Continuing down the road of fortified wine production I wanted to go over Madeira wine production in this post. You don’t really see much info on Madeira but it is a fine fortified wine when you’re not staring any of the various bottles of cheap cooking wine. If you’d like to read about the various styles of Madeira, read my post, Madeira Wine: A Drink To Independence. You will also find characteristics and classification levels. Traditionally made from one of four of the Noble wine grapes of the region, Malvasia, Baul, Sercial, or Verdelho, Madeira is labeled varietally. For a while, after Phylloxera destroyed a majority of vineyards in Madeira during the 1800′s, wine makers substituted Tinta Negra Mole for each varietal. Entire vineyards were planted and used for all styles until the Noble grapes were reintroduced. Today at least 85% of the juice in a bottle of Madeira must be of the varietal on the label to be classified as such varietal.
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