Madeira 3

The initial winemaking steps of Madeira start out like most other wines: grapes are harvested, crushed, pressed, and then fermented in either stainless steel or oak casks. The grape varieties destined for sweeter wines – Bual and Malvasia – are often fermented on their skins to leach more flavour and texture from the grapes to balance the sweetness of the wine. The drier wines – made from Sercial, Verdelho, and Negra Mole – are separated from their skins, by pressing, prior to fermentation. Depending on the level of sweetness desired, fermentation of the wine is halted at some point by the addition of grape spirit. The wines then undergo the estufagem ageing process to produce Madeira’s distinctive flavour.

Colourings such as caramel have been used in the past to give some consistency, although this practice is decreasing. What makes Madeira wine production unique is the estufagem ageing process, meant to duplicate the effect of a long sea voyage on the ageing barrels through tropical climates. Three main methods are used to heat age the wine and are used depending the quality of the finished wine:

Cuba de Calor: The most common, used for low cost Madeira, is bulk aging in low stainless steel or concrete tanks surrounded by either heat coils or piping that allow hot water to circulate around the container. The wine is heated to temperatures as high as 55 °C for a minimum of 90 days, however, Madeira is most commonly heated to approximately 46°C

Armazém de Calor: Only used by the Madeira Wine Company, this method involves storing the wine in large wooden casks in a specially designed room fitted with steam-producing tanks or pipes that heat the room, creating a type of sauna. This process more gently exposes the wine to heat and can last from six months to over a year.

Canteiro: Used for the highest quality Madeiras, these wines are aged without the use of any artificial heat, being stored in the attics and roof spaces of wineries to age by the heat of the sun. In cases such as vintage Madeira, this heating process can last from 20 years to 100 years. This process is used by many of the top Madiera brands, including Broadbent and Justino’s.

Much of the characteristic flavour of Madeira is due to this practice, which hastens the mellowing of the wine, which is also deliberately exposed to air, causing it to oxidize. The resulting wine has a colour similar to a tawny port wine. Wine tasters sometimes describe other wines, which have been exposed to excessive heat during storage, as being cooked or maderised.

The four major styles of Madeira are synonymous with the names of the four best known white grapes used to produce the wine. Ranging from the driest style to the sweetest style, the Madeira types are:

Sercial is fermented to nearly completely dry, with very little residual sugar. This style of wine is characterised with bright, amber toned colours, almond flavours, and high acidity.

Verdelho has its fermentation halted a little earlier than Sercial leaving some residual sugar. This style of wine is characterized by smoky notes and high acidity.

Bual (also called Boal) has its fermentation halted when its sugars are between 45-63 g/l. This style of wine is characterized by its dark colour, medium-rich texture, and raisin flavours.

Malvasia (also known as Malvazia or Malmsey) has its fermentation halted when its sugars are between 63-117 g/l. This style of wine is characterised by its dark colour, rich texture, and coffee-caramel flavours. Like other Madeiras, the Malvasia grape used in Malmsey production retains naturally high levels of acidity in the wine, which balances with the high sugar levels, so the wines are not cloying on the palate.