Madeira is a fortified wine made in the Madeira Islands of Portugal, which is prized equally for drinking and cooking; the latter use including the dessert plum in Madeira. A fortified wine is a wine to which additional alcohol has been added, most commonly in the form of brandy (a spirit distilled from wine). ... Location Motto of the autonomous region: Das ilhas, as mais belas e livres (Portuguese: Of the islands, the most beautiful and free) Official language Portuguese Capital Funchal Other towns Porto Santo, Machico, Santa Cruz, Câmara de Lobos, Santana, Ribeira Brava, Caniço Area 797 km² Population  - Total (1991)  - Density... Cooking is an act of preparing food for eating. ...

Vinification

The method of vinification is similar to that employed in other parts of Portugal, but the method employed for hastening the maturation of the wine is peculiar and characteristic. Grow and harvest grapes. ... Wine is an alcoholic beverage produced by the fermentation of the juice of fruits, usually grapes. ...

This consists in subjecting the wine, in buildings called estufas specially designed for this purpose, to a high temperature for a period of some months. This process is meant to duplicate the effect of a long sea voyage of the aging barrels through tropical climates. Madeira was originally unfortified, but the addition of grape spirits increased its ability to survive long voyages. It's numbing effects were a great benefit on these long journies. Whiskey barrels at the Jack Daniels distillery Barrels for aging wine in Napa Valley An aging barrel is a barrel used to age wine or distilled spirits such as whiskey, brandy, or rum. ... A tropical climate is a type of climate typical in the tropics. ... Spirits redirects here. ...

The temperature varies from 35° to 60°C (100° to 140° F), according to the quality of the wine, the lower temperature being used for the better wines. The buildings in which this process is carried out are built of stone and are divided into compartments heated by means of hot air derived from a system of stoves and flues.

Much of the characteristic flavor of Madeira is due to this practice, which hastens the mellowing of the wine and also tends to check secondary fermentation inasmuch as it is, in effect, a mild kind of pasteurization. Furthermore, the wine is deliberately exposed to air, causing it to oxidize. The resulting wine has a color not unlike a tawny port. Colourings such as caramel have been used in the past as a colouring to give some consistency (see also whiskey), although this practice is decreasing. Wine tasters sometimes describe an oxidized wine as being maderized. Fermentation typically refers to the conversion of sugar to alcohol using yeast. ... Pasteurization (or pasteurisation) is the process of heating food for the purpose of killing harmful organisms such as bacteria, viruses, protozoa, molds, and yeasts. ... The most fundamental reactions in chemistry are the redox processes. ... A glass of tawny port. ... A piece of caramel confectionery. ... Whisky (or whiskey) is the name for a broad category of alcoholic beverages distilled from grains, that are subsequently aged in oak casks. ... Maderisation (American English: maderization) is a process that involves the heating and oxidisation of a wine. ...

Characteristics

Exposure to extreme temperature and oxygen accounts for its stability; an opened bottle of Madeira will survive unharmed for a considerable time, up to a year. Properly sealed in bottles, Madeira is one of the longest lasting wines; Madeiras have been known to survive over 150 years in excellent condition. It is not uncommon to see Madeiras pushing the century mark for sale at stores that specialize in rare wine. General Name, Symbol, Number oxygen, O, 8 Chemical series Nonmetals, chalcogens Group, Period, Block 16, 2, p Appearance colorless (gas) very pale blue (liquid) Atomic mass 15. ... Reusable glass milk bottles A bottle is a small container with a neck that is narrower than the body and a mouth. ...

Before the advent of artificial refrigeration, Madeira wine was particularly prized in areas where it was impractical to construct wine cellars (such as parts of the southern United States) because unlike many other fine wines it could survive being stored over hot summers without significant damage. It has been suggested that Refrigerator be merged into this article or section. ... A Wine cellar is a storage room for wine in bottles or barrels, or more rarely in carboys, amphoras or plastic containers. ...

