Madeira

It is one of the prettiest islands in the world, with a fertile soil. Everywhere you can see terraces growing vine, sugarcane, corn, beans, potatoes, bananas, and flowers. But among these, wine has been the principal product of the island for 400 years. With the increasing traffic with the colonies, it is necessary to have wines that can last for the long voyage, and also as ballast. With a bucket or two of brandy added to fortify the wine, the voyage actually mellowed the madeira wonderfully and so quickly it became the favorite wine of the American colonies.

Now the madeira is made through a simulating effect. The wine is warmed to about 45 deg C in hot stores (estufas) for at least three months. For higher quality ones a more moderate temperature will be used for a longer period, and the best is without any artificial heating, which only relied on the environment in a sun-baked loft and then in a warm wine lodge. That’s how the caramel common in madeira is coming from. If too much burnt sugar is detected it would mean the estufa was too hot.

The shippers nowadays blend the wines into consistent brands, using the estufagem process. Some are blended using the solera system, with the highest quality of a single vintage and single grape variety. Colheita madeiras are made from the produce of a single year and bottled after spending five years in wood. If no grape variety is mentioned then it will have been made from Tinta Negra Mole, the most dominant and common grape variety at 90%.

Today, unless made from one of the traditional varieties, the label can only mention the age and style, as determined by when the fermentation is stopped by the addition of spirit. The sweetest of the traditional varieties is Malmsey (or Malvasia), with dark brown, fragrant, rich and soft-textured to almost fatty. Bual produces a lighter and slightly less sweet than Malmsey, with a smoky note. Verdelho is less sweet and softer than Bual, with a faint honey and distinct smoke. Sercial makes the driest and is light, fragrant, distinctly sharp, more substantial than a fino sherry.

For a vintage madeira it must be coming from a single year, a single variety, and aged in cask for at least 20 years. It is a wine that age seems unable to exhaust or diminish. An opened bottle for any good madeira also can retain its freshness for months or even years.

Wine: Blandy’s 5-year Malmsey Madeira

Region / Country: Madeira Portugal

Vintage: NV

Grape: 100% Malmsey

ABV: 19%            

Price: HK$222

Tasting Date: 11 September 2011

Official website: www.blandys.com

Wineshark Score: 88

Medium brown in colour, with a greenish tinge showing its high alcohol contents, this 5-year Madeira has a medium nose showing fully developed and deliberately oxidized characters of fig, prune, raisin, orange peel, butterscotch, cloves, caramel and toffee. Medium sweetness with a good refreshing acidity to accompany, the wine is fortified to high alcohol level with a full body and medium palate of fig, prune, raisin, nutmeg, walnut, caramel, orange peel and toffee. Overall of acceptable quality, the nose and palate are fairly complex though only of reasonable intensity. Easy to drink but lacking the sophistication of ageing, with a reasonable length. Ready to drink now and can be maintained for another 8-10 years.