Madeira

Madeira 10 Year Old from a noble grape: the best-value way to understand the island.

The classic bottle is a 10 Year Old Sercial, Verdelho, Boal or Malvasia. Dry to sweet, always tangy: roasted nut, dried fruit and caramel over razor acidity. Sercial and Verdelho are best chilled, Boal and Malvasia after dinner.

The classic bottle is a 10 Year Old Sercial, Verdelho, Boal or Malvasia. Dry to sweet, always tangy: roasted nut, dried fruit and caramel over razor acidity. Sercial and Verdelho are best chilled, Boal and Malvasia after dinner.

Sercial: the driest Madeira, pale, tangy and racy.

Light-bodied and mouthwateringly fresh, pale when young and amber with age. It grows on the cool north coast and high on the south slopes, and the wines age well into amber. Serve chilled.

Light-bodied and mouthwateringly fresh, pale when young and amber with age. It grows on the cool north coast and high on the south slopes, and the wines age well into amber. Serve chilled.

Chilled Sercial or Verdelho with salted almonds and olives before dinner.

The dry styles are made to be served cold as an aperitif. Their sharp acidity and salty edge work with salted almonds, olives and cheese.

The dry styles are made to be served cold as an aperitif. Their sharp acidity and salty edge work with salted almonds, olives and cheese.

Malvasia (Malmsey): the sweetest, darkest, richest style.

Rich and full, with honey, toffee, orange marmalade and dried fruit, balanced by sharp acidity. It is the one for dessert.

Rich and full, with honey, toffee, orange marmalade and dried fruit, balanced by sharp acidity. It is the one for dessert.

Bolo de mel (honey cake) with a 10 Year Old Boal or Malvasia.

The honey cake is dense with molasses and spice, and an equally sweet, nutty Boal or Malvasia is the local partner. The wine should be at least as sweet as the cake.

The honey cake is dense with molasses and spice, and an equally sweet, nutty Boal or Malvasia is the local partner. The wine should be at least as sweet as the cake.

The other colour: a dry Madeirense Verdelho white, or a Tinta Negra rosé.

Hardly any leaves the island: crisp, saline and cheap by Madeira standards. Buy one for lunch at the lodge, not for the cellar.

Hardly any leaves the island: crisp, saline and cheap by Madeira standards. Buy one for lunch at the lodge, not for the cellar.

Tinta Negra: the island's workhorse, any sweetness, the base of the entry range.

A red grape that makes most of the island's wine, from dry to sweet. It was long hidden behind sweetness words (it used to be called Tinta Negra Mole), but since 2015 it can be named, and a few houses now age it by canteiro.

A red grape that makes most of the island's wine, from dry to sweet. It was long hidden behind sweetness words (it used to be called Tinta Negra Mole), but since 2015 it can be named, and a few houses now age it by canteiro.

Sercial likes cool, high sites; Boal needs the warm south coast.

The north coast is cooler and damper, the south warm and sunny. Sercial is grown on the north coast and high on the south slopes, where it keeps its sharp acidity, Verdelho sits in between, and Boal sits on the warm south coast. Malvasia grows in São Jorge on the north coast and on the south coast.

The north coast is cooler and damper, the south warm and sunny. Sercial is grown on the north coast and high on the south slopes, where it keeps its sharp acidity, Verdelho sits in between, and Boal sits on the warm south coast. Malvasia grows in São Jorge on the north coast and on the south coast.

Colheita = one harvest, years in cask; the label shows year and bottling date.

A Colheita is a single-harvest Madeira that has spent years in cask but is younger and cheaper than a Frasqueira. It is the easiest way to taste one vintage. Blandy's is credited with pioneering the category, and Barbeito's Tinta Negra Colheitas are the best known.

A Colheita is a single-harvest Madeira that has spent years in cask but is younger and cheaper than a Frasqueira. It is the easiest way to taste one vintage. Blandy's is credited with pioneering the category, and Barbeito's Tinta Negra Colheitas are the best known.

Henriques & Henriques: 10 Year Old Sercial, Verdelho, Boal, Malvasia.

Family house that has bottled wines from its own vineyards since 1925. Its age-statement range is 100% of the named grape and made from older stocks. Its 15 Year Old Verdelho has won a regional trophy at international awards.

Family house that has bottled wines from its own vineyards since 1925. Its age-statement range is 100% of the named grape and made from older stocks. Its 15 Year Old Verdelho has won a regional trophy at international awards.

Age-statement blends are built from older stocks than the number says.

