A long sea journey, extreme temperatures and oxidisation would ruin most wines. But not this one, which travelled from its Portuguese origins and became a coveted cask

If you delve into any subject deep enough, I’m sure you’ll uncover some unlikely stories, and wine is no exception. In fact, with a history of more than 2000 years, it is bound to have many. But a story that must surely rate among the most extraordinary in the wine world is that of madeira.

The premise of madeira production flies in the face of conventional wine science: it’s heated for a long period and deliberately oxidised. And yet for a time, it was one of the most sought-after liquids on earth.

It’s grown on Madeira, a Portuguese island that is hot and humid, and prone to mildew. And the vines there were devastated by the diseases oidium and phylloxera within 25 years. Yet the legend of Madeira lives on, largely due to the extraordinary wines produced there during the island’s vinous golden age.

These days, the popularity of madeira is a fraction ofwhatitonce was.Winedestinedfor cooking has,for the best part of a century, been produced in far greater quantities than the great wines for which the island is famed. But there has been an extensive regrafting program to convert vineyards previously planted with tinta negra mole to the more classic madeira varieties ofverdelho, sercial, bual and malmsey.

Even today, vintage wines are declared. But vintage madeira is a rare beast. It’s only after the promising wines have been aged in a cask for 30 years that the fmal assessment is made. The majority of those ssessed is sent to the blending heap, and only a small portion makes the cut as vintage madeira.

The fIrst madeiras (from the 15th century on) were not fortifIed until the 18th century when brandy was agded to bolster the wines. But it was during the early days that a rigorous sea voyage was found to improve the character of the wines - a practice that is replicated today by the slow cooking of the wines.

The madeira that made the voyage to India and then on to the Americas was considered the fmest.
Casks assumed the name of their ship, their voyage, the grape variety, or the family who stored them.
But as production grew, sea voyages became impractical for all madeira, and the estufa system took their place. The early estufas were glass hothouses that ensured vast temperature fluctuations between day and night. These days, the best wines are cooked in armazem de calor, or storerooms, and gently heated by hot-water pipes. Lesser wines are simply heated by hot pipes in the bottom ofvats.

The real beauty of madeira is in the balance gained through oxidation, the estufa system and age. The oldest I’ve tried was from 1851, but I’ve read of people enjoying wines a century older than that.

The few madeiras that are imported into Australia are blended wines of decent quality but not of the kind that built the madeira legend. The wines that built the legend tend to be rare fmds at auction, or bought through the best British wine merchants.

But Blandy’s and Henriques & Henriques wines do come to Australia and both are considered to be great madeira producers.