Guide to Madeira Island - General Information

Any tourist travelling to Madeira island for the first time will notice some differences to the rest of the world: the wine (of course), the flowers, the food, the way of driving, and so on. Most differences are pleasant and there is only a very small number of things about Madeira island that strike me as negative, the permanent building of new tourist facilities resulting in the destruction of vineyards being one.

Any tourist visiting Madeira island can find general information in the links below. As with any link on this website, I have no commercial connections or interest with these links, nor do I take any responsibility for these links or their contents whatsoever.

A good website with lots of information is the Strawberry World website:

http://www.madeira-web.com/PagesUK/island-uk.html

A free travel guide for downloading, available in many languages can be found at the Arrival Guides website:

http://www.arrivalguides.com/GuidesFastcheck.aspx?partner=fastcheck&group=CITY&flag=en

Basic information in a compact layout can also be found at the Wordtravels website:

http://www.wordtravels.com/Cities/Portugal/Madeira/Basics

Many links related to the island of Madeira, edited by a german travel agent, mostly in german, some in english:

http://www.reiselinks.de/madeira.html

The website of the Direcção Regional do Turismo the Madeira Tourist Board can be found at:

[Depricated: http://www.madeiratourism.com/pls/madeira/wsmwhom0.home?p_lingua=en&p_sub=1]

They offer a good general map of Madeira island for downloading (3 Meg, pdf-format) as well as some brochures, especially a Madeira and Porto Santo Guide.

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Funchal Winewalk

This walk features all the important wine locations of downtown Funchal. This means that Silva Vinhos, Henriques & Henriques and Justino Henriques are not in the walk, since they are located outside the city. The walk can be done in both directions and requires about 90 minutes pure walking time, tasting and sightseeing not included. Take a backpack with you to transport the wine, that you will inevitably buy on this walk. You start at the market hall. All city busses stop two roads to the south, so it should be easy to get to the market, even when your hotel is outside Funchal.

 

Inside the market you will find lots of fruit, fish and wine.

 

 

At least once you have to go inside before 11 o’clock to get into the atmosphere of the market. Take a look at the fish market in the back part of the market hall too. Especially the espada fish and the big slices of tuna are very impressive.

 

Standing in front of the Mercado, we cross the Rua Brigadeiro Oudinot and the Rua do Visconde do Anadia, which frame a small river the Riba de Joao Gomes. Then we walk up the hill on the western side of the Rua do Visconde do Anadia, passing the Anadia Shopping Center. With number 33 you can find the white building of Patricio & Gouveia Sucrs, where embroidery is produced. In the cellar you can also taste Madeira wine (of course!), and buy porcelain and azulejos. In 2003 the company also offered (after some talking about Madeira wine) a thirty year old wine from the family of the owners, said to be matured in the huge casks that can be found in the basement of the building. These bottles do not bear any IVM seal. I wonder if the IVM knows about this…

 

We continue up the hill and turn left into the Rua do Carmo that takes a downhill turn. After a few seconds you will see a site with the number 86 on the left side. A shabby house used to be here were Vinhos Justino Henriques Filhos used to produce Madeira wine, before they moved the entire company to the industrial park Cancela close to Canico. It's easy to imagine how bad conditions must have been here. The house had been demolished and a new building was being constructed in 2005/2006.

 

The Rua do Carmo continues downhill and meets the Rua Dr. Ferao Ornelas and then the Rua 31 de Janeiro at right angles. Together with the Rua 5 de Outobro another small river, Riba de Santa Luzia, is framed by these two streets. We turn right and walk up the hill again on the Rua 31 de Janeiro. Across the river we can see a castle-like building, the Instituto do Vinho da Madeira.

 

Just before the next junction you will find the building of H. M. Borges Sucrs. on the right side. In this old mill the wine processing, the maturation the bottling, labeling and export is done. In the tasting room you can sip from the blends and buy them. If you are interested in old vintages or soleras you will have to ask for them. Even when it is very hot outside, the room inside is refreshingly cool and you can catch your breath here for a few minutes.

 

Next stop is the Instituto do Vinho da Madeira, that we saw on our way up. We cross the river and walk the Rua 5 de Outobro down just a short distance, where we find the entrance to the Instituto. In the building you can find the museum with an interesting display of old photographs about Madeira wine. Sometimes they even have wine to taste. Some companies use the storing capacities of the Instituto when their own are used up.

 

Up the hill again on the Rua 5 de Outobro, crossing the Rua de Bom Jesus until the next bridge over the river. Turn left and you can see the building of the Adegas de Torreao across the street. In autumn 2003 the building was closed. After the owner Vasco Lojas had died, none of the descendants wanted to take over the business. So in 2006 D'Oliveiras bought the remaining stock of old Madeira wines, amongst them the 1927 Bastardo wine.

