balance that it doesn't approach cloying. Elysium, a black muscat, has a very berry-like flavor and is the perfect match for a pear cheesecake.

Andrew and Laurel Quady wanted a change of scenery and a change of career. In 1971 they left Southern California and Andy's pyrothechnics job and headed north. Andy enrolled in the Amster's program at U.C. Davis, graduating in 1973 with a Master of Science in Food Science, specializing in Enology.

He went to work for a large winery in Lodi which later become Robert Mondavi's Woodbridge facility. After about two years, he moved to the Lodi Vintners. There, at the urging of his friend Darrell Corti, Andy made the first Quady port, from Amador County Zinfandel.

In 1976, Andy moved again, to United Vintners in Madera. He moonlighted making port in the winery behind his house. The turning point came in 1980 when an experiment with Orange Muscat (named because the grapes have an aroma reminiscent of orange blossoms) resulted in an extraordinary new wine with an amazing floral fruit character and suppleness. This was the famous Essensia, with which Andy launched Quady Winery in 1981.

Andrew Quady has been the pioneer in America behind California-grown port style and dessert wines since 1975. Quady works with traditional Portuguese varieties. Wine Spectator once noted about how much Bill Clinton likes Andrew Quady's dessert wines and always serves them at state dinners.

A California native with a strong interest in the environment, Michael Blaylock obtained an undergraduate degree in Wildlife Zoology from San Jose State University. Wishing to become involved in wildlife management he joined the Peace Corps in 1980.

Assigned to the Republic of the Philippines as a liaison between the government and artisanal fishermen, he helped administer a fishing equipment acquisition loan program funded by the World Bank. At about the same time, in an effort to develop new income generating jobs for the local fishermen, Mike established turkey raising and a wine production enterprises. Of the two, wine production proved to be much more successful.

After two years Mike left the Philippines and entered the graduate enology program at California State University Fresno where he received his Master of Science degree in Agricultural Chemistry with an emphasis in Enology.

In 1984 he joined the dessert wine specialist Andrew Quady at Quady Winery in Madera, California. As winemaker, Mike continues to produce the now legendary Essensia Orange Muscat and the rose-perfumed Elysium Black Muscat dessert wines as well as the new and exciting Electra. He is currently involved in the development and expansion of the estate Mission Bell and San Miguel Vineyards. The San Miguel Vineyard is devoted to the exclusive development of various Portuguese port varieties for the proprietary Quady Vintage Starboard and the Starboard Batch 88 ports.