The Making of Madeira Wine

Old Casks at ABSL

The grapes are grown on steep terraces all over the island. At the north coast and in the Camara do Lobos area there are some larger vineyards, but usually they are very small and sometimes rather remote. At Camara do Lobos Henriques & Henriques built a relatively large vineyard, the size of ten hectares with the help of bulldozers. This vineyard is accessible for modern machines. It is one of only two such areas in the moment, but the Madeira Wine Company is also planning for a big vineyard. About 4500 growers cultivate grapes on the island, most of them in the Câmara de Lobos area. Altogether some 2000 hectares are suitable for wine-growing, but only 600 are planted with vines, since the cultivation of bananas is much more rewarding. Most wine growers also grow vegetables for themselves or for the local market between the vines. This slows the growing of the grapes which become more aromatic and more concentrated. The grapes are mostly grown in the pergola-style, low in height and covered with a roof of their own leaves. This protects the grapes from the strong winds and the sometimes dramatic changes in temperature. The distance between the vines is two to three yards. The plants are usually irrigated with water from the levadas. The different varieties are grown in different heights above sea level. Boal and Malvasia are best grown in lower altitudes, whereas Verdelho and Sercial like the higher altitudes. The versatile and robust Tinta Negra Mole imitates the other varieties depending on the altitude it is grown at and depending on the processing.

The vintage of 2003, seen at ABSL

The harvest is mostly done manually. Malvasia is the first, the dry varieties Verdelho and Sercial go last. This sounds like a paradox, but since the aromas are not backed up by sweetness, these grapes simply have to get as much sun as possible for the development of their aromas. The grapes are then carried up to the next street, sometimes hundreds of yards, and are collected on small trucks. Then they go to the winepress, where the grapes are crushed and pressed. Until into the late 1970’s this used to be done with feet and wooden presses. One lagar is still featured in the museum of the Madeira Wine Company. The fermented juice used to then be carried by the boracheiros in goatskins containing up to 70 liters or 15 gallons to the winecellar downhill. Such a load was of course tough to carry and made the men thirsty. And so there are many stories of boracheiros reaching the cellar with empty skins but heavily drunk. Today the processing and cellaring is done at the location of the press. The fermenting of the must is stopped with brandy; the time of adding the brandy depending on the grape variety. The must from the Malvasia grape gets the brandy right at the beginning of fermentation, Boal and Verdelho around the fourth day, and Sercial about a month after the fermentation started. In this way the resulting wine will be sweet or dry, depending on when the fermentation of the grape's sugar was stopped, but all the wines will have high alcohol content. The adding of brandy is known as fortification.

Old Casks at ABSL

The fortified young wine is then transferred to the estufa. In the simplest version, this is a large container, usually stainless steel, with a pipe system in it. The pipes circulate hot water in them and so heat the wine over several days to a temperature of about 50 degrees Celsius or 120 degrees Fahrenheit. This final temperature is then kept for about three months. Since the heating in this way is rather fast, some of the wine's sugar will turn to caramel. The wine will then feature the typical burnt (and sometimes rather bitter) taste of the lower qualities of Madeira wine. The better qualities of Madeira are put into large wooden casks, standing in a heated room. The best wines and all the vintages are treated with the Canteiro method. The casks with the young fortified wine are transferred to the roof, where they will be exposed to the sun's heat. The beam carrying the casks is called canteiro, giving this method it's name. As an example the building of Henriques & Henriques in Camara do Lobos has a huge window front to the south to get as much heat in as possible. Wines treated with the Canteiro method do not display so much caramel, but rather have a fresh fruity taste. But canteiro wines need much more time to develop. As a rule of thumb, 5 years canteiro equal 3 months estufa. Once the wine is in the estufa or cask, the Madeira Wine Institute will impose a seal on the container and register it's contents.

Estufa, being heated to 50 degrees Celsius, seen at Vinhos Justino Henriques Filhos Lda.

When the heating is finished, the wine in the estufa is allowed to cool and -after a resting-time (estagio) of 3 months- will then be transferred into wooden casks to be stored for years to come. Depending on the intended use, this can be three to fifteen years. There is always some air in the casks and so the wine completely oxidizes, i.e. the organic contents of the wine react with the air's oxygen and thereby change the color, the smell and the taste of the wine. Finally the wine goes into the blend. The cellarmaster tries to keep the characteristic taste of the shippers wine by blending different wines together. The normal everyday Madeira wine is such a blend, the age given on the label indicating the youngest wine in the blend. Blended wine with the name of a grape variety on the label must contain at least 85% of this grape. The other 15% can be filled up with other varieties, usually Tinta Negra Mole.

Old Casks at ABSL

The very good wines from the canteiro method are treated in a different way, they can become Vintage Madeiras. This means that they will stay in cask (Madeira pipes with 480 liters) for a minimum of twenty years, most of them much longer, up to hundred years and more. In this time the sun's heat leads to further concentration and oxidation. The level of extract, acid, sugar and alcohol rises considerably over the decades. The level of alcohol can reach up to 25% volume in wines with a very long time in cask. Before over-concentration makes the wine undrinkable it will be transferred to glass demi-johns containing 22 liters or 5 gallons of wine. Those demi-johns are then sealed airtight which stops further development of the wine and enables long-time storing. In earlier times, this was the way for the (slightly decadent) Madeira lover to store its wine in large quantities. Finally the wine is bottled and will then rest another two years before it is put on the market. If the wine in a later stage of developement turns out to be not of satisfying vintage-quality it will be used to back up the blends with complexity.

