Madeira is a fortified wine from the Portuguese island of Madeira, in the Atlantic, about 1,000 km south-west of Lisbon. It is fortified like Port, then aged warm, which gives it notes of caramel, nuts and citrus and a sharp acidity. It goes from dry (Sercial) to sweet (Malvasia), and an opened bottle keeps for months. Most people know it from a sauce. That is a shame.
What is Madeira wine?
A wine made on Madeira and fortified with grape spirit, which stops the fermentation and takes it to around 17 to 22% alcohol. So far, the same idea as Port. The difference comes next: Madeira is deliberately aged in heat. No other wine region does this on purpose, and it is why Madeira tastes the way it does.
Why is Madeira heated?
History, mostly. In the 17th and 18th centuries, Madeira was the last stop for ships sailing to the Americas and the East Indies. Casks of wine went along as ballast and cargo, crossed the tropics for months, and came back tasting better than when they left: rounder, nuttier, more complex. Merchants started sending wine on the round trip on purpose.
Today the island recreates that heat in two ways. Estufagem: the wine is heated in tanks to around 45 to 50°C for at least three months. It is quick and used for most young, cheaper Madeira. Canteiro: the wine ages in casks in warm lofts, under the roof, for years. Slower, more expensive, and the method used for the best wines. If a label says 10 years old or more, it is usually canteiro.
The grapes: from dry to sweet
On Madeira, the grape name on the label also tells you how sweet the wine is. There are four classic white grapes.
| Grape | Style | Taste |
|---|---|---|
| Sercial | Dry | Lemon peel, almonds, very sharp |
| Verdelho | Medium dry | Dried apricot, smoke, walnut |
| Boal (Bual) | Medium rich | Caramel, dried fig, raisins |
| Malvasia (Malmsey) | Rich, sweet | Coffee, marmalade, molasses |
Most Madeira, though, is made from Tinta Negra, a red grape that can make every style. When Tinta Negra is used, the label says the sweetness instead: seco (dry), meio seco (medium dry), meio doce (medium sweet) or doce (sweet).
How to read the age on a Madeira label
5, 10, 15 or 20 years old means a blend whose style matches that age. It is not the age of every drop in the bottle. Colheita is a single harvest, aged at least five years in wood. Frasqueira, or vintage, is a single grape and a single year, aged at least 20 years in cask. Those bottles can be very old and are still alive.
You will also see Rainwater, a lighter, medium dry style that was popular in the United States. A good one is an easy start.
How to drink Madeira
Serve the dry styles slightly cool, as an aperitif, with salted almonds or olives. Verdelho works with cured ham and mushroom dishes. Boal and Malvasia go with aged cheese, nut cakes, dark chocolate or bolo de mel, the island’s honey cake.
The best part: Madeira has already been through heat and air, so an opened bottle hardly changes. Put the cork back, keep it in a cupboard, and it will still be good weeks or months later. Try that with a bottle of red.
About cooking Madeira: the “Madeira” sold for sauces is usually basic young wine, sometimes with salt added. It has nothing to do with a 10-year-old Sercial or Malvasia. Don’t judge the wine by the sauce.
Where to taste Madeira in Lisbon
You don’t need to fly to Funchal. At POP, in Graça, our Madeira wine tasting pours four 10-year-old Barbeito Madeiras, Sercial, Verdelho, Boal and Malvasia, side by side, in about an hour. If you want Madeira next to Port and the fortified wines from around Lisbon, the fortified wine tasting does that. And if you are still not sure how Madeira differs from Port, our guide to the types of Port helps.
Questions we get asked
Is Madeira wine like Port?
Both are Portuguese fortified wines. Port comes from the Douro Valley and is not heated. Madeira comes from the island of Madeira and is aged warm, which gives it more acidity and notes of caramel and nuts.
Is Madeira wine sweet?
Not always. Sercial is dry, Verdelho medium dry, Boal medium rich and Malvasia sweet.
How long does an opened bottle of Madeira last?
Weeks or months, with the cork back in, at room temperature. It has already been exposed to heat and air during ageing.
Where can I taste Madeira in Lisbon?
At POP in Graça: four 10-year-old Barbeito Madeiras in about an hour, €60 per person from 2 guests, every day from 14:00 to 19:00.