The Everlasting Sweet Delight of Madeira Wines

Madeira is an island in the Atlantic that belongs to Portugal. The island itself is a horrendously difficult place to grow grapes with poor soil and very steep topography. Trellised vines are planted on terraces, called poios, which are carved into the rock ranging from sea level up to over 3000 feet. The best vineyard sites have a Southern exposure.

Early 1400’s - Portuguese discover a wooded island off the coast of Northern Africa. Madeira means wooded in Portuguese. In the 1500’s, the main port on Madeira is used as a way station on the trek to the Americas or around Africa to Asia. Wine is sold to these shipping expeditions which happen to better as the boats sail around the world.

By dumb luck taking these simple wines and exposing them to heat and many other disturbances people go to great lengths to avoid with their regular wines turns these into caramelized goodness. Consumers like the way these wines taste, so farmers on Madeira start purposely heating their wines, estufagem, to replicate that twice around the world on a boat flavor.

Similar to Port, Madeira is a fortified wine made in a variety of styles. I’ll let you research the various styles and grapes used on your own, but what’s amazing about Madeira is its ability to age for what seems like forever and its ability to last once opened.