Madeira Flashcards
Madeira: Hectares planted
478.6 ha/1183 acres (2011)
Madeira: Major production areas
Câmara de Lobos (175.9 ha; central southern)
São Vicente (133.7 ha; north by northwest)
Santana (73.6 ha; central northern; farthest north)
(2011)
Madeira - Tinta Negra: plantings perctage of total
55.00%
Madeira: 6 Major Grape Varieties
(In decreasing order of acreage) Tinta Negra Verdelho Malvasia Complexa Sercial Boal
Madeira: Malvasia Clones
Malvasia Branca de São Jorge and Malvasia Cândida
What is the only variety on Madeira that is capable of producing quality wines across the entire range of sweetness levels?
Tinta Negra
Madeira - Tinta Negra: Synonyms
Tinta Negra Mole (TNM)
Negramoll
Madeira: Last Grape to Ripen-3 distinct characteristics
Sercial
•Achieves full aromatic potential around 11º potential alcohol
•It requires 7-8 years of canteiro aging before it begins to express its varietal character in wine
•It grows best at higher altitudes
Madeira - Pre-Phylloxera: Most planted variety
Verdelho
•Two-thirds of plantings
Madeira - Boal: Synonym
Malvasia Fina
Madeira - Boal: Disease pressures
Boal is highly susceptible to powdery mildew and prefers the warmer, drier south coast growing regions
Madeira - Malvasia Cândida: Synonym
Malvasia di Liparia
Madeira: First Variety on the Island
Malvasia Cândida - 1400s
Madeira - Malvasia Branca de São Jorge: Synonym
Malmsey
Madeira - Malvasia Branca de São Jorge: Can be labeled
“Malmsey” but not “Malvasia”
Madeira - Terrantez: Synonym
Folgasão
Madeira - Bastardo: Synonym
Trousseau
Madeira - Complexa: Crossing, Why?
(Castelão x Tintinha) x Muscat of Hamburg
•Developed in Portugal in the 1960s and introduced to Madeira in the 1970s as a Tinta Negra alternative.
Madeira: Rainwater Madeira
A light, medium-dry style and a favorite among the 19th century American South. Today, Rainwater is produced from Tinta Negra.
•Produced via estufagem
•min 3 years old
Madeira: “Seleccionado”
Generally produced via estufagem. The youngest type of Madeira wine that is generally produced with Tinta Negra grapes and aged for min. 3 years but max 5 years old.
Often labeled: “Finest”, “Choice”, or “Select”
Madeira: Permissible Indications of Age for Mutli-Vintage Blends
•Rainwater: 3-years old •Seleccionado: 3- to 5-years old •Reserve: 5-year old •Special Reserve: 10-year old •Extra Reserve: 15-year old 20-, 30- and 40-year-old Wines •Solera
Madeira: “Reserve”
5-year-old (Max 10 years of age)
Madeira: “Special Reserve”
AKA “Reserva Especial”
10-year-old (Max 15 years of age)
Madeira: “Extra Reserve”
15-year-old (Max 20 years of age)
Madeira: Production of wines with indication of age
Via canteiro process
Madeira: “Vintage”
May not appear on Madeira labels, “Colheita” means “vintage” and may be used instead
Madeira: Variety labeling requirements
85% of stated variety
Madeira: Vintage labeling requirements
85% - younger wines are usually used to top up
•Term “Vintage” may not be used on the labels
•Must used “Colheita” instead
Madeira - Colheita: Aging and Production
Colheita wines undergo canteiro and may not be bottled until 10/31 of the 5th year following the harvest
Madeira - Frasqueira: Aging and Production
Vintage Madeira
•Aging: MIN. 20 years in cask wines undergo canteiro aging for a min of 20 years in wood
•Some producers will transfer the wines to glass demi-johns after 20 years to stop the evaporation and aging
Madeira: Sweetness levels
- Extra Dry (Extra Seco)
- Dry (Seco)
- Medium Dry (Meio Seco)
- Medium Rich/Sweet (Meio Doce)
- Rich/Sweet (Doce)
**Can be used to label wines aged less than 5 years
Madeira: Alcohol Range
17-22%
Madeira: Vinho da Torno
A synonym for Vinho da Roda
•AKA Vinho da Volta
Madeira: Min Aging
It may not be sold until 10/31 of the 2nd year after the harvest
Madeira - Vinho de Canteiro: Aging
2 years in wood and may not be bottled for 36 months after the final fortification
Madeira - Vinho de Estufagem: Aging
It may be bottled after 12 months from the conclusion of the estufagem process
Madeira - Solera Madeira: Aging
a min of 5 years in the solera (only 10% may be drawn off each year)
•Only 10 total additions may be made to each solera
Madeira - Solera Madeira: Labeling
Labeled with the starting date of the solera
•But wines added to the solera may actually be older than the original wine
Madeirense DOP:
•Styles
•Aging
•Alcohol
Styles:
•Still Red, white, rosé
Aging:
•Still Red - 6 months
•Still White/Rosé - none
Alcohol Mins:
•Still White/Rosé - 10.5%
•Still Red - 11.5%
Madeirense DOP: AOC Established
1999
Madeira: Name for varieties
Castas
Madeira DOP: Permitted style
Vinho Licoroso (Fortified)
Madeira DOP: “Recommended” White Grape Varieties
- Terrantez
- Malvasia Fina (Boal)
- Malvasia Cândida (Malvasia di Lipari)
- Sercial
- Verdelho
Madeira - Malvasia Fina: May be labeled
Boal
What distinct variety was once thought to be identical to Folgasão?
