Tutored Wine Tasting

Tutored Wine Tasting MADEIRA Speaker: Eric LAGRE Sommelier Madeira Wine History 15 th Century In 1419, at the beginning of the age discovery, Portuguese João Conçalves Zarco, Tristão Vaz Teixeira and Bartolomeu Perestrelo found an island in the middle of the Atlantic which they named Madeira Island. King João I of Portugal ordered the island to be divided up into captaincies. The three Donee Captains received their respective share of the island from Infante D. Henrique (Henry the Navigator) then leased the land to the early settlers for development. The island was soon cultivated with wheat, sugarcane... and vines. The first colonisers were members of the Portuguese nobility who brought with them labourers and craftsmen from the north of Portugal to the island. Early on, European merchants would also settle in Madeira. Beyond the enticing privileges given to first settlers, what drove them was that they knew that the island had a strategic position on exploring routes to territories which could potentially become important export markets in a near future. The island was originally so densely forested (hence the name “Madeira”, which translates as “wood”) that large areas of woodland had to be burnt down to clear land for planting and grazing. The resulting high potash content is still considered a unique fertility factor in a soil otherwise made of decomposed volcanic rock. Terraces supported by stone walls called poios were constructed to allow cultivation on steep slopes, while, up to 1461, the core of the system of water channels called lavadas was built in order to collect water from the higher regions and transport it throughout the island, thereby providing water for crops and drinking. Sugarcane was the main focus of the island’s agricultural activity. Cane sugar was first exported to the domestic Portuguese market, the Gulf of Guinea and Africa. But from 1466, it started breaking into the Mediterranean and North European markets thereby establishing the sugar industry as the driving force of the Madeiran economy. Although it remains impossible to pinpoint the exact time when the first vines were planted, it is thought that they were brought early on by the first settlers from the Minho in northern Portugal. What grape varieties were first planted? It is also hard to tell. However, historical records by the Venetian navigator Alvise da Mosto, known as Luís de Cadamosto, which date back to around 1450, state that “[...] of the various vine varieties, Infante D. Henrique ordered that land should be planted with Malmsey brought from Candia (the capital of Crete), and these vines (Malvasia Cândida) are growing very well [...]”. The navigator also praises the quality of the wines exported from the island, and goes as far as saying that “Madeira wines are the most beautiful wines in the world”. These precious documents show that as early as only 25 years after the first settlements established themselves on the island, the export of Madeira wines had already begun. But it is the discovery of America by Christopher Columbus in 1492 that proved out to be a real landmark in the history of the Madeiran wine industry, marking the starting point of intensive vine cultivation and wine exportation. The story goes that, at the end of the 15 th century, the Duke of Clarence was drowned into a butt of Malmsey, as echoed in Richard III , the play by William Shakespeare, just over a century later. The event became material of legend, so did Madeira wines. Georges Plantagenet, first Duke of Clarence, was the third son of Richard Plantagenet and Cecily Neville, and the brother of kings Edward IV and Richard III. He played an important role in the “Wars of the Roses”, a series of dynastic civil wars for the throne of England fought from 1455 to 1485 between supporters of two rival branches of the royal House of Plantagenet: the House of Lancaster symbolised by the “red rose” and the House of York symbolised by the “white rose”. The final victory went to the relatively remote Lancastrian claimant, Henry Tudor, who defeated the last king of the House of York, Richard III, and married Edward IV’s daughter, Elizabeth of York, to unite the two houses once and for all (hence the bicoloured rose as the symbol of the House of Tudor which subsequently ruled England and Wales for 117 years). The Duke of Clarence had made the mistake of plotting against his brother Edward IV. He was arrested, imprisoned in the Tower of London then put on trial for treason. He was convicted and “privately executed” on 18 February 1478. An exhumed body believed to be that of the Duke of Clarence showed no sign of beheading, the traditional method of execution for people of noble birth in those days. This makes Georges’ drowning into Malmsey a possibility, though the story is more likely to be a joke, a way of making fun of the Duke’s renowned heavy drinking. Another possibility is that his remains might have been sent to the abbey in an empty barrel of Malmsey, the same way as the remains of Lord Nelson were brought back home in a barrel of Brandy. 16 th Century: In 1508, Funchal acquired the status of a city as the island was starting to flourish, its trade to intensify and its population to increase. But the sugarcane industry as the driving force of the island’s economy was doomed. At the beginning of the century, it was becoming difficult to find labour forces to harvest and process the overproduction of sugarcane. Eventually, by the end of the century, the competition of Brazilian sugar, far less expensive, forced farmers to convert their plantations into vineyards. It is in the middle of that shift in trade that Simão Acciaioly settled on the island, having brought along with him the Malvasia Babosa vine variety. Many visitors, such as Venetian Giulio Landi and Italian Pompeo Arditique would mention Malmsey in their diaries. According to Giulio Landi “the whole island produces great quantities of excellent wines, very similar to Candia Malmsey”. There is much speculation as to whether these wines were sweet or dry, but one thing is for certain, they were not fortified. Most of all, they were famously delicious, to the point that, in Henry IV , William Shakespeare has John Falstaff sell his soul to the devil in exchange of a chicken leg together with a goblet of Malmsey. 17 th Century: The seventeenth century saw wine production boom and wine exports treble. Although the major exporters were foreigners, the British influence in the sector will only become predominant with the development of colonial markets in America round the middle of the century. The development of the markets of North America and the Indies, now supplanting Brazil as the major markets for Madeira wines, put British merchants in a position of influence hence trading concessions were granted to them and their number increased. This is how the British-dominated triangular commerce came into being. The multiplication of trade routes induced tremendous growth for the Madeiran wine industry and contributed to the wider availability of Madeira wines, now endowed with fame and prestigious reputation. In the second half of the 17 th century, ships en route to India, including many of the Dutch East India Company fleet, called regularly in Funchal, the capital city of the island, to pick up cargos of pipes . It was soon found that, somehow, Madeira wines tasted better after some time spent in the heat of the hull of a ship, pitching and rolling across the tropics. With this discovery came a fashion for Vinho da Roda . These Round Trip Wines were preferred to the wines traditionally matured in cask in the coolness of a cellar on the island. Wine would be sent to the colonies overseas, but instead of trading it for local goods, it would be kept in the holds of the ships to be returned from the Indies back to the European target market with enhanced quality and added value. This way, there was more money to be made, for Vinho da Roda was very sought after and sold at a very high price. 18 th entury: The 1703 Methuen Treaty between England and Portugal, which came about as war with France prevented merchants from importing French wines to England, opened the British market to Portuguese wines. One third less tax would be paid at English customs for Portuguese wines than for wines of other origins. In return, English textiles imported into Portugal would pay no duty at all. Port wines would benefit most from that arrangement, for it was to the Indies and North America that the bulk of Madeira was exported. But the treaty reinforced the privileged position of British merchants in Madeira regardless of how little wine was exported to continental Europe. The bond between the Madeiran wine industry and the North American market is very tight. Today, having survived prohibition, the Madeira Club of Savannah continues to meet regularly over a quarter of a millennium after the first pipes of Madeira wine were landed on the coast of Georgia. It is with a glass of Madeira wine that George Washington toasted the Declaration of Independence on 4 th July 1776. Madeira wine would feature in pride place on the most refined tables of Europe, equally appreciated by Kings, Emperors and Statesmen, but Madeira was especially favoured by the Founding Fathers of America, notably Thomas Jefferson. By the end of the 18 th century, the newly independent America was buying a quarter of all the wines produced on the island.

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