She´s been more than thinking about Madeira
New Year's Day is "take down the tree day" at our house. Between watching bowl games and dining on our traditional "Hoppin' John," we somehow managed to pack all the holiday decorations and cart them back to the basement, then dispose of the tree, leaving a thick trail of pine needles all the way to the curb.
Once the football marathon was over, there was time to have a drink by the fire and contemplate the year ahead. So we opened a bottle of what may be the perfect thinking man's wine: Madeira.
Madeira is a fortified wine that comes from the Portuguese island of Madeira (closer to Morocco than to Portugal). Long popular in Britain, it became a favorite with American revolutionaries in the late 18th century and is reputed to have been the wine used by our founding fathers to toast the signing of the Declaration of Independence.Madeira is made from a complex three-stage process. First, clear spirits are added to the wine before fermentation has finished, leaving some residual sugar in the wine. This mix is then placed in casks and heated to just over 100 degrees for three to six months, after which the wines are transferred to other wooden casks but not filled to the brim, allowing for oxidation to occur. The combination of heat and oxidation intensifies the flavors, softens the wine and creates a layered complexity.
The fine Madeiras are made from four grape varieties and the name of the wine is that of the grape. Sercial and Verdelho are dry or medium dry wines with light body. Bual is a medium-rich and sweet wine. Malmsey is the sweetest and heaviest of the Madeiras, rather kin to port.
Madeira varies in quality with age. The older the better and more expensive. Vintage Madeira, just like vintage port, is the top grade. It is at least 20 years old and all the grapes come from a single vintage. When I visited Madeira in 1973, the producers used the solera system with small quantities of exceptionally old wines blended in just as is done in Jerez for sherry; however, today the solera system has been abandoned and the wines are blended and labeled with the age of the oldest wine in the blend.
We opened a bottle of 5 Year NV Bual and let it breathe for an hour while we finished our chores. Madeira is frequently served with Roquefort cheese but we had to improvise with a chunk of manchego in the fridge and I have to say, it went wonderfully well with our Bual and provided a memorable end to the first day of 2010.
Cossart Gordan 5 Year Bual, NV
PLCB #011232, $22.99
With aromas of caramel and roasted nuts, this is a piece of pecan pie in a glass! There are also notes of raisins and herbs wrapped in enough acidity to prevent the wine from cloying. The finish lingers nicely as one enjoys the multiple layers of the rich bouquet. This may be one of the best bargains in the wine store when you think of the labor involved in making it.
If you don't finish the bottle, re-cork and store in a cool, dark place. It should keep for up to a month.
