© Madeira Islands Tourism – Marcial Fernandes MADEIRA PORTUGAL Ilha do Vinho “ISLAND OF WINE” BY JACK MARAFFI George Washington, flushed with pride, raised his glass to toast of the Republic. One speaker at the Constitutional Convention the new nation. It was July 4, l776 and the wine was a Madeira noted that this “wondrous affliction” was one of the few things Malmsley. Madeira was in high demand during the early years we shared with Great Britain. Tinta Negra Mole • Sercial • Verdlliho • Bual • Malmsey 154 155 Grapes of Madeira By the way, in addition to George Washington, account for virtually all of the wine produc- maturing. This technique called “estufado” and the United States from changing their we enjoyed the heavy hitters. Bual was rich the founding fathers also had a love affair with tion on the island. implants a deep caramel flavor to this day. drinking habits due to a lack of wine. and tasted of raisins. Along with the wine, Madeira, as recounted in Barbara Holland’s we tasted the unique honey cake which book The Joy of Drinking. In 1787, two days The driest Madeira wines are made from the The five grapes that produce Madeira are: The Maderia Wine Company’s 17-century office curiously enough is called Madeira cake. The before their work was done, the 55 delegates Sercial grape grown on high cool parts of the Tinta Negra Mole (most madeiras are made serves as a wine museum, as well. The building Malmsey wine we tasted was actually richer to the Constitutional Convention “adjourned island. The sweetest Madeiras are made from from this grape). Sercial, Verdelho, Bual and was originally built as an extension of a than the acccompanying cake. to a tavern for some rest” and according to the rich Malmsey grape which flourishes on Malmsey are less prolific but make wines with Franciscan monestary. It was acquired by the bill they drank 54 bottles of Madeira. We the lower-lying vineyards. greater structure and are usually reserved for the firm in 1840 and turned into an “adega” SERVING AND can only speculate who the teetotalers in the the older wines aged in oak casks for five years (winery). My wife Ann and I had the pleasure STORING MADEIRA group might have been. The harvest starts in mid-August and is com- or more The Tina Negra Mole grape takes on of tasting several old Madeiras at Blandy’s. No need to “lay down” Madeira as the wine is pleted by the middle of October when a wine the characteristics of the different varietals Oenologist Francisco Alberquerque explained aged almost entirely in cask. Once opened, © Madeira Wine Company festival takes place in Funchal, the capital depending upon the altitude where it is grown. the differences in the wine made from the five the wine can easily last for up to six months. of Madeira. The Portuguese pull out all the This makes it a perfect wine for blending. grape varieties and we got to taste Madeiras Decanting is also not necessary unless the There are a few unique characteristics in stops at this local bacchanal and if you can as far back as l958. wine has spent a long time in bottle. The the grapes that make up Madeira wines. Only coordinate your visit to be there at that time, The wine is first clarified with wine alcohol one exception is the legendary Frasqueira- the Tinta Negra Mole is a red wine grape. you will also see the recreation of a time- to control the fermentation and to retain the We started with the drier wines; the 1990 Vintage, which spends 20 years in cask and The other four varieties are all made from Sercial was sharp and reminded me of a another two in bottle and may develop some white wine grapes, and the wine is named fine amontillado sherry, but with a great big added “crust.” A tall thin, glass half-filled with for the grape, ranging from dry to very rich, B THE 1990 SERCIAL WAS SHARP secondary finish. We then tasted a new wine Madeira is all that is required. It allows the as below: ... called “Almeda,” which is one of the few wine’s bouquet to gather and fill your nose with blended wines; this one a combination of Bual the wonderful caramel essence. Drink after Tinta Negra Mole: Accounts for almost 60% AND REMINDED ME OF A FINE 1. and Malmsey. It is a great aperitif wine. Then dinner with a really rich chocolate something. of all grape production on the island. This AMONTILLADO SHERRY, BUT WITH grape takes on the flavors of the four other © Madeira Islands Tourism – DRTM varieties depending on altitude. It is primarily A GREATSercial BIG SECONDARY FINISH... a blending grape. honored tradition. In the relatively recent past natural sweetness of the grapes. The wine is 2. Sercial: Found at an altitude of 1,800 feet the grape pickers or “barrocheiros” carried heated to 40-50 degrees Celsius for about on the north side of the island at Camara de the juice on their shoulders in goat skins for three months. The newer wine is added to Lobos, this light-bodied, dry wine is fresh © Madeira Islands Tourism – Marcial Fernandes up to 40 miles. the older wine. No, you probably are not and invigorating as an aperitif. Madeira is a fortified wine found only on the drinking some of the same wine that George mountainous Atlantic island off the coast of HOW IS MADEIRA MADE? Washington drank, but often wines in the 3. Verdelho: This grape is suitable for harsher Portugal, an island about the size of Bermuda. The essential difference between Madeira cask go back 20 years. climatic conditions; grapes are picked in The wines can last up to 150 years. and other wine is that the wine is “cooked”. the middle of the harvest. With marginally During the 18th century, many of the ships A great place to see the history of Madeira and more body than Sercial, it is a tangy, medium Madeira wines go way back. Some contend that took on casks of the wine passed even taste some of the wines is at Blandy’s dry wine. that the origin of the grapes found there through the tropics. It was noticed that the Madeira Wine Company in downtown Funchal. are related to what was then called effects of the increased temperature on the John Blandy arrived on the island of Madeira 4. Bual: Grown on the north of the island at “Candy,” a sweet wine from the Candia casks of the fortified wine actually made the in l807 at the age of 23. He was posted there low altitudes, this is a medium to dark, full- Malvesia grape in Crete, which was a heavy wine last longer and imparted an attractive to help defend the island in case Napoleon bodied and fruity wine with a well-rounded favorite for trading by Phoenician and later mellow character. Today, large vats are kept attacked. He married and stayed and actually flavor and “smokey” complexity. Venetian sailors. More likely the original in the attic of Madeira wine producers where is credited with saving the Madeira wine plantings of the five major grape varieties the island sun creates similar conditions. industry when it was almost lost to a mildew 5. Malmsey: The earliest wine to be harvested, were done by Portuguese explorer Goncalves fungus that killed the grapes in 1852. Blandy this is the richest style of Madeira, full- Zarco when he discovered the island in 1419. Winemakers also found that the heating built up stocks of Madeira during those difficult bodied, and soft textured. Perfect for an To this day, those major grape varietals process was equal to two years of ordinary years and kept the customers on the continent after-dinner drink. 156 157.