4.4 Wine Law & Wine Business Flashcards
Madeira’s vineyard land is highly fragmented, with over _____ growers and an average vineyard holding of 0.3 ha.
Madeira’s vineyard land is highly fragmented, with over 1,000 growers and an average vineyard holding of 0.3 ha.
True or false?
The winemaking and maturation side of Madeira is extremely saturated with over 500 producers.
False.
The winemaking and maturation side of the industry is extremely consolidated with only eight producers.
The largest three companies are Justino’s, Madeira Wine Company and Henriques & Henriques. Only two producers own or rent vineyards (Henriques & Henriques and Madeira Wine Company), which only cover small percentages of each of their production volumes) and therefore all producers buy grapes. A producer will often need to buy grapes from as many as a few hundred growers. To smooth this process, many producers will use agents who will provide consultation for growers during the growing season and coordinate the harvesting.
What does IVBAM stand for?
Instituto do Vinho, Bordado e Artesanato da Madeira.
When was IVBAM founded and what is it’s purpose?
Founded in 2006, IVBAM is responsible for coordinating and supporting the wine and embroidery industries in Madeira. IVBAM plays an active role in monitoring Madeira stocks and quality control. Representatives must be present at grape reception and at the beginning and end of the ageing process to seal and then unseal the maturation vessel. An IVBAM tasting panel and laboratory check the profile of wines to be labelled with an age indication or a vintage year. Technicians from IVBAM will also pay visits to the growers on the island and give advice and support as needed.
IVBAM also set the regulations as part of the production and labelling of Madeira, many of which have been mentioned in the previous sections.
How have Madeira sales fared the last few decades and what style holds the majority of sales?
Sales of Madeira have remained relatively stable for the past few decades, and in 2017 total sales were 3.2 million litres[1]. The majority of sales volume comes from young corrente Madeira wines made from Tinta Negra (1.9 million litres in 2017), with 5- and then 10-year-old Madeira being the most common age-indicated categories, and the largest categories for wines that are varietally labelled with Sercial, Verdelho, Boal or Malvasia (most Terrantez is sold as Frasqueira).
In 2017, Colheita and Frasqueira together made up just over 48,000 litres and these vintage products are generally more common than the older age-indicated categories of non-vintage Madeiras (e.g. 20-, to 50-year-old). Sales values of Madeira as a whole have shown a gradual increase (17.7 million euros in 2017) with Colheita and Frasqueira increasing their share of total sales values.
List the markets for Madeira from largest to smallest:
Germany, France, UK, Portgual.
The largest market for Madeira is France (0.85 million litres in 2017).
The second largest market is Madeira itself (0.50 million litres); the tourist trade makes an important contribution.
Germany (0.32 million litres) and the UK (0.31 million litres) are the next most important for volume.
France and Germany tend to be important markets for inexpensive Madeira, whereas the domestic market and the UK are important for more expensive wines.
Describe Madeira’s relationship with the food industry.
Significant volumes of inexpensive Madeira are used for cooking and/or as part of confectionery. These wines are heated by the estufagem process and are often released from the winery after a few months. Madeira for cooking purposes, e.g. for the production of sauces, may be modified with the addition of salt and sometimes pepper. Madeira that is used in the food industry, or for other purposes (e.g. it is sometimes used as a flavouring in schnapps) makes up around one quarter of total production volumes of Madeira (at 784,000 litres in 2017).
