THE WINES OF MADEIRA
From the middle of the 16th century, ships stopping at the port of Madeira's capital, Funchal, would take on numerous barrels of the locally-made wine. Drinking it helped sailors avoid scurvy because of its highly rich vitamin and mineral content. It was then found that the wine tasted better at the end of a voyage across the equator, so local producers started sending casks of Madeira wine on long sea crossings to be heated and thus improved by the hot tropical sun. By the 18th century, the heating method had been simplified and this process known as estufagem is still used today.

The four varieties of Madeira wine are Sercial, Verdelho, Bual and Malmsey.
Sercial (the driest) is a pale, light-bodied wine that nakes an excellent aperitif.
Verdelho (medium-dry) is a tangy medium-bodied wine with an elegant, dry taste. It is best drunk as an aperitif or taken with soup.
Bual (medium-rich) is a full-bodied medium-sweet wine laced with an appealing smoky complexity. Bual goes well with cheeses and desserts.
Malmsey (the richest) is a full-bodied, lusciously sweet and robust wine with a deep honeyed quality. It is the ideal dessert wine.

Madeira wine is matured in cask for periods ranging from three to fifteen years, amd the best wines are eventually classified on the label of the bottle as a Vintage.
Vintage Madeiras are only made from the superior wines of an outstanding year. They are produced solely from one of the traditional grape varieties and must remain in cask for a minimum of twenty years or more. They are then left in bottle for a further two years prior to selling. Vintage Madeiras can remain in excellent condition for approximately 150 years, and sometimes even longer. A good example of this is Blandy's 1792, which is still drinkable after more than 200 years!