 

Left to the Adegas you can see the entry to the Merces-Lodge of the Madeira wine Company, easy to read on the big brass plate. The MWC stores some of its wines here that couldn't find a place in the Sao Francisco Lodges.

 

We turn and enter the Rua dos Ferreiros, leading down the hill, parallel to the Rua 5 de Outobro that we walked up just a few minutes ago. First we pass the house number 188, located on the left side. This is the old building of the Companhia Vinicola da Madeira. In 2003 only the front wall had remained, the back of the property being used as a parking lot. We then pass the house number 115, located on the right side. This is where the shop of Casa dos Vinhos, associated with Henriques & Henriques used to be, before the company moved to Camara de lobos.

 

Downhill you will find Artur de Barros e Sousa and Pereira D'Oliveira. Visit Barros e Sousa first, not because this company is better, but because you will experience a kind of time travel by doing so. Walking though the door bearing the number 109 you enter the past of Madeira wine production. To the right you see the inner courtyard with its vines and the three-story building where the wines are matured. Artur or Edmundo Olim will give you a sightseeing tour you are unlikely to forget. Everything is done by hand here, and the smell from the old casks is overwhelming and makes you thirsty for a tasting and buying. After that you will be glad for the shade of the vines in the inner courtyard.

 

Just one building to the left Pereira D'Oliveira is located. Here you find the modern face of Madeira wine with a huge tasting room where you can also buy blends and vintages. Pereira D'Oliveira and Barros e Sousa also send wine by mail.

 

We continue down the Rua dos Ferreiros, until reaching the Praca do Municipio with its black and white cobblestones.

 

We turn right and follow the Rua C. Pestana. The third Road to the left is the Avenida Zarco. We walk down this road and meat the Avenida Arriaga at cross angles where we turn right again. In the middle of the Avenida you can find many benches where you can sit in the shade, if the traffic is not too heavy.

 

A few steps on, you will find the tourist information on the right side. The entry to the old Blandy wine lodge is next. Enter and ascend the stairs and you find yourself in the heart of the Madeira Wine Company. To the right there is a shop where you can buy souvenirs, to the left you reach another inner courtyard with the Max Romer tasting room and the Frasqueira vintage room. Further on to the right you will find the Arcadas de Sao Francisco with may shops. Twice a day you can join a very interesting sightseeing tour through the building. In the tasting room there is free tasting of the blends, in the vintage room you can taste old vintages against a fee and buy them. Walking back to the Avenida Arriaga again, you will find another shop just left to the entry when standing in front of the building.

 

The tourists with stamina can keep on walking the Avenida in western direction to the Parque de Cristovao Colombo. The street is now called Avenida do Infante, and if you keep on walking it changes names again into the Estrada Monumental.

 

Follow this road and after 15 minutes you will reach Vinhos Barbeito on the left side, just after you passed the famous Reid's hotel. The low building with the huge chimney hosts the estufas, bottling lines and tasting rooms as well as the sales department. If the walk back seems to long, have a break at the Reid's for the five o'clock tea. Be advised though, that you will not be allowed on the terrace with blue jeans.

 

At the western end of the Avenida there is a traffic cycle. To the hill you will find Diogo's Wineshop in the house with the number 48. The shop is an outlet for Vinhos Barbeito but is also well assorted in other wines such as Port wine. The shop also contains the Museu Cristovao Colombo and a private book collection about Madeira wine. We walk back the Avenida on the southern side, the one closer to the harbor and turn right at the first corner into the Rua do Conselheiro Jose Silvestre Ribeiro, leading down to the Avenida do Mar.

 

On the left side, just at the corner to the Avenida do Mar you will find the Casa do Turista, house number 2. This shop is not only a shop, but also a museum. You can look at and buy embroidery, porcelain, wicker works and wine, bottled by Justino Henriques Vinhos. Sometimes they even have old vintage Madeiras from private island sources for sale.

 

Down at the Avenida do Mar there are many bus stops in front of the Palacio de Sao Lourenco with busses in all major directions. You can also take a walk on the shore back to the Mercado where we started the walk. In the Mercado there is another wineshop called Garrafeira. If you prefer a rest, just buy a few sweet chestnuts or a Bolo de Caco with garlic butter or sit down in one of the cafes. This is where our walk ends.

 

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Trip to Monte

This suggestion is for a round trip to Monte that takes about three hours. Please look up your printed travel guide for details. First you take the cable car (Teleferico) from east of the Museu de Electricidade up to Monte. This only takes a few minutes.