Demijohns, seen in the wine museum of the Instituto do Vinho da Madeira

Madeira wine, because of the complete oxidation, is very robust and will keep for years to come, even centuries. Once a bottle is opened, the contents will also keep at least for weeks or months. So you can take your time and slowly sip on history without having to worry about the wine getting bad.

Buying, Storing and Serving Madeira

Where To Buy Madeira Wine

You should buy your Madeira wine at the place with the largest selection and the lowest prices: right on the island itself. Outside of Madeira, cheap blends are sold for high prices and Vintage Madeiras that are sold to the US, Europe or Japan are usually twice or three times the price that they were on the island. Another great plus on the island is the tasting. In the buildings of the producers you can taste all the blends for free, the vintages for a small fee. You can then buy your wine there, in one of the wine shops, or in the big supermarkets like Pingodoce or SuperSA. Within the European common market you can carry 90 liters of wine with you, when the alcohol content is under 22%. This makes 128 bottles with 0.7 liters of wine in it, so remember the weight limit of your luggage! It is more complicated with the US. At the joint forums of FTLOP and MWG this issue is covered in all aspects and any US citizens planning to go to the island of Madeira are advised to have a look at this site.

In some travel guides a small shop in Machico is mentioned as an insider tip to buy old Henriques & Henriques ten year old blends of Sercial and Malmsey. You are advised not to buy any of these wines. The firm of Henriques & Henriques told me, that these are three year old Tinta blends, dating from the time when it was allowed to write Sercial on the label, even though the bottle contained Tinta. The contents are no longer drinkable, since these blends where not intended for a long storage and some of the bottles had been in the window of the shop, being exposed to the sun. With a price of at least 30 Euros the bottles are also rather expensive.

Old Vintages at MWC

To buy Madeira wine at home, you can try a wine shop or a big food store. In most cases you will find a medium sweet or medium dry wine, intended for cooking. Some large wine merchants, sometimes specializing on fortified wines, will have Madeira wine available, even vintages. The internet is a real alternative; try the big catalogues and/or search-engines for more information about wine shops on the WWW. Also a few shops addresses can be found in the bibliography section. Since Madeira wine is going through a small renaissance as an exotic, mysterious and indestructible wine with impressing age, it has become easier to find Madeira wine on the market. The bad side of this however, is that the stocks of good Madeira wine will be emptied even faster.

How To Store Madeira Wine

Bottles of Madeira wine should be stored in an upright position. A small gas exchange is supposed to keep the oxidized aroma and the contents of the bottle does not touch the cork. Otherwise the taste of the wine could suffer from the fact that the cork deteriorates faster than the wine. It is said that some bottles on the island of Madeira are kept upright in cool rooms without a cork but a plastic cap, though this I doubt. At home, in your wine cellar, you should change the cork at least every forty years or so. You can either do it yourself with the help of a manually operated corking device or you can bring your bottles to a reliable wine shop. If the level of wine in the bottle dropped considerably during storage and you have several bottles of the same wine, you can sacrifice one bottle and use it to fill up the others. The remaining wine might fit into a half bottle that you can buy in a wine shop. You could keep this half bottle for the next recorking (your children would have to do that, so label it exactly) or drink it up as a reward for successful recorking. Another way is to raise the level of wine in a bottle by putting small, sterile, glass balls into the bottle. You can do the recorking yourself or have somebody do it for you. Later in this guide you will find instructions on how to recork an old bottle. In any case you should take action when the level of wine reaches the lower end of the neck. Otherwise there will be to much space for air inside the bottle. If not already done so, you should cover the cork with wax to keep it from drying out. If the bottle is just corked with a short stopper, a good covering with wax or some layers of cellophane is extra important. A very secure way to store your vintage bottles is to seal them into a plastic bag usually used for freezers with a small device available for kitchen or laboratory use. This will also keep the label in top condition and the bottle free from dust.

How To Serve Madeira Wine

Before serving an old Madeira vintage you have to mind four facts. First, the bottle should be opened at least 24 hours before drinking, though 48hours or even more can be necessary. An occasionally present bad smell called bottle sickness needs this time to disappear. Decanting also helps. Second, since the cork is usually covered with sealing wax, you will have to get through the wax first. Break the wax by carefully hitting it with a table spoon, then peel off the pieces, similar to peeling an egg. Very old bottles should not be peeled but shaved with a sharp knife. Third, the cork can be in a bad condition so be careful and use a good corkscrew to get it out. If the cork breaks, pour the wine through a filter immediately. The best way to do this is to use a new coffee filter only to be used for filtering wine. Otherwise the broken cork could affect the taste of the wine. By filtering you will also get possible sediments out of the wine. This sediment will not affect the taste, but the wine will look better in the decanter. Once in the decanter, the wine will keep for quite some time, but a Sercial should be stored in the refrigerator. Fourth, it has been said that wine, kept over some weeks in a lead crystal decanter, will acquire some of the lead. For this reason, but also because even Madeira wine does not live forever, do not take to long to drink up the wine. If you want to keep it as long as possible, fill the decanter with nitro, available in your wine store, to get the oxygen out. A cleansed bottle with a good stopper cork also makes a nice decanter and you have the information about the wine on the bottle.

When you drink Madeira wine, be sure to have it at room temperature. Even Sercial should not be ice cold. The colder the wine is, the fewer aromas will evaporate. Since smelling is a big part of tasting, you would not have the full taste of your wine. The thought of putting ice or water into a Madeira wine is revolting - why not drink thin Pinot Grigio in the first place then? Once the decanter or the bottle of Madeira wine is on the table, it is an old-time custom to pass it clockwise, just like with port. Don't just let it stand there in front of you - pass it on!