MADEIRA
What is left of a label of 1807 Thomas Buchanan Madeira. Photo courtesy of Rare Wine Company.
A dollar a year. That’s about how much—how little, really—a bottle of good Madeira will cost you.
Madeira, a wine from the Atlantic island of the same name, only gets going after a half century of age. And it never retires: Once aged, it is virtually static, offering its “combined intensity and complexity of vinous delights” (George Saintsbury, “Notes on a Cellarbook,” 1920) until nothing but its scent tarries in the bottle.
And, strangely enough, though from a governance of Portugal, it is the American wine. From the time of our original Thanksgiving Day pilgrims until the Civil War, no wine was more favored on our shores than Madeira. Today, it is back with a grateful bang.
Like Portugal’s port and Spain’s sherry, Madeira is a fortified wine (17 to 20 percent alcohol by volume). But unlike them, it is also heated and, in truth, purposively oxidized or “spoiled.” Here’s the story.
Madeira began its American life in the 1600s as a table wine. Because of its location 625 miles southwest of Portugal, the ilha da Madeira (“the island of the woods”) was a convenient stopover, to and fro', for the fleets of merchant ships trading between Africa, India, South America and Europe.
In the holds of these ships, however, especially as they wended their way through the southern climes of the Caribbean, ambient heat and constant jostling caused the wine to oxidize and spoil. Beginning in the 1750s, producers of Madeira wine added a vodka-like spirit to the shipped casks in order to stabilize it for its voyage. They “fortified” it against the rigors of travel.
If not for our incipient Revolutionary War, however, Madeira would never have gained the American foothold it did. In 1665, the British banned the importation into its American colonies of all products European unless shipped on British vessels from British ports. In spite of that, products from the island of Madeira were expressly exempt. Merchants of all nationalities, including those British, took advantage of this and built ties and trade with merchants in this country.
Madeira became the wine of the new America. George Washington was reputed to drink a bottle of it each day. (At least we know for certain that his inauguration was toasted with it, as was the signing of the Declaration of Independence). In 1768, the city of Boston rioted after the British seized John Hancock’s shipload of Madeira. After 1776, the newly-founded United States of America imported one-fourth of the production of Madeira’s wine.
Until the 1900s, Madeira was produced this way: fortified, pitched in the holds of ships for weeks on end, oxidized, “cooked.” That became prohibitively expensive and so, in order to mimic the process, Madeira was and is “spoiled” in situ. In a process called estufagem (Portuguese for “heating” or “cooking”), Madeira makers heat the wine, either quickly by radiant heat or slowly by leaving it in cask for decades in the attics of its sun-scorched wineries. After all that has been done to it, it is unspoilable and eminently age-able.
Better Madeira comes in four styles (see below), each named after the grape that makes it, from a bracingly dry Madeira to one that is as sweet and dark as Vietnamese coffee.
In the early Americas, “Madeira was traditionally a food wine. The taste was very dry and the wine was consumed throughout the meal,” said Mannie Berk of Rare Wine Co., which imports aged stocks of Madeira. The popularity of sweeter Madeira, especially in cooking, is a modern phenomenon.
Above all, in my view, the range of different Madeiras pairs profitably with the range of desserts fashioned from chocolate, from markedly sweet confections that use milk chocolate, to darker chocolates in desserts such as chocolate sauce or blacker pot au crèmes.
If you delight in doing the (pre)-revolutionary, pass around some drier Madeira at dinner. It is especially delicious at the soup course.
The four styles of Madeira
Sercial: the driest Madeira, tart and nervy, with very taut acidity; pale to amber color.
Verdelho [vair-day-yoe]: a whisper of sweetness offset with bracing acidity; golden-hued; richer, fuller-bodied than sercial.
Bual [boo-ahl]: sweeter and richer still; a favorite during the occupation of India by the British because it was less heavy than their favored port.
Malmsey: the sweetest and richest of Madeira, from super-ripe malvasia grapes.
Madeira as it might have been enjoyed when reading the Philadelphia newspaper on May 29, 1779. Time of day? Not important.
Photo courtesy of Rare Wine Company.
RECOMMENDATIONS (in alphabetical order by producer):
1988 D'Oliveira Terrantez Reserva Madeira ($350, from Rare Wine Company): Like liquid fruitcake, that is, a combination of the aromas and savors of dried candied fruits, brown baking spices, nuts (walnuts especially) and of the cake that the English call sticky toffee pudding; the color of Grade A amber maple syrup, with the same gold-orange edge; soft and creamy texture, clipped shut by acidity just like a squeeze of lime.
Blandy’s 10-Year-Old Malmsey Madeira ($30-$40): Liquid chocolate orange-flecked fudge; hint of black raisin; with a close like biting orange pith.
Blandy’s Alvada 5 Year-Old Rich Madeira ($20-$25, 500ml): If you want to get a start in Madeira, and do not turn your nose up at sweet wine, this is a safe, good value beginning. Serve it cool, that will help tone down its obvious sweetness and, because it is soft of acidity, unlike many a Madeira, it will be a rich, fruity sip, with a long, nutty, toffee-ish finish. Quite a delicious dessert.
Broadbent Madeira Reserve 5 Year-Old Madeira ($25-$30): You might consider this medium-sweet, amber-tinted, effusively scented Madeira for savory (not merely sweet) dishes such as pork roast with apricots or a mild lamb curry with coconut milk. Its lemony acidity is so abundant and refreshing, it’ll clean up nicely.
Broadbent 10-Year-Old Malmsey Madeira ($40-$50): Sweet but with snappy finish; like thin molasses framed by walnut skin; a sweeping finish and haunting afterglow.
Miles 10 Year-Old Rich Malmsey Madeira ($40): No question, this is sweet, but balanced with and tied tight by Madeira’s telltale acidity, as if a conductor’s baton tap called all to order; iodine-brown, viscous, an aroma of burnt caramel sneaking up the back end.
Rare Wine Co. Historic Series Baltimore Rainwater Madeira ($50): Once the most popular style of Madeira in the U.S., rainwater must have been what Old George tippled of his daily pint: light-bodied, slightly nutty, spryly refreshing (terrific acidity) and can take a chill. It is a “session” Madeira and it goes down good. While a one-off because of the style, Rare Wine Co.’s has serious nuance, length and persistence and is worth its charge for that complexity alone.
Rare Wine Co. Historic Series Charleston Sercial Special Reserve Madeira ($50): One of Rare Wine Co.’s “Historic Series,” in honor of the several ports of call where Madeira landed in the new America; orange-flecked amber hue; an opulent entry snaps to a close with framing acidity; tangy, tingling finish; tastes and savors of Seville orange, toffee and light spice; enjoy with soups especially.
Rare Wine Co. Historic Series Savannah Verdelho Special Reserve Madeira ($50): Another of the “Historic Series”; opulent liquid orange marmalade, shortbread and toffee, with hints of honey and almonds; slightly sweet with wiry acidity; Wahlberg’s body, Astair’s feet.