Madeira

The small island of Madeira has been producing and exporting its wines since shortly after its discovery by the Portuguese in 1419. The production of madeira came about by accident when a ship full of wine endured a rough passage with the wine being tossed and thrown about causing the wine to condense, vaporize and aerate. This coupled with the days of heat endured while crossing the equator produced a wine similar to modern day Madeira. The sailors were instructed to dispose of the wine, however never ones to waste a drink, the sailors drank this thought to be ruined wine and realised it was actually pretty delicious. In 1776 madeira became very popular in the US mostly thanks to Thomas Jefferson who wrote lengthy, praiseworthy treaties on Madeira. However, between the 1850 -70s: phylloxera nearly wiped out the wine industry before US vines species were planted in 1870s.

Land ownership is very fragmented and of the producers only H&H owns vineyards. Very mountainous, viticulture only possible on very steep & often terraced slopes on the North & South coasts. Mechanisation is virtually impossible. Irrigation channels (levadas) leading from mountains support the warmer, drier coastal areas. Traditional method is pergola – associated issues with fungal disease mean the cordon VSP is the preferred method for new plantings – only on flatter terrain.

There are 4 noble varieties of Madeira, however they only account for 25% of plantings. The other hybrids planted in Madeira cannot be used in production of Madeira. In order of increasing sweetness, the noble grape varieties in Madeira are: Sercial: Planted in the north of the island, although there is some in the south at high altitudes. This produces dry wines with high acidity, clean mineral characters with hints of fruits and nuts. Verdelho: Planted in the north of the island at lower altitudes than Sercial. It is the most widely planted of the noble varieties. It produces aromatic medium-dry wines with marked acidity and hints of caramel. Boal: Planted in warm locations in the south of the island. It produces medium-sweet wines with nutty, vanilla characteristics and raisin and fruit notes while retaining high acidity. Malmsey: Planted in the south of the island with a small amount planted in the north at low altitude. This variety requires plenty of sun to ripen and produces the sweetest wines full of honey, raisin and caramel flavours. Tinta Negra (Red Variety): Accounts for majority of V.Vinifera plantings & planted all over the island. It can produce a range of sweetness unlike noble varieties, however, cannot be varietally labelled.

The wines have given their names to the technique of producing Madeira by using heat in the maturation process to render a wine practically indestructible. The different styles of Madeira are produced by following either the port or sherry systems. Sweet utilise the port method of adding grape spirit to halt the fermentation, while dry wines employ the Sherry method of allowing the yeasts to complete fermentation.

Sercial and Verdelho are fermented off the skins, while Boal and Malmsey undergo skin contact which in part accounts for the fuller styles. The maturation of a Madeira wine also impacts the style. Canteiros is where casks are left in lofts heated by the sun to temperatures greater than 30c, single varietal and vintage styles must age like this for at least 3 years. Estufa, comparatively, is where wines are pumped into stainless steel containers and heated for a minimum of 3 months at 45-50c, commercial styles must age like this for at least 2 years.

Wines with Age Identification: 3 Year Old/Finest: Estufa aged Tinta Negra, Labelled according to sweetness. 5 Year Old/Reserva: Mainly Tinta Negra, some labelled noble grapes & blends. 10 Year Old/Reserva Especial: Canteiro blends, varietally labelled. 15 Year Old/Reserva Extra: Canteiro blends, varietally labelled. Vintage Dated Wines: Wines produced from fractional blending. A suitable wine is Canteiro aged for 5 years then 10% of the wine can be bottled & volume replaced with a wine of similar quality. A maximum of 10 bottlings are permitted before all wine must be bottled each bottling must show the vintage of the original wine. Colheita/Harvest: min 5 years aged, tinta negra blend or varietally labelled. Frasquera/Vintage: Varietally labelled noble variety, aged for min 20 years.