PT: Madeira Flashcards
Terraces in Madeira are called? What are they made of?
Poios
Basalt
What is the regulatory body that oversees production of Madeira?
Wine, Embroidery and Handicraft Institute of Madeira (IVBAM)
What is the term for Madeira’s ocean voyage?
Torna Viagem
What other island can Madeira be made on?
Porto Santo
What is common vine training method used on Madeira? How does it benefit the vine?
Pergola: the vines are trained on low trellises called latadas. This training combats fungal pressure in the damp environment
What is the term for the system of canals that drain Madeira’s peaks?
Levadas
(summers are hot and dry, winters short - most of the rain falls on the north side of the island so these bring rain to the very dry south side)
What is the capital of Madeira?
Funchal
Biggest exporter of Madeira?
Vinhos Justinos Henriques- responsible for half of the islands exports
Blandy’s and Cossart Gordon are produced by what outfit?
The Madeira Company
What is Madeira’s largest independent producer?
Henriques & Henriques
What are the 3 types of companies involved in the Madeira wine trade?
- Shipping company: trade wine rather than make it (ex: Broadbent)
- Partidistas: store wine and sell it at maturity for profit (similar to Sherry’s Almacenistas)
- Production companies: make the wine (Henriques)
How many production companies are there in Madeira?
8 but only 6 actively export
*most are based in Funchal
Name 3 Madeira production companies?
- H.M. Borges (founded 1877)
- Henriques & Henriques (founded 1850)
- Madeira Wine Company (originally formed in 1913 as the Madeira Wine Association, the MWC formally changed its title in 1981)
- Pereira D’Oliveira (founded 1850 as a partidista)
- Vinhos Barbeito (founded 1946)
- Vinhos Justino Henriques (founded 1870)
- Faria & Filhos (founded 1949)
- Madeira Vintners (Cooperativa Agrícola do Funchal) (founded 2013)
What are Madeira’s 4 noble white grapes?
- Escagna Cao (Sercial)
- Verdelho
- Boal (Bual/Malvasia Fina)
- Malmsey (Malvasia Candida/Branco do Sao Jorge)
What grape accounts for the majority of Madeira’s production?
Tinta Negra
If a Madeira is varietally labelled, what percentage of the variety must be in the blend?
85% if non-vintage blend
100% if it is vintage dated
Approximately how many hectares are planted on Madeira?
500ha, down for 3k pre-phylloxera
RS for Terrantez Madeira
Medium Dry or Medium Sweet
57 - 96gl RS
What 2 heating methods have replaced the “tourna viagem” for Madeira? Which is considered to be of higher quality?
Estufa
Canteiro
Explain the Estufagem process for producing Madeira?
After fortification, the wine is transferred to a stainless steel vat. The wine is heated via heated water running through serpentine coils in the tank.
The wine is heated to a temperature of 113-122º and held there for at least 3 months. After this, the wine is left to rest for 90 days - a period called the estagio - before being transferred to age in cask.
What variant of the Estufagem process might a producer use instead of direct heat?
Armazens de Calor: rooms warmed by nearby tanks or steam pipes rather than direct heat. Utilizes lower temperatures over a longer period of time - up to a year.
*Madeira Wine Company uses this
What is the Canteiro method
Name derives from the support beams on the ceiling of a winery
* Wines are cask-aged for at least two years in lodge attics, using gentler natural warmth and a slower maturation.
Min. aging for Madeira made via Estufagem vs. Canteiro?
Estufagem: 12 months from conclusion of process
Canteiro: Min. 2 years in cask; cannot be bottled before 3 yrs from date of final fortification
What is the earliest date that any style of Madeira can be sold?
October 31 of 2nd year after harvest
RS for Sercial Madeira
Dry or Extra Dry
0 to 65gl RS
RS for Verdelho Madeira
Medium Dry
57 - 80 gl RS
RS for Boal Madeira
Medium Sweet
80 to 96gl RS
RS for Malmsey Madeira
Sweet
96+ gl RS
What is Rainwater Madeira?
The story: casks waiting for passage to America (or on the dock in Savannah GA) were left in the rain and were pleasantly “diluted”
* typically made from Negra Mole, Verdelho
Colheita Madeira
- single variety or blend
- Min 5 years prior to bottling (from Oct 31)
the “bargain” vintage Madeira - frasquiera/garrafeira Madeira sees min. 20 years in cask
4 requirements for Frasqueira Madeira?
- aged min. 20 years in cask
- single recommended variety
- min. 85% of stated vintage
- canteiro method
Madeira ABV range?
17 - 22%
What is the minimum amount of time allowed between conclusion of the estufagem process and bottling for Madeira?
12 months
What is the maximum yield in Madeira?
150 hl/ha (IVBAM might adjust annually)
What is the dominant soil type in Madeira? Bonus points for naming subtypes (4).
Volcanic. Including…
- Saibro: decomposed red tufa
- Cascalho: stony soil
- Pedra Molle: arenaceous soil of decomposed yellow tufa
- Massapes: decomposed dark tufa that turned into clay
What event helped Madeira gain such popularity in colonial America?
1660s: British crown banned importation of products made/grown in Europe unless shipped on British vessels from British ports. Madeira was exempted.
What is Madeira’s local term for “pergola”?
Latadas
What does “estufa” directly translate to?
Hot house
3 ways that Phylloxera changed Madeira?
- Tinta Negra displaced Verdelho as most planted
- American hybrids entered the chat
- 2 nobles of the past weren’t replanted - Bastardo and Terrantez
Which 2 Madeira noble varieties are harvested last?
Sercial and Verdelho
Which of Madeira 4 nobles are typically fermented on their skins?
Bual, Malmsey
*Sercial and Verdelho are separated from skins prior to fermentation
Which of Madeira’s 4 nobles undergoes the shortest fermentation?
Malvasia/Malmsey - fermentation is stopped to preserve sugar
Aging requirements for Rainwater Madeira?
EARLIEST - Oct 31 of 2nd year after harvest (like all Madeira)
MAX 10 years aging
Seleccionado Madeira
- blended wine at least 3 yrs, less than 5
- Estufagem. Ages in tank, not cask
- Tinta Negra
- “Fine”, “Choice”, “Select”
Reserve Madeira
NV blend
Between 5 and 10 years of age
Madeira “Special Reserve”
NV blend
Between 10 - 15 years
*single variety, canteiro method
Extra Reserve Madeira
NV blend 15 - 20 years old
Solera Madeira
Fractional blending, Canteiro method
* single variety (from list of recommended)
* Vintage on bottle is year of the base wine
(Solera in Madeira are normally refreshed with older wine rather than younger)
* max 10% to be drawn off per year, max 10 refreshes
Name a labelling term for Madeira that has gone on an ocean voyage across the equator?
Vinho da Roda
Vinho da Torno
Vinho da Volta
Longest age designation for NV Madeira blends?
50 year age statement
Name two styles of Vintage Madeira?
- Colheita
- Frasquiera
- Vinho da Roda/Vinho da Torno/Vinho da Volta
Recommended red grapes in Madeira DOP?
- Bastardo (Graciosa)
- Malvasia Cândida Roxa (Malvasia Roxa) 3. Tinta (Tinta da Madeira)
- Tinta Negra (Tinta Negra Mole)
- Verdelho Tinto
Recommended white grapes in Madeira DOP? (8)
- Sercial (Esgana-cão)
- Verdelho
- Boal (Malvasia Fina)
- Malmsey (Malvasia Cândida/ di Lipari)
- Terrantez
- Malvasia Branca de São Jorge
- Moscatel Graúdo (Moscatel-de-Setúbal)
- Listrão