Terrantez
Madeira DOP: “Recommended” Red Grape Varieties
- Bastardo
- Malvasia Cândida Roxa (Malvasia Roxa)
- Tinta (Tinta da Madeira)
- Tinta Negra (Tinta Negral Mole)
- Verdelho Tinto
Madeira - South Side Growing Region: Municipal Districts
Madeira South Side: •Calheta •Câmara de Lobos •Funchal •Ponta do Sol •Cruz •Ribeira Brava •Machico
Madeira - North Side Growing Region: Municipal Districts
- Porto Moniz
- São Vicente
- Santana
Madeira Growing Region: Island
Porto Santo
Madeira - Estufagem: Temperature
MIN 50º C for MIN. 90 days
Madeira: Latitude
30º to 33º latitude
Madeira: Vine Training
- Latada: a horizontal trellis for training vines (common)
* Espaldeira: vertical vine-training on stakes (rare)
Madeira: Fortification
•MIN 96% abv grape spirit (often imported from France)
Madeira: Ballasted wines
Vinhos ao Roda: wines that had undergone the torna viagem (round trip)
Madeira: heating method for the best wines
Vinhos Canteiro
•Casked-aged in lodge attics for 2 years
Madeira: Região Demarcada Established
1929
•Along with the Dão and Vinho Verde
Madeirense DOP: DOC Established
1999
Madeira: armazens de calor
Warmed rooms used for delicately heating wines for the estufagem process. The wines are placed in rooms warmed by nearby tanks or steam pipes rather than direct heat of the estufa.
On Madeira, when are wines destined for Frasqueira or Colheita usually identified?
Regardless of the harvest outlook, a wine only reveals its potential for Frasqueira or Colheita quality after a lengthy period of aging.
Madeira: Governing Body and Responsibilities
Madeira Institute of Wine, Embroidery and Handicrafts (IVBAM)
Responsibilities:
•Authorizes Planting
•Sets harvest dates
•Recommends (rather than mandates) grape prices
•Regulates the purchase of wine alcohol for fortification
•Oversees the estufagem process by sealing the estufas and temperature controls for at least 3 months
•They place seals on cask set to age for a min. 5 years for EU grant money
•Document and check aging declaration (5-, 10-, 20-year old etc.)
If there is no bottling date on a Madeira wine, one can roughly approximate age by checking what?
Looking at the seal on the neck:
•1937 to 1979 - JNV (Junta Nacional do Vinho) controlled the production of Madeira
- 1979 to 2006 - IVM (Madeira Wine Institute)
- 2006 to present - IVBAM: the Madeira Wine Institute was merged with the embroidery institute
Madeira: Largest Producer
Justino’s
Madeira: Producer that owns land
Henriques & Henriques
•They own 12 ha
Madeira: Producers
- H.M. Borges
- Henriques & Henriques
- Madeira Wine Company
- Pereira D’Oliveira
- Vinhos Barbeito
- Vinhos Justino Henriques
- Faria & Filhos
On Madeira, who stores wine and sells it at maturity to other traders for a profit?
Partidistas: similar to the almacenistas of the Sherry trade
•Pereira D’Oliveira was founded in 1850 as a partidista
Madeira: 3 types of companies involved in Madeira wine trade
- Producers (generally also export)
- Madeira trader (aka shipper; select wines produced by others)
- Partidistas (those who store wine and sell it at maturity to other traders for a profit)
Madeira: Phylloxera
1872
Madeira: Vinho da Volta
A synonym for Vinho da Roda
•AKA Vinho da Torno