Types

There are four major types of Madeira: Malvasia (also known as Malmsey or Malvazia), Bual (or Boal), Verdelho, and Sercial, the latter two being drier. Occasionally one sees Terrantez, Bastardo and Moscatel varieties, although these are now increasingly rare on the island due to disease oidium and pests phylloxera. After the phylloxera epidemic many wines were mislabeled as containing one of these noble grape varieties. Since the epidemic Tinta Negra Mole is the workhorse variety on the island and is found in various concentrations in many blends and vintage wines. Of these, Bastardo and Tinta Negra Mole are red grape varieties, the rest are all white. Malvasia (also known as Malvazia or Malmsey) is a group of wine grape varieties grown in Italy (including Sicily, Lipari, and Sardinia), Corsica, the Iberian Peninsula, the Canary Islands, the island of Madeira, California and Australia. ... Bual (or Boal) is a grape used in the production of medium-rich fortified wines that come from the island of Madeira. ... Verdelho is a white grape grown throughout Portugal, though most associated with the island of Madeira, and also gives its name to one of the four main types of Madeira wine. ... Sercial (Cerceal in Portuguese) is the name applied to any of several white grapes grown in Portugal, especially on the island of Madeira, and gives its name to the dryest of the four classic varieties of Madeira fortified wine. ... Bastardo is a type of red grape used in Portuguese port wine. ... The muscat family of grapes grow widely for wine, raisins and table grapes. ... Binomial name Uncinula necator (Schwein. ... Grape Phylloxera (Daktulosphaira vitifoliae, family Phylloxeridae, superfamily Aphidoidea) is a serious pest of commercial grapevines worldwide, originally native to eastern North America. ...

Regulations enacted recently by the European Union have applied the rule that 85% of the grapes in the wine must be of the variety on the label. Thus, wines from before the late 19th century and after the late 20th century conform to this rule. Other madeiras do not.

Many vineyards have in the past been ripped up for commercial tourist developments or replanted with such products as bananas for commercial concerns. There is some replanting taking place on the island; however, the tourist trade is generally seen as a more lucrative business than winemaking.

Madeira may be sold as a vintage wine with a specific year when aged in casks for more than 15 years, or a blended wine with a minimum age, such as 3, 5, 10 or 15 years. Also there are solera wines, having been started in a specific year. The Vintagers, after a miniature of the Dialogues de Saint Gregoire (thirteenth century)—manuscript of the Royal Library of Brussels. ... A barrel is a hollow cylindrical container, usually made of wood staves and bound with iron bands. ... Sherry solera A solera is a series of barrels or other containers used for aging liquids such as Sherry, Madeira, Marsala, Mavrodafni (a Greek dark red fortified dessert wine), Muscat, Muscadelle and Balsamic vinegar. ...

The new types of wine include "Harvest" and "Garrafeira" both wines from a specific year, but with a much shorter aging period than the vintage wines. The Vintagers, after a miniature of the Dialogues de Saint Gregoire (thirteenth century)—manuscript of the Royal Library of Brussels. ...

Miscellaneous

A favorite of Thomas Jefferson, Madeira wine was held in high enough esteem to be used to toast the Declaration of Independence. Rasputin and George Washington were also said to have been assiduous Madeira wine lovers. Madeira wine is prominently featured in the Flanders and Swann song "Have Some Madeira, M'Dear". Thomas Jefferson (April 13, 1743 N.S. – July 4, 1826) was the third President of the United States (1801–1809), the principal author of the Declaration of Independence (1776), and an influential founder of the United States. ... United States Declaration of Independence The Declaration of Independence is the document in which the Thirteen Colonies in North America declared themselves independent of the Kingdom of Great Britain and explained their justifications for doing so. ... Grigori Rasputin Grigori Yefimovich Rasputin (Russian: ) (22 January [O.S. 10 January] 1869 – 29 December [O.S. 16 December] 1916) was a Russian mystic with an influence in the later days of Russias Romanov dynasty. ... George Washington (February 22, 1732–December 14, 1799) led Americas Continental Army to victory over Britain in the American Revolutionary War (1775–1783), and was later elected the first President of the United States. ... Michael Flanders Donald Swann The British duo Flanders and Swann were the actor and singer Michael Flanders (1922–1975) and the composer, pianist and linguist Donald Swann (1923–1994) who collaborated in writing comic songs. ...

References

Books

• Liddell, Alex (1998). "Madeira". Faber & Faber. ISBN 0-571-19096-0

External links

• Madeira Wine Guide by Dr. Wolf Peter Reutter
• Madeira History and its wines (English, French and Dutch)