MORE MADEIRA, MY DEAR?

                                          
After a very lengthy hiatus, Madeiras are coming back, alas more with a whimper than a roar.

Do you need proof that the Uptown Tasting Group (referred to in an earlier blog) is always on the cutting edge? No sooner had we decided on one of our monthly Friday tastings to check out Madeiras, then the very next Sunday the San Francisco Chronicle had a whole spread on the renaissance of Madeira.

The isles of Madeira (madeira =wood - wooded islands) lie about three-hundred miles off the Atlantic coast of Morocco. They were discovered by Portuguese seafarers in the early 1400's. No humans inhabited the isles. I hate to think what the seamen would have done with the natives. Soon land was cleared to grow food and terraces built to cultivate the vine.

The wines, like most others at the time were unstable and spoiled easily. Still, some of them were shipped to Portugal and even to England. Eventually the vintners learned to stabilize the wines by fortifying them with neutral brandy. Madeiras have about 20% alcohol.

British penetration of the West Indies, the East Indies and the founding of the American colonies made Madeira the wine of choice for these far off places. Ships in great numbers passed by the islands on their voyages and picked up barrels of wine.

Lo and behold, the greatest enemy of wine -excessive heat - proofed to be a boon to Madeiras. Barrels were lashed onto the deck of ships sailing to the Indies and their popularity grew in those far off locales.

When the British fought in the French and Indian War against the French for dominance in North America and later tried to put down the uprising of the thirteen American colonies, they came to know Madeira and upon return the demand in England for Madeira grew.

What better testimony as to the popularity of Madeira could there be than that the signers of the Declaration of Independence toasted its adoption with Madeira? To this day there exists a Madeira club in Savannah, Georgia, which somehow survived Prohibition.

Catastrophe struck Madeira's vineyards like those in Europe when powdery mildew and phylloxera from North America were inadvertently carried there in the middle of the 18th century. Madeira didn't really recover until the middle of the previous century. Now the vineyards are again planted with the classic grapes Verdelho, Sercial, Bual and Malvasia (Malmsey). This order also pretty much gives you the span of Madeiras from almost dry to very sweet (but never cloying).

The Rare Wine Company of Sonoma, California recently cooked up this great idea to get old stocks of Madeira and issue Madeiras whose bottles are graced with handsome labels showing historic depictions of East Coast port cities where Madeiras were unloaded during the hey days of its popularity. The Company issues wines in all styles (i.e. Verdelho, Sercial, etc) and most bottles are around fifty dollars.

There are other very good, less expensive choices available. We were impressed with the Vinhos Justinos 1997 Colheita which is available at twenty-five dollars. I have also enjoyed the Henriques & Henriques Madeira Verdelho (aged 10 years in cask) that sells for about thirty five dollars. Right now I'm working on a Blandy's Verdelho ("Matured in Oak Casks For Five Years") that I bought for twenty odd dollars. Once opened you don't have to worry about spoilage. Madeira can sit around for months without going bad.


The best source for Madeiras in the San Francisco Bay Area is the "Spanish Table" in Berkeley and their other store in Mill Valley's Strawberry Village shopping center.

The dryer style Sercial and Verdelho would best be served at about fifty-two degrees, while it is recommended to drink the sweeter Buals and Malmseys at around fifty-seven degrees.

Nuts, in particular walnuts and pecans, go really well with Madeiras. According to Hugh Johnson, the great British wine writer, "a Cox's Orange Pippin and a digestive biscuit is a classic English accompaniment." The sweet Bual and Malmsey styles are fantastic foils for dark chocolates and cakes made with dark chocolate.

The members of the Uptown Tasting Group were happy as clams that the finesse and character of the Madeiras gave them a break from their usual fair of First Growth Bordeaux and Grand Cru Burgundies. Right!