Buckfast Tonic Wine

Buckfast is an internationally enjoyed, unique tasting tonic wine, equally rich in heritage as it is in taste. Buckfast’s enjoyment is only rivalled by its versatility.

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35cl flask

15% abv

75cl bottle

15% / 11.25 units

5cl miniature

15% abv

Buckfast Abbey

There are records of a monastic community existing in Buckfastleigh, Devon since the year 1018. It grew successfully until the year 1539, when the Abbey was dissolved.In France in the late nineteenth century, anti-clerical laws brought about severe attacks upon the Catholic Church. A group of Benedictine monks near Dijon were forced out of their Abbey, they fled France and went to Dublin. In the early 1880’s the French monks heard that the property of BuckfastAbbey was on the market and in 1882 they acquired it and moved to Devon. Buckfast Abbey was then completely rebuilt solely by the monks who lived and worked there. The work took 32 years and was finally completed in 1938.The monks at Buckfast Abbey made a living by producing liniments and medicines. In 1897, the nephew of a French monk visited the Abbey, bringing with him a recipe for Tonic Wine. And so began the tradition of winemaking at Buckfast Abbey, using the secret recipe which has stood the test of time. Buckfast Tonic Wine continues to be produced at Buckfast Abbey to this very day.Buckfast Abbey celebrated its millennium in 2018.

Buckfast Tonic Wine

In the early 1930s the monks were working hard at trying to sell their Tonic Wine. At this time however their recipe was more medicinal, and the severe licensing laws introduced after the war made it impossible for the monks to obtain a licence. It was at this point through a chance visit to the Abbey that a partnership was developed between the Abbey and wine merchants J Chandler & Company Ltd.

J Chandler & Co (Buckfast) ltd

J Chandler & Co Ltd was a London based wine merchant which Mr Robert Joyce acquired in the early 1920’s. It was during a holiday to the West Country that Robert Joyce and his daughter Gertrude Joyce visited Buckfast Abbey. The monks were selling off the last of the tonic wine stock; Robert Joyce asked why they wouldn’t be selling it any more. Once he was told about the problem of obtaining a licence he suggested that J Chandler & Co Ltd could sell it for them. Discussions began; after months of negotiations and the decision to reformulate the tonic wine away from its medicinal origins, they set up a separate company, J Chandler & Co (Buckfast) Ltd, and began selling the much improved Buckfast Tonic Wine.

Get in touch

We welcome enquiries and feedback. Please use this contact page to get in touch with us.

J.Chandler&Co(Buckfast)Ltd
New Abbey House
Fyfield Road,
Weyhill
Andover
SP11 8DN

+44 01264 774 700