Houses such as Henriques & Henriques blend from stocks well in excess of the stated age, and a tasting panel checks each blend for typicity before release. The number is a promise of style, not an average.

Houses such as Henriques & Henriques blend from stocks well in excess of the stated age, and a tasting panel checks each blend for typicity before release. The number is a promise of style, not an average.

Celebration: an old single-harvest Boal from Pereira d'Oliveira, or a 20 Year Old Malvasia.

A Frasqueira Boal or Sercial from Pereira d'Oliveira, or Barbeito's 20 Year Old Malvasia, is the local high end. Worth a lodge visit; stocks vary and some bottlings are a few hundred bottles.

A Frasqueira Boal or Sercial from Pereira d'Oliveira, or Barbeito's 20 Year Old Malvasia, is the local high end. Worth a lodge visit; stocks vary and some bottlings are a few hundred bottles.

Rare grapes and single vineyards: Terrantez, Bastardo, and vineyard-named Tinta Negra.

Madeira's off-beat corner: the rare Terrantez and Bastardo, and Tinta Negra bottled by vineyard or single cask instead of blended away. Small lots, strong personality, mostly from the family houses.

Madeira's off-beat corner: the rare Terrantez and Bastardo, and Tinta Negra bottled by vineyard or single cask instead of blended away. Small lots, strong personality, mostly from the family houses.

Madeirense and Terras Madeirenses: tiny output of dry Verdelho whites, some rosé and red.

A few producers make still, unfortified wine: crisp Verdelho with grapefruit and sea salt, rosé from Tinta Negra, reds from Tinta Negra, Touriga Nacional and others, and one traditional-method sparkling. Rare, local, and worth a glass.

A few producers make still, unfortified wine: crisp Verdelho with grapefruit and sea salt, rosé from Tinta Negra, reds from Tinta Negra, Touriga Nacional and others, and one traditional-method sparkling. Rare, local, and worth a glass.

Single-vineyard and foot-trodden Tinta Negra: the quiet modern movement.

Barbeito pioneered vineyard-specific and single-cask Tinta Negra, including the first foot-trodden Colheita (2007) and a late-harvest, off-skins 2009. Henriques & Henriques released the first 50 Year Old Tinta Negra.

Barbeito pioneered vineyard-specific and single-cask Tinta Negra, including the first foot-trodden Colheita (2007) and a late-harvest, off-skins 2009. Henriques & Henriques released the first 50 Year Old Tinta Negra.

Time in cask: smoother at 10 years, most complete by 20.

Canteiro wines are moved between warm and cooler floors as they age. The difference between 5 and 10 years is clear, between 10 and 15 more so, and by 20 years the wines are at their most complete.

Canteiro ageing is slow by design. Casks sit in the warm upper floors of the lodge, where heat and air work on the wine gradually, and as the wine matures producers often move it down to cooler floors so the change eases. The difference is audible. Wines of 10 years or more are described as smoother and more elegant than 5-year-olds, the effect becomes obvious between 10 and 15 years, and at 20 years the best reach a completeness that is hard to match. The numbers on the label are certified styles, and houses such as Henriques & Henriques say their age-statement wines are blended from stocks older than the stated age. Time in cask is therefore what you pay for, and the bottling date, now printed on the label, tells you when the ageing stopped. That is why the date is worth checking before you buy an old bottle.

Colheita and Frasqueira: single-harvest Madeira, from a few years to many decades in cask.

These are Madeira's vintage wines. Colheita is younger and cheaper, often from Tinta Negra; Frasqueira is the old, single-grape prestige tier. Both show harvest year and bottling date.

Single-harvest Madeira has two levels. Colheita is the accessible one: older Madeira in single-harvest form, at a lower price than a Frasqueira. Barbeito's Tinta Negra Colheitas are a good example: the 2007 was the first Tinta Negra trodden by foot in a lagar, and the 2009 came from old vines at Jardim da Serra, picked late. Frasqueira is the top tier: one grape, one year, decades in cask. Pereira d'Oliveira, an independent family firm established in 1850, has never been in a hurry to sell and releases four to six wines a year from deep stocks, for example a 1980 Boal that won an IWSC trophy in 2020, or the 1899 Terrantez first bottled in 2020. Prices are high, but the wines last for months once opened, so one bottle can be shared over many evenings. Keep in mind how strong they are, usually about 19%, so serve them in small glasses.

Old blends, 15 to 50 Years Old: rare, rich, built on Malvasia and Terrantez.

Older age statements go up to 50 years. These are blends of very old canteiro wines, and a good Malvasia of 20 or 30 years is the richest Madeira most people will taste.

