Madeira wine - Madeira Islands of Portugal
Madeira is a fortified wine made in the Madeira Islands of Portugal, which is prized equally for drinking and cooking; the latter use including the dessert plum in madeira.
The method of vinification is similar to that employed in other parts of Portugal, but the method employed for hastening the maturation of the wine is peculiar and characteristic.
This consists of subjecting the wine to a high temperature for a period of some months in buildings called estufas specially designed for this purpose. This process is meant to duplicate the effect of a long sea voyage of the aging barrels through tropical climates. Madeira was originally unfortified, but the addition of grape brandy increased its ability to survive long voyages.
The temperature varies from 35 to 60 C (100 to 140 F), according to the quality of the wine, the lower temperature being used for the better wines. The estufas are built of stone and are divided into compartments heated by means of hot air obtained from a system of stoves and flues.
Much of the characteristic flavor of Madeira is due to this practice, which hastens the mellowing of the wine and also tends to check secondary fermentation in as much as it is, in effect, a mild kind of pasteurization. Furthermore, the wine is deliberately exposed to air, causing it to oxidize. The resulting wine has a color similar to a tawny port. Wine tasters sometimes describe an oxidized wine as being maderized.