 

 

When you get there you take a walk in the Monte Palace Tropical Gardens. After that you go up to the Monte Church (Nossa Senhora da Monte) and then to the Largo da Fonte with the spring in the Capelina do Monte.

 

 

Then you go back to the street just below the Monte Church’s steps where the toboggan rides start in front of the old entrance of the Grande Hotel Belmonte.

 

 

The ride down to Funchal is really exiting and was 10 Euros per person in 2003.

 

After the exitement of that trip you are ready for dinner. Try to get it in an authentic restaurant. Especially outside Funchal or in the Zona Velha you can find a lot of places where you hardly find any tourists, and this is where I would suggest you go.

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Vineyard Tours

Tour to the Faja dos Padres.

The Fajã dos Padres is/was certainly the most famous vineyard of Madeira island and is mentioned as far back as the 15th century. For 150 years the Jesuits had posession of it and the malvasia wine produced here was said to be the finest of all Madeira wines. The Fajã is a small stripe of land, at the bottom of a cliff, a little west to the Cabo Girão and approximately 300 meters/900 feet high. It is located at the southern coast of Madeira and faces directly to the south. The cliff represents a giant barrier to the north and also reflects the sun down to the Faja. So the micoclimate of the Fajã is unique.

Until 1998 you could only reach the Fajã by boat, landing at the rocky beach. There have always been some steep and narrow paths down the cliff, but these were dangerous and not suited for tourists. But then a panoramic lift has been installed, crossing the distance of 250 meters/800 feet, so today the access is easy and quite spectacular. Also a site for helicopters has been installed and of course the maritime access is still available. In fact many travel agencies offer boat trips to the Fajã.

For many years only bananas had been grown at the Fajã, but vines of the malvasia candida variety have been replanted in the beginning of the 1980ies. Now some wines are already maturing in cask, among them a malvasia candida from 1998/1999. Those Madeira wine afficionados who ever had the chance of tasting an old wine from the Fajã know how deserved the reputation of the Fajã was. It can only be hoped, that the wines from the Fajã one fine day will reach that glorious quality again, even though I'm afraid I will not live long enough for that. Mangoes, avocado, banana, grapes and passion fruit are grown here as well, taking advantage of the perfect agricultural conditions.

The Fajã dos Padres is about 10km west from Funchal, and less than 6 km from Ribeira Brava. The access to the Fajã is done via road Padre António Dinis Henriques. Follow VR1 and exit at Km 6, on exit number 3 indicating Cabo Girão/Quinta Grande. Then turn left, keep heading south and go straight ahead until the end of road Padre António Dinis Henriques. The operating time of the lift is every day in summer, except tuesday, from 11:00 to 19:00. The lift is closed from January 10th to March 1st. In the remaining time of the year the lift is operated every day except tuesday, from 11:00 to 18:00. The cost for a round trip was 8,- Euros in 2006, children under the age of 11 years have free access, as well as guests staying at the Fajã dos Padres. The access to the lift is done through stairs and there are no other ways of getting there for physically disabled people. Only hand luggage is allowed and pets are forbidden at the Fajã.

The Fajã dos Padres hosts a restaurant and four guest houses: the Sailor House or Casa do Marinheiro, the Boat House or Casa do Barco and the houses of José Soldado or Casas do José Soldado. Each house is designed to host a maximum of 4 people. Breakfast is optional and a barbecue facility is available for guests in the Boat House and in the Sailor House

Even if you only visit the Fajã for a day trip, you should take a walk in the orchards and vineyards and later stop at the restaurant for a glass of the local Malmsey wine. They also offer some table wine and to taste this “jaqué” wine (from the Jacquez grape) is interesting too. The Jacquez is a red grape, an interspecies hybrid of an American Vitis aestivalis and an unknown European Vitis vinifera, most probably developed by natural selction in the Texas area in the early 19th century, exported to and cultivated in Europe after phylloxera, most widely cultivated in Portugal and Madeira island, and finally banned since the 1980ies. Synonyms are countless, amongst others these are Lenoir (esp. in Texas), Alabama, Black El Paso, Black Spanish (not to be confused with Long Black Spanish) and Sherry of the south (I love that one).

Visits to the wine cellar of the Fajã should be reserved in advance, for a minimum number of 5 participants. Some Madeira wines of local origin are matured in casks here in a small canteiro room. Tasting of the wines is possible but unfortunately they will take some more decades to reach their full potential.

The Faja has its own website at http://www.fajadospadres.com and reservations can be made through this website.