Beyond 15 years the age statements step up through 20, 30, 40 and 50, each one certified by a tasting panel. In a recent blind panel the top blends were Justino's Terrantez Medium Dry 50 Years Old, H.M. Borges Malvasia Sweet 30 Years and Barbeito's Mãe Manuela Malvasia Over 40 Years Old, followed closely by Henriques & Henriques Malvasia 15 Years Old and Barbeito's Malvasia Lote 21333 20 Years Old. The age number is the style the cellar has certified, not an average of the casks. Nothing is cheap at this level, but a 20 Year Old Malvasia is a realistic celebration bottle, and a pour is rich enough to share between two people.

Frasqueira: one harvest, one named grape, decades in cask, the top tier.

Frasqueira is Madeira's vintage tier. It comes from a single harvest and a single noble grape, rests for decades in cask in the warm lodge lofts, and is bottled only when the house decides it is ready.

Frasqueira is the top rung of the Madeira ladder: a single harvest, usually of one noble grape, aged by the slow canteiro method and never rushed in heated tanks. The label shows the year and the grape; it does not say Vintage, a word the island leaves to Port. A good Colheita can later be re-released as Frasqueira once it has the years. The point of buying one is that the wine is bottled long after harvest, so the bottling date matters as much as the vintage: the same year can taste quite different depending on when it left the cask. The old houses hold the deepest stocks, and Pereira d'Oliveira in Funchal still holds wines from the 19th century, so you may see bottlings such as a 1980 Boal or a 1990 Sercial. Prices climb steeply, but the wine will not spoil once opened, so one bottle can be shared over many evenings.

Barbeito Tinta Negra Colheita: Vinha das Mantas 2007 and 2009 at Jardim da Serra.

Ricardo Diogo made Tinta Negra a serious grape: the 2007 was the first foot-trodden in lagar and the 2009 was from old vines, harvested late. The 2001 Colheita is another ambitious Tinta Negra.

Barbeito is the house that made Tinta Negra a serious grape. Mário Barbeito founded the firm in 1946, and winemaker Ricardo Diogo, a restless experimenter, has pushed the island's main grape into Colheita bottlings that rival the noble varieties. The 2007 Colheita came from the Vinha das Mantas vineyard at Jardim da Serra and was the first Tinta Negra trodden by foot in lagar. The 2009 Colheita, from the old vines of the same vineyard, was harvested late and fermented off the skins. The 2001 Colheita is another ambitious Tinta Negra. Expect pale colour, a light, delicate style, and the salty, nutty finish of ageing in warm casks. Winery above Cabo Girão, with ageing rooms at Estreito de Câmara de Lobos. Look for single-cask releases, which sell out.

Tiny terraces (poios) on steep slopes: everything is done by hand.

Vines grow on narrow walled terraces called poios, from near sea level up the mountainsides, mostly on small family plots. The slopes are too steep for machines, and shippers rely on many small growers, which is why good grapes are scarce and Madeira is not cheap to make.

Vines grow on narrow walled terraces called poios, from near sea level up the mountainsides, mostly on small family plots. The slopes are too steep for machines, and shippers rely on many small growers, which is why good grapes are scarce and Madeira is not cheap to make.

In the glass: Small, varied crops; high-acid grapes that stand up to years of cask ageing

Sercial likes cool, high sites; Boal needs the warm south coast.

The north coast is cooler and damper, the south warm and sunny. Sercial is grown on the north coast and high on the south slopes, where it keeps its sharp acidity, Verdelho sits in between, and Boal sits on the warm south coast. Malvasia grows in São Jorge on the north coast and on the south coast.

The north coast is cooler and damper, the south warm and sunny. Sercial is grown on the north coast and high on the south slopes, where it keeps its sharp acidity, Verdelho sits in between, and Boal sits on the warm south coast. Malvasia grows in São Jorge on the north coast and on the south coast.

In the glass: Cool, high sites give the driest, sharpest wines; warm, low sites give the richest

Quick tank heat for everyday Madeira; slow warm casks for the best.

Estufagem heats the wine in tanks, which is fast and gives plainer, caramelised wines. Canteiro leaves the wine in cask in the warm upper floors of the lodges for years, building depth and integration. Aged blends, Colheita and Frasqueira are canteiro wines.

Estufagem heats the wine in tanks, which is fast and gives plainer, caramelised wines. Canteiro leaves the wine in cask in the warm upper floors of the lodges for years, building depth and integration. Aged blends, Colheita and Frasqueira are canteiro wines.

