Early in the 15 Century, the Portuguese settled deserted volcanic wooded islands, about 400 miles west of Africa in the Atlantic. They planted sugar cane and the classic Grecian grape, malvasia, which to this day produces the sweetest of Madeira wines, the malmsey.
To clear land on the main island, where slopes rise to a 6,000-foot summit, Zarco, the first governor, allowed the burning of forests. But once started, the fires raged for seven years and destroyed the magnificent forests that originally had given the islands their name-Madeira means wood in Portuguese.
But the ash left by those fires has been credited with making the soil of Madeira particularly fertile.
By 1470, Madeira was known as a central point for trading with Africa or as a stop before venturing farther into the unknown ocean. Since Madeira was the center of trade routes to the New World, Africa and India, much of its sturdy white wine was shipped over long distances and into remote corners of the globe.
A strange transformation in the wine was noted, however, by American and East Indian colonists and by the Portuguese and English shippers. The longer the wine traveled, subjected to the abuses of temperature and agitation, the more interesting it became. No longer white, it developed an amber, then mahogany color, and the flavor became caramelized and pungent.
The change was so beneficial that soon sailing ships traveled around the world with barrels of Madeira wine to provoke it. By the middle of the 18th Century, inspired by the success of fortifying port wine, almost all Madeira was fortified to provide more stability and prevent spoilage.
A side effect of this process was to make the wines of Madeira nearly indestructible. They really demand being opened at least one or two days before consumption. They can last in an opened bottle for months without signs of deterioration. Sealed, they improve indefinitely, even for centuries.
Late in the 17th Century Madeira became the most popular wine in America and the British West Indies. About this time, with the explosive expansion of its market, Madeira wine producers took steps to develop Madeira wine into what it has been ever since.
To accelerate its aging and to avoid pilferage on the long voyages, the producers discovered that heating and cooling the wines in glass hothouses, or estufagem, could approximate sea conditions.
Soon a more reliable system of heating the wine developed. Barrels of young wine were put into warehouses heated to no more than 118 degrees, where they were rotated according to a regimen that created the typical, roasted characteristics at the end of a specific time, three to six months.
The finest vintage-quality Madeiras still are treated in this way. The lesser grades, made from the tinta negro mole grape, now are heated in large vats and sometimes finished in warehouses before fortification and further aging.
The finest of the Madeira wines are declared a vintage only after 20 years of aging in barrel and then they must be aged for at least two years in bottle before sale. These wines, like their earlier seagoing predecessors, have a life span that would make Methuselah blush. Great vintage wines from the late 18th and early 19th Centuries still are youthful.
These older Madeiras, as one could expect, are expensive because of their rarity. Yet compared with other wines from the same era, they are good values. Some of the late-19th Century Madeiras cost $175 to $200 a bottle.
The wines reviewed here, however, fall mainly into the 5-, 10- and 15-year-old blended categories, and no wine blended into one of these
categories is allowed to be younger than the declared age. These sometimes are called respectively, the reserve, special reserve and finest reserve categories. Their prices range from about $9 for the reserve (or 5-year-old) to $30 for finest reserve (15-year-old).
Not all Madeiras are of the same type or sweetness. There are four noble grape varieties that make up all the vintage and most of the 5-, 10- and 15-year-old wines. The names of the four major Madeira types are based on the grape names, because in large part the character of the individual grape determines the style of the wine. The exception is the lesser tinta mole negro grape, which imitates each of the noble varieties depending on where it is grown, but always results in a less intense and less ageeable wine.
The grape that produces the driest wines is the sercial, by some considered a relative of the riesling grape. Sercial is grown on the highest slopes and produces a racy, crisp Madeira that is dry while still retaining that characteristic Madeira caramel and toffee.
Next is the verdelho, which makes a slightly richer wine, one that is actually lighter in body and texture than a great sercial, but with a richer flavor and less acidity. There is a style of Madeira called ”rainwater” that is blended from verdelho, but is lighter, having originally been mixed with pure water. It makes a pleasant aperitif.
Bual is the first truly dessert-style Madeira. It is also the most satisfying Madeira when done properly. I also think that a great bual, and the much rarer terrantez, has the most to benefit from extensive aging. Bual seems to have great richness and torrefaction-or roasted, caramelized characteristics-while retaining an essentially vinous nature.
The last major grape variety and style is the malmsey, made from the malvasia, the first grape brought to Madeira in the mid-15th Century. This is the richest and most honied of the wines, sometimes lacking the tang of bual and sercial. As a vintage wine, its inherent sweetness permits it a long, fruity life, tasting of chocolate and molasses, caramel and oranges.