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Drinks and Food

Sopa de Tomate e Cebola

If its really authentic, you will get an empty plate of soup. Then the waiter comes with an old steaming cooking pot and gives you a huge amount of a very tasty tomato soup with lots of onions and a poached egg in it.

Acorda

This is a bread-soup, made of medium-sized pieces of bread, poached egg, savory and garlic. Then hot water is poured over it - simple, quick and delicious!

Espada

The espada fish comes in many different preparations, but the classic is espada with banana. The flesh of the fish is soft, white and very little "fishy", so even people who do not like fish can eat this one quite well. Espadas are cought around Madeira island with long fishing rods, going as deep as 800 meters/3000feet. In its deep sea environment this fish is very colourful, but due to the decompression when brought to the surface the fish turns all black. For an impressive sight of this and other fishes visit the fishmarket in the back part of the market hall. Go there early and see gigantic tunas carried by two men, espadas (black scabbard) with razor sharp needle-teeth, potas (squid), bacalhau (codfish) and others.

 

 

Espetada

Chunks of beef, rubbed with salt and garlic, traditionally put on a laurel stick, but today skewered onto a long metal stick are grilled over an open fire. Then the stick is hung above your plate and you eat the chunks of beef one by one, after working them down onto your plate.

Picado

Small pieces of beef are fried in a large pan, together with garlic and red peppers. The beef is put on a big plate and french fries are added around the beef. Sometimes the beef stays in the pan and the french fries are put into the pan. Anyway, the plate or the pan is served to the middle of the table and everybody around the table eats from the same big plate or pan, picking (=picar > picado) the food with a small wooden stick.

Bolo de Mel

This sweet honey and spice cake is traditionally made at the 8th of december, the day of Mary's immaculate conception. It is said that only when you bake it exactly at this day, the cake will be good for christmas. The baking is a family event, usually a larger number of cakes are made, in order to have some more throughout the year. The cake is tightly wrapped in cellophane and put in boxes or cans. If you do this right, the cake will remain in good condition just until christmas next year. The eating of this cake is also a family event and the cake is not cut with a knive but broken into pieces and eaten by hand.

Bolo de Caco

This is a small warm bread with lots of garlic butter on it. During the hot months you will often see people making these at points of tourist interest, like at the Funchal harbour. I remember watching a family selling freshly baked Bolo de Caco at this place. First they made lots of dough in a baby bathing tub. Then the two kids started forming dough balls the size of their fists while the granny started the fire. In the end the whole family was baking, cutting, spreading the home made garlic butter and selling about 400 Bolos in about two hours. The smell of the freshly baked Caco and the melting garlic butter was overwhelming…

Queijadas

Qeuijadas are small sweet cakes made with cottage cheese, very tasty and quite satisfying too.

Coral Beer

I find this a good Pilsen-type beer which goes very well with one or two Cacos and a Sopa de Tomate e Cebola. Sipping from your cold Coral watching the ships in the Funchal harbor is very relaxing.

 

Madeira Table Wine

Since there were no real table wines besides the Atlantis wines of the MWC, tourists often drank wines from the portuguese mainland instead. This resulted in the anual import of 6.000.000 litres of table wine. So a new regulation was passed in 1999 and 2002 creating a Madeira VQPRD region. Since then a number of companies have started with the production of table wine. The following list is from the official IVM website at http://www.sra.pt/ivm/default.asp

Florinda Gomes Araújo

The commercial brand of this producer is known as “Casa da Vinha”, being a VQPRD white Madeira Wine. The grapes produced are mainly Verdelho, from the area of Estreito de Câmara de Lobos, and produced in the wine cellar at Sao Vicente.

João Mendes Sociedade Unipessoal, Lda.

This vine grower has farms in Arco de S. Jorge and Ribeira de S. Jorge, growing the white vine varieties of Verdelho and Arnsburger and the red varieties of Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot. The wines of this Madeira VQPRD are called “Quinta do Moledo” and “Rocha Branca”.

The Madeira Wine Company S.A.

For some years this company has commercialized a white wine of the Verdelho variety originally from the north coast, and a rosé wine from the Tinta Negra Mole vine variety produced in Câmara de Lobos and Campanário.

Torcaz – Produção e Comercialização de Vinhos, Lda.

The producer of this Madeira V.Q.P.R.D., chose to produce only red wine, from the Tinta Negra Mole grape and labelled by the name "Torcaz".

Seiçal – Sociedade de Produtores de Wine do Seixal, Lda.

This wine is produced by a group of producers in the area of Seixal who created an association for this purpose. The white “Seiçal 2003” wine won first prize in the 1st edition of the Madeira Wine Show .

