06/01/05 Madeira

Welcome to Vine to Wine, this is your host Linda Moran and today we are going to talk about the history of a very famous fortified wine known as Madeira. Although, like many of you, I don't drink Madeira on a regular basis. And I forget how truly delightful it is until I do have a glass. The island of Madeira is in the Atlantic Ocean, really closer in proximity to the northern coast of Africa than to Portugal, of which it is an autonomously governed province. Early on, like Port, the light table wines of Madeira were fortified in order for them to ship long distances across the ocean. In the case of Madeira a curious thing happened. When shipped aboard the Dutch East India Company on the long arduous trip east, the wines arrived tasting even better than they had when they left! This defied all perceptions of how good wine was supposed to be made. After sailing over the rolling ocean in extraordinary heat barrels banging around the wine seemed to get better and better. For years that is exactly how the wine was processed. It wasn't until the 19th Century that the technology was developed to reproduce the type of cooking process that was provided by circum navigation of the globe. Even at its very sweetest these wines have an amazing balance of acidity that make it delicious. When you drink a Madeira you will often notice a trace of toffee dates and nuts in the nose. The categories of these wines range from driest to richest and sweetest. When shopping for Madeira look for reputable producers and be willing to pay a bit more for a good quality. Remember to send your wine questions to Linda at vine to wine dot net and thank you for joining me on today's Vine to Wine.