Sercial
Henriques & Henriques 10-year-old Sercial-Glorious nose of coconut, walnut, caramel. On the palate, toffee, anise and green apple, with the cleansing astringency and flavor of lemon peel, green apple and creme caramel in the finish. Quite delicious and refreshing. $23 ((STAR)(STAR)(STAR)(STAR)/ 90 points)
Blandy`s 5-year-old Dry Sercial-Honey and caramel on the nose with a hint of fig and lemon peel. On the palate almost shockingly dry by comparison and focused. Intense, dry and tangy green apple and lemon finish whose punch is softened only by the glow of burnt sugar and walnuts. Impressive. $16
((STAR)(STAR)(STAR)/88 points)
Verdelho and Rainwater
Blandy`s Rainwater-The best rainwater for overall balance. Though medium dry and light, it has layers of flavor. Nutty, with a buttery, green apple finish. A fine aperitif wine that also goes well with nuts, soup, cheeses and a variety of hors d`oeuvres. A good place to start with dry Madeira. $16
((STAR)(STAR)(STAR)/87 points)
Blandy`s 5-year-old Verdelho-Almost austere compared with Blandy`s Rainwater, and certainly more intense. About the same quality but less accessible, more astringent and drier. It demonstrates the genius behind the blending, for it imitates quite successfully the complexity, as well as the dryness of old vintage Verdelho. $16 ((STAR)(STAR)(STAR)/87 points)
Henriques & Henriques Verdelho-Probably a 5-year-old. Buttery, toasty, chocolaty nose, soft on the palate, finishing with dry grapefruit, caramel and pineapple flavors. $11.25 ((STAR)(STAR)(STAR)/87 points)
Bual
Blandy`s Bual 1907-One of the finest tasting experiences of Madeira. Quintessentially bual in component profile, it was round with cocoa, chocolate, coffee, caramel and star anise flavors, yet retaining a spine of green apple acidity at its core that makes this wine a champion among Madeiras. $175 ((STAR)(STAR)(STAR)(STAR)/97 points)
Abudarham Terrantez 1898-This wine is placed with the buals for lack of a better place. A treasure of the Victorian age, when Madeira was still shipped in large quantities to India. This is a grape so rare now that no terrantez was produced commercially between the 1898 vintage and 1975. The only undisputed earlier examples of it come from before the 1870s, since after phylloxera hit the island, none was replanted for nearly a century. Hence, this 1898 vintage is either some 1898 Verdlho blended with older stocks of terrantez, or it is from a small plot of terrantez that struggled along until 1898, when it no longer was viable and had to be replanted. Either way this is a distinguished and unique wine. Like a bual this is rich with a pleasantly astringent finish. $160 ((STAR)(STAR)(STAR)(STAR)/98 points)
Leacock`s 10-year-old Bual-Enters the mouth with a round, dried fig, toffee and apricot flavor that expands on the palate, finishing with an oaky, cedar flavor and an astringency that tastes like Rattray`s Red Raparee red and blond Virginia pipe tobacco. Could be flawed for slight lack of intensity, but that trait is characteristic of the Leacock style. Outstanding wine and fantastic value. $29 ((STAR)(STAR)(STAR)(STAR)/90 points)
Blandy`s 5-year-old Bual-Quite raisiny and not too complex, but satisfying and clean. Sweet raisins, walnut and pineapple with a long finish. $17 ((STAR)(STAR)(STAR)/86)
Malmsey
Leacock`s Malvazia 1933-Rich, raisiny and long, with a bit of grip in the finish that balances the sweetness and richness with a leafy, tobacco flavor. $155 ((STAR)(STAR)(STAR)(STAR)/94 points)
Blandy`s 15-year-old Rich Malmsey-Elegant, dried plum, creme caramel and vanilla nose. Unctuous, round and balanced with a slightly astringent yet raisiny, juicy orange finish, that is smoky and leafy like Latakia tobacco. Deep, sweet and intense, in the Blandy`s style. $30 ((STAR)(STAR)(STAR)(STAR)/ 92 points)
Blandy`s Malmsey 1964-Alas, too young and green; simple caramel, tobacco and green apples flavors, intense but without the complexity and depth of flavor that only long aging can bring. However, it has a promising future for drinking sometime in the middle of the next century. $112 ((STAR)(STAR)(STAR)/ 87 points)
Leacock`s 15-year-old Superlative Rich-A malmsey-style Madeira, but they do not put malmsey on the label. This means that it has more than 15 percent of the tinta negra mole grape, the most common grape variety on the island, but not permitted to any large extent in the finer wines. Ripe, raisiny, molasses and honey flavors, finishing with ripe tangerine. Sweet and rich but not too deeply layered. $36 ((STAR)(STAR)(STAR)/86 points)
