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Madeira Wine
All Madeira has a nutty, deliberately oxidized and slightly caramelized quality from wood-ageing under the influence of heat. Madeira ranges in sweetness from just off-dry to seriously sweet. Very little is made nowadays of the traditional wines, named after their grape varieties and traditionally made each at its own individual level of sweetness. In rising order of sweetness, these are: Sercial, Terrantez, Verdelho, Boal and Malvasia. All these are white grapes. The red variety, Tinta Negra, is now made into all the sweetness levels, by the same heating/oxidative methods. It is still possible to buy extraordinary bottles of intensely-flavoured, really complex old wines made from the old white varieties.
Madeira wine undergoes fermentation off skins, in which the grapes are directly pressed. However, when the wine is going to age for several years in wood, some companies prefer to use fermentation on skins.
Most wines are aged through a heating process that tries to reproduce the overheating Madeira wines underwent during maritime trade. The wine is placed in heated rooms, where it is subject to temperatures around 50º for a few months. Another method is to submit the wine to heat produced through hot water circulation.
Another option is the "canteiro method", an ageing process in which brandy is added to the wine right after fermentation, being later aged in wood tanks. The wine will only be bottled after the third year of ageing. Wines thus produced are usually kept in wood for many years until they are bottled and commercialised.
Source: Infovini and Wines of Portugal
Image: Instituto do Vinho e do Bordado da Madeira
There are essentially four great mono-varietal Madeira Wines.
Among the dry wines, the Sercial variety stands out. Light-coloured, full-bodied and fragrant, it is perfect as an aperitif. It goes well with olives, toasted almonds, caviar canapés, smoked salmon and appetisers with mayonnaise. It is equally subtle with smoked fish, shellfish, or sushi and delicate with fresh goat's or sheep's cheeses.
Verdelho heads the medium dry wines. Structured and golden in colour, it is also excellent as an aperitif. It goes perfectly with olives, toasted almonds and dried fruit and is a delight with consommé and cream creams. It is exuberant with cured ham or smoked game.
Boal semi-sweet, noble, velvety and dark golden is harmonious with fresh tropical fruits. The young Boal is perfect to accompany soft cheeses, and the aged Boal goes very well with mature cheese. Delicate with cheese soufflés, it is exotic with milk chocolate, pralines, petit-fours, cream cakes and honey cakes. Old Boal is a perfect pairing with pipe tobacco and cigars.
Madeira Malvasia is sweet, dark in colour, full-bodied, and aromatic, go well with fresh tropical fruits and dry fruits like walnuts and hazelnuts. It is graceful with dried fruit cakes and fruit tarts and honey cake, butter, dark or milk chocolate biscuits, pralines and petit-fours, and its elegance goes very well with Portuguese cheeses such as Serra, Serpa, Azeitão, Rabaçal and Ilha, and with blue cheeses such as Danish blue, Roquefort, Stilton or Gorgonzola.
The Tinta Negra variety is the most versatile grape. It produces dry, medium dry, medium sweet and sweet wines. This variety dates back to the 18th Century and has adapted well to the Island's conditions. It represents between 80 and 85% of Madeira wine products.
Source: Wines of Portugal and Instituto do Vinho e do Bordado da Madeira
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Indication of age
Selecionado
Wine that is at least three years old and less than five years old, with the kind of taste profile you would expect of a wine of that age
Rainwater
Wine of maximum five years, with the kind of taste profile you would expect of a wine of that age. The colour should be somewhere between gold and light gold, and the dry extract should be 1,0150 g/ml or less.
5 Anos, 5 Years or Reserva
Wine of minimum five and maximum ten years, with the kind of taste profile you would expect of a wine of that age. The label may bear the name of the grape variety.
10 Anos, 10 Years, Reserva Especial or Reserva Velha
Wine of between 10 and 15 years, with the kind of taste profile you would expect of a wine of that age. The label may bear the name of the grape variety.
15 Anos, 15 Years or Reserva Extra
Wine of between 15 and 20 years, with the kind of taste profile you would expect of a wine of that age. The label may bear the name of the grape variety.
20 Anos, 20 Years
Wine of between 20 and 30 years, with the kind of taste profile you would expect of a wine of that age. The label may bear the name of the grape variety.
30 Anos, 30 Years
Wine of between 30 and 40 years, with the kind of taste profile you would expect of a wine of that age. The label may bear the name of the grape variety.
Mais de 40 Anos, More than 40 Years
Wine of minimum 40 years, with the kind of taste profile you would expect of a wine of that age. The label may bear the name of the grape variety.
Ano de Colheita, Year of Harvest
Solera
Wine with distinctive characteristics, originally aged in the canteiro system for a minimum of five years. It then became part of a specific collection of casks (lote) from which a quantity not exceeding ten per cent (from each cask) is drawn off each year for bottling. The casks are topped up with wine of similar quality. This can be done up to ten times, after which all the wine can be bottled at once. Note, however, that the date on a bottle of Solera is always that of the original base wine.
Colheita
Blended from wines that must be at least 85% from the specified vintage and at least 85% from a single grape variety (all the grapes used must be on the list either of recommended or authorised grapes). It must be aged for a minimum of five years.
The label must indicate vintage and bottling date.
Frasqueira
Blended from wines that must be at least 85% from wines of the specified vintage in and from a single recommended grape variety or from a blend of recommended varieties as long as one of them constitutes 85% of the blend. The wine must have been aged for a minimum of 20 years in wooden casks. The label must indicate vintage and bottling date.
Source: Wines of Portugal