In the glass: Estufa: simple, sweetly cooked; canteiro: nutty, layered, smoother with age

Time in cask: smoother at 10 years, most complete by 20.

Canteiro wines are moved between warm and cooler floors as they age. The difference between 5 and 10 years is clear, between 10 and 15 more so, and by 20 years the wines are at their most complete.

Canteiro ageing is slow by design. Casks sit in the warm upper floors of the lodge, where heat and air work on the wine gradually, and as the wine matures producers often move it down to cooler floors so the change eases. The difference is audible. Wines of 10 years or more are described as smoother and more elegant than 5-year-olds, the effect becomes obvious between 10 and 15 years, and at 20 years the best reach a completeness that is hard to match. The numbers on the label are certified styles, and houses such as Henriques & Henriques say their age-statement wines are blended from stocks older than the stated age. Time in cask is therefore what you pay for, and the bottling date, now printed on the label, tells you when the ageing stopped. That is why the date is worth checking before you buy an old bottle.

In the glass: More integration and depth; caramel and nut give way to dried fig and iodine

Acidity, heat and fortification leave little for air to spoil.

Madeira keeps sharp acidity, has been warmed and oxidised on purpose, and is fortified to about 19%. Together these leave little for air to damage, which is why an open bottle is described as virtually indestructible and lasts for months.

Madeira keeps sharp acidity, has been warmed and oxidised on purpose, and is fortified to about 19%. Together these leave little for air to damage, which is why an open bottle is described as virtually indestructible and lasts for months.

In the glass: Stable, tangy wines that do not fade after opening

Spirit is added during fermentation: early for sweet, late for dry.

Madeira is fortified with grape spirit. Adding it early stops fermentation and leaves sugar, which is how Malvasia is sweet; adding it late lets the yeast eat the sugar, which is how Sercial is dry.

Madeira is fortified with grape spirit. Adding it early stops fermentation and leaves sugar, which is how Malvasia is sweet; adding it late lets the yeast eat the sugar, which is how Sercial is dry.

In the glass: Sets sweetness from Seco to Doce; adds the 19% strength

Estufagem: wine heated in steel tanks for months, a quick baked effect.

The word means hot house. Tanks are warmed for a few months, then the wine rests. It is the standard method for 3 Year Old and entry wines, mostly Tinta Negra.

The word means hot house. Tanks are warmed for a few months, then the wine rests. It is the standard method for 3 Year Old and entry wines, mostly Tinta Negra.

In the glass: Cooked caramel, orange peel and burnt sugar; less depth than cask ageing

Canteiro: casks rest on the warm upper floors of the lodge for years.

Casks age on the warm top floors of the lodges and are often moved to cooler floors as they age. No artificial heating, only time. Aged blends, Colheita and Frasqueira all use it.

Casks age on the warm top floors of the lodges and are often moved to cooler floors as they age. No artificial heating, only time. Aged blends, Colheita and Frasqueira all use it.

In the glass: Nutty, integrated, smooth; dried fig, walnut and iodine with years

Pergola vines (latada) keep air moving; wire trellis ripens more sun.

The traditional latada lifts the vines on a pergola, which keeps air moving in the humid climate; a modern wire trellis gives denser planting and more sun on the fruit. In the old days growers grew vegetables underneath.

The traditional latada lifts the vines on a pergola, which keeps air moving in the humid climate; a modern wire trellis gives denser planting and more sun on the fruit. In the old days growers grew vegetables underneath.

In the glass: Healthy, high-acid grapes in a damp climate

Age-statement blends are built from older stocks than the number says.

Houses such as Henriques & Henriques blend from stocks well in excess of the stated age, and a tasting panel checks each blend for typicity before release. The number is a promise of style, not an average.

Houses such as Henriques & Henriques blend from stocks well in excess of the stated age, and a tasting panel checks each blend for typicity before release. The number is a promise of style, not an average.

In the glass: Consistent house style year after year

Single-vineyard and foot-trodden Tinta Negra: the quiet modern movement.

Barbeito pioneered vineyard-specific and single-cask Tinta Negra, including the first foot-trodden Colheita (2007) and a late-harvest, off-skins 2009. Henriques & Henriques released the first 50 Year Old Tinta Negra.

Barbeito pioneered vineyard-specific and single-cask Tinta Negra, including the first foot-trodden Colheita (2007) and a late-harvest, off-skins 2009. Henriques & Henriques released the first 50 Year Old Tinta Negra.

In the glass: Individual, lighter-coloured wines with a salty, nutty finish