Madeira 101
Madeira came about quite by accident. It began in the 1600’s - wine often spoiled over long voyages by sea and needed to be fortified (by adding a little brandy) to survive the long trip. At the time, the island of Madeira ( which is part of Portugal) was key port for voyages to the Americas and the East Indies. The casks of Madeira wine would be heated onboard the ships and cooled as the ships passed through the tropics. Shippers noticed how the wine’s flavor deepened and became better and called this sea-aging. That’s how the process of making Madeira came to be, called “Madeirisation” meaning aged under extreme heat. Madeira is a subtropical island located 500km off the coast of Morocco, with rich volcanic soils, super steep slopes which can only be harvested by hand. To irrigate water was historically captured from the highest parts of the island (around 1800m) and channeled through the man-made canals called “levadas” – many of which date back to the 16th century.
Interesting Fact: Did you know that Madeira was poured during Thomas Jefferson’s toast at the signing of the Declaration of Independence in 1776, or that it was savored at the inauguration of George Washington shortly thereafter?
Madeira is a fortified wine made in a range of styles from dry to sweet. It’s sold as either Extra Dry, Dry, Medium Dry, Medium Sweet or Sweet, all of which are marked by their high levels of acidity. Often times there is an overlap of categories of sweetness by producers. There are 6 noble allowed varietals for high quality Madeira - Sercial, Verdelho, Boal, Malvasia, Terrantez and Tina Negra. Varietal Madeira represents the highest quality Madeira wine, perfect for aperitifs or dessert wines. These wines are made as both non-vintage blends and single vintage wines that can age for centuries due to Madeira’s unique winemaking process. Further Madeira categories are Madeira with Age Indicator, Standard Blends, Rainwater, Frasqueira and Colheita.
The Maderisation is what creates this unique style of wine through heat and oxidation. It develops the brown color, high acid, tertiary flavors. There are 2 forms of maturation of Madeira - canteiro and estufagem. Estufagem heats the wines quickly in large stainless steel tanks for a minimum of 3 months, then are quickly cooled and oxidized for a period of 6-12 months.. Canteiro is a longer ageing process for higher quality wines. The wines are in large old oak barrels (400-700L) with little headspace, left in a warm warehouse exposed to the sun and heat. The high humidity helps raise the alcohol %, concentrates the sugars, acids and aromas in the wines. You will find younger wines in the warmest areas and then moved to cooler areas for longer, slower ageing. Blending happens after the ageing and usually are non-vintage because they blend different vintages, vineyard locations etc to ensure consistency in the product.
Flavors of Madeira will range by style but the key flavors are Caramel, Walnut Oil, Peach, Hazelnut, Orange Peel, and Burnt Sugar.
Pair with sheep’s milk cheeses, hard and crumbly cheeses such as Aged Cheddar, foie gras, chicken with cream sauce, chestnut soup, beef Wellington. The high acidity makes it such a great food pairing for any rich sauces, cheeses or high fat dishes - it cuts right through the richness.
