Wine - Portugal - Madeira - Styles

Front 1

Discuss the Bastardo style of Madeira.

Back 1

Bastardo:

Another rarity from Madeira's once glittering past, there is some question as to whether this black grape is related to the Douro variety of the same name, but there is no doubting its great potential quality, making it yet another golden oldie that is long overdue a revival.

Front 2

Discuss the Bual style of Madeira. What is a giveaway by which it can be visually recognized?

Back 2

Bual:

Definitely sweeter and darker than most other styles, Bual can often be recognized under blind conditions by its khaki-colored meniscus. This style has soft, gentle fruit with noticeable fatness and ripeness, underscored by a baked, smoky complexity. The legal limit for residual sugar is 78-96 grams per liter.

Front 3

Discuss the Extra Reserve or Over-15-Year-Old Madeira style.

Back 3

Extra Reserve, or Over-15-Year-Old Madeira:

This style is rarely encountered, but is always significantly richer and more complex than 10-Year-Old Madeira. The 15 years reference is excluded from some wines that are much older.

Barbeito (25-Year-Old Bual) * Cossart (Malmsey 15-Year-Old Malmsey, Very Old Duo Centenary Celebration Bual, Very Old Duo Centenary Celebration Sercial)

Front 4

Discuss the Finest or 3-Year-Old Madeira style.

Back 4

Finest, or 3-Year-Old Madeira:

This, the lowest level of Madeira, will be the style of any Madeira whose age is not given. It consists primarily of Tinta Negra Mole, and some Moscatel. Three years is too short a time for any decent wine to evolve into a true Madeira and much is sold in bulk for cooking, and cannot be recommended.

Front 5

Discuss the Malmsey style of Madeira.

Back 5

Malmsey:

Made from both white and black varieties of Malvasia grown on the island's lowest and warmest regions, Malmsey is the ultimate Madeira. It is the most luscious, the sweetest, and most honeyed of all Madeira styles. Potentially the most complex and long-lived Madeira, Malmsey matures to an ultrasmooth, coffee-caramel succulence, which lasts forever in the mouth. The legal limit for residual sugar is 96-135 grams per liter.

Front 6

Discuss the Moscatel style of Madeira.

Back 6

Moscatel:

Madeira has made some interesting Moscatel, but only a few remain available for tasting today. However, with so many fortified Muscats of superb quality made throughout the world, Madeira's Moscatel should perhaps be reserved for blending purposes only.

Front 7

Discuss the Rainwater style of Madeira.

Back 7

Rainwater:

This is effectively a paler, softer version of a medium-dry Verdelho but, because varietal names are never used, making Rainwater with Verdelho would be a waste of this good-quality classic grape. Rainwater is more likely to be a paler, softer version of Tinta Negra Mole trying to emulate Verdelho.

There are two theories about the origin of this curiously named Madeira style. One is that it came from the vines, which were grown on hillsides where it was impossible to irrigate, thus growers had to rely on rainwater. The other theory concerns a shipment that was bound for Boston in the US: even though the wine was accidentally diluted by rain en route, the Madeira house in question had hoped to get away with it, and were shocked when the Americans loved it so much they wanted more.

Front 8

Discuss the Reserve or 5-Year-Old Madeira style.

Back 8

Reserve, or 5-Year-Old Madeira:

This is the youngest age at which the noble varieties (Sercial, Verdelho, Bual, Malmsey, Bastardo, and Terrantez) may be used, so if no single variety is claimed, you can be sure that it is mostly, if not entirely, Tinta Negra Mole. Five years was once far too young for a classic Madeira from noble grapes, but they are much better than they used to be and some bargain five-year-old varietals can be found.

Barbeito (Malmsey) * Blandy's (Sercial, Bual, Malmsey) * Cossart (Sercial)

Front 9

Discuss the Sercial style of Madeira.

Back 9

Sercial:

This grape is known on the Portugese mainland as Esgana Cão, or "dog strangler," and is grown in the island's coolest vineyards. Sercial is the palest, lightest, and driest Madeira, but matures to a rich, yet crisp, savory flavor with the sharp tang of acidic spices and citrus fruits. The legal limit for residual sugar is 18-65 grams per liter (the bottom end of this range tastes bone dry when balanced against an alcohol level of 17% in such an intensely flavored wine, and even 40 grams per liter can seem dry).

Front 10

Discuss the Solera Madeira style.

Back 10

Solera Madeira:

Although an old "solera" will contain barely a few molecules from the year on which it was based and which it boasts on the label, the best examples of authentic Madeira "soleras" (there have been several frauds) are soft, sensuous, and delicious.

Blandy's Solera 1863 Malmsey * Blandy's Solera 1880 Verdelho * Cossart Solera 1845 Bual

Front 11

Discuss the Special Reserve or 10-Year-Old Madeira style.

Back 11

Special Reserve, or 10-Year-Old Madeira:

This is where serious Madeira begins, and even nonvarietals may be worthy of consideration because, although some wines in this style may be made with Tinta Negra Mole, producers will risk only superior wines from this grape for such extended aging.

Blandy's (Sercial, Malmsey) * Cossart (Verdelho, Malmsey) * Henriques & Henriques (Sercial, Malmsey) * Power Drury (Malmsey) * Rutherford & Miles (Bual, Malmsey)

Front 12

Discuss the Terrantez style of Madeira.

Back 12

Terrantez:

This white grape variety is virtually extinct on the island, but the highly perfumed, rich, powerfully flavored, and tangy-sweet Madeira wine it produced is so highly regarded that old vintages can still attract top prices at auction. If and when the Young Turks ever reach Madeira, this is one variety they will be replanting in earnest.

Front 13

Discuss the Verdelho style of Madeira.

Back 13

Verdelho:

Some modern renditions of this style are almost as pale as Sercial, but Verdelho, both white and black varieties of which are grown on the island, traditionally produces a golden Madeira whose color deepens with age. It is, however, always made in a medium-dry to medium-sweet style, which gives it somewhat more body than Sercial, and this can make it seem softer and riper than it actually is, although its true astringency is revealed on the finish. The legal limit for residual sugar in these wines is 49-78 grams per liter.

Front 14

Discuss Vintage Madeira. How long must it spend in cask?

Back 14

Vintage Madeira:

All Madeira wines at one time bore a vintage, but this practice is unusual today, since most are blends or products of "solera" systems. Current regulations stipulate that vintage Madeira must spend at least 20 years in cask, which is probably too long and ought to be changed.