Ricardo França – Sociedade Unipessoal, Lda.

This producer has vine growing areas in Ponta Delgada and Boaventura. He produces a white wine mainly from the Verdelho and Arnsburger varieties and a red from the Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot varieties. Ricardo França is the producer of “Enxurros” Wine, VQPRD “Madeirense” and “Terras Madeirenses” Regional Wine.

Vinhos Justino Henriques & Filhos, Lda.

Cancelas Tinto (red) was the name of the “Terras Madeirenses” Madeira regional wine produced by this company. It was first commercialized in the year of 2004 and in 2005 the company’s wines, both red and white, started to be sold under the name "Colombo".

Reis da Cunha – Vinhos Madeira Soc. Unip., Lda.

This company started to produce wine in 2005, from the Arnsburger and Malvasia vine varieties. The grapes of this Madeira VQPRD are produced in the area of São Jorge.

Wine from direct producers

Especially outside Funchal and in smaller restaurants you are often offered wine from so-called direct producers. This means that the wine is made from grapes of the Vitis labrusca or Vitis aestivaldis variety and not from grafted european vines. The wine is easy to recognize from a strawberry-like "fox-taste", but I find it quite interesting together with spicy food.

Aguardente

This often rather rough and spirity brandy is made from Cana de Azucar = sugar cane. With the closing of the Hinton distillery in Funchal in 1985 there are only 3 distilleries remaining, according to the CEHA. The distilleries are located in Ribeiro Seco, Porto de a Cruz (Companhia dos Engenhos do Norte Ltda) and Calheta (Lopes & Duarte). The old distillery of Peter Pires, founded in 1867 is now used for Vinhos Barbeitos. Standing in front of the building you can still see the long chimney. One ton of sugar cane produced 70-80 liters/20 gallons of aguardente. The only aguardente I could find in the shops was marketed by J. Faria & Filhos Lda.

Poncha

This drink is said to help against a cold, but even if you are in perfect health you should give it a try anyway. Poncha is made from Aguardente, honey and lemon juice. It tastes quite refreshing and can therefor be somewhat tricky on a hot day after you had one or two Poncha to many...

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Typical Madeira Island Recipies

This category features some typical recipies from Madeira island, collected and enjoyed during visits to this beautiful place! Please scroll down to get to the detailed recipies.

Sopa de Tomate e Cebola (Tomato and Onion Soup)

Ingredients for 4 persons:

• 5 onions
• 5 ripe tomatoes
• 2 tablespoons of olive oil
• 5 cloves of garlic
• 1 branch of winter savory
• (thyme is an alternative if winter savory is not available)
• 4 eggs
• salt or instant buillon
• 1,5 quarts of water
• one slice of toasted bread for each plate

Slice the onions into rings. Heat the oil in a medium sized pot and add the cut garlic gloves and the onion rings and roast them until the onions become transparent. While the onions roast, skin the tomatoes, take out the stacks and cut the tomatoes into small pieces, then add them to the pot. Add 1,5 quarts of water and salt or instant buillon to the pot and a branch of winter savory. Cook for 35 minutes then pause. Pour the 4 eggs into the hot soup (just like with egg drop soup), then boil for another 5 minutes.

Put a slice of toasted bread into each of the soup plates, then pour the steaming soup over the bread.

This is the perfect meal for one of those rainy and windy autumn days on Madeira island or just everywhere else!

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Wineshops In Funchal

Diogo's Wine and Spirits Shop

Address: Avenida Arriaga 48, P-9000-064 Funchal, Tel 00351-291-233357, Fax 00351-291-232893.

 

Garrafeira

Address: in the market hall of Funchal (Mercado dos Lavradores), shops Nr. 15 and 16, Tel: 00351-291-230479.

 

Garrafeira Espirito do Baco

Address: Largo de Corpo Sanot 28/30, Zona Velha, P-9050-261 Funchal, Tel: 00351-291-282159.

Garrafeira Wine Shop

Address: Rua Dr. Pita 1, P-900? Funchal, Tel 00351-291-7630101.

Garrafeira Zona Velha

Address: 48 Roa d. Carlos I, Zona Velha, P-9050-261 Funchal.

Loja dos Vinhos

Address: Shopping Center Eden Mar, Loja 19, Rua do Gorgulho, P-9000 Funchal, Tel 00351-291-762869, Fax 00351-291-761550.

 

Pipa Velha

Address: in the market hall of Funchal (Mercado dos Lavradores), just across from the Garrafeira Wine Shop.

Wine and Wicker

Across the Avenida do Infante from the Savoy Hotel