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Hello everyone and today is July 1st.
And on this day in 1976, Portugal granted autonomy to Madeira. So, although Madeira governs itself, it is still part of the Republic of Portugal. What does this mean politically? I have no freaking idea! But it brings us to today’s wine word of the day: Madeira.
Madeira is a fortified Portuguese wine made in the Madeira Islands which lie 620 miles west of mainland Portugal. The wine is produced in a variety of styles ranging from dry wines, which can be consumed on their own, to sweet wines typically drank with dessert. Cheaper versions are often flavored with salt and pepper to be used for cooking (a trick chefs have used for years to keep the kitchen staff out of their cooking hooch!).
The islands of Madeira have a long winemaking history dating back to the 15th Century when these islands were a standard port of call for ships heading from Europe to the New World or East Indies. To prevent the wine from spoiling on long sailing voyages, brandy was added to the wine.
While stowed in the ships bilges in large barrels, the wines would be exposed to excessive heat and movement which transformed the flavor of the wine. Wine producers of Madeira finally figured this out when an unsold shipment of wine returned to the islands after a round trip through the tropics.
Today, Madeira is noted for its unique winemaking process which involves heating the wine up to temperatures as high as 140°F for an extended period of time and deliberately exposing the wine to some levels of oxygen. Due to this unique process, Madeira has a nutty flavor with caramel aromas and is a very robust wine that can be quite long lived even after being opened. Madeiras have been known to survive over 150 years in excellent condition!
Before the advent of artificial refrigeration, Madeira wine was particularly prized in areas where it was impractical to construct wine cellars because unlike many other fine wines it could survive being stored over hot summers without significant damage.
Please don’t confuse Madeira with the American viticultural area, Madera, which includes the grape growing regions of Fresno and Madera counties in California. Although, the excessive 140-degree summer heat there in the San Joaquin Valley is very capable of making a Madeira-style wine!
Sadly Moonstone Cellars does not make Madeira.
For transcripts, links, and more podcasts, go to moonstonecellars.com/wwde. If you have any suggestions for more words, historical facts, or if you would like to sponsor me on a trip to sail around the tropics for a few months so Moonstone Cellars can also produce a Madeira-style wine, please send emails to wwd@moonstonecellars.com.
“Until next time, cheers to you!”
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