Madeira

The IVV says the island was discovered by Portuguese navigators in 1418. Prince Henry the Navigator soon judged it good for vines and had Malvasia cuttings brought from Greece, from Napoli di Malvasia. Export of Madeira wine has been established since the seventeenth century. The Madeira specification lists the legal milestones of the designation: Decree 218 of 1913, Decree-Law 23 910 of 1934 and Decree-Law 41 166 of 1957. In 1979 the autonomous region created the Instituto do Vinho da Madeira to regulate production and trade, with its own laboratory and tasting panel. It merged in 2006 with the embroidery and crafts institute to form the IVBAM. Still wines came later. Trials of grape varieties began at the end of the 1970s, the first vineyards for still wine were planted around 1993, and DO Madeirense was defined in 1999.

The Madeira Demarcated Region covers the inhabited islands of Madeira (740.7 km²) and Porto Santo (42.5 km²). It lies in the Atlantic between 30° and 33° N, 978 km south-west of Lisbon and about 700 km from the African coast. The specification names the "poios" as the human factor that most marks the vineyard landscape. These are terraces built against the steep slopes so that they can be farmed. Soils are mainly basaltic with low pH; growers commonly add organic matter because farmland is scarce. The IVV calls the ground volcanic and mostly gravelly.

Temperature ranges are small through the growing season and ripening temperatures are mild. Altitude and exposure create microclimates that strongly mark the grapes. Plots are small, averaging about 0.3 ha, and mostly too steep for machines, so almost all work is done by hand. Vines are trained on pergolas ("latada"), on wires ("espaldeira") on gentler ground since the second half of the twentieth century, or along the ground.

The specification says the low-pH basalt soils give musts and wines of high acidity, which mark Madeira and give its well-known longevity. Young wines have notes of dried fruit and wood, with caramel in the sweeter ones, and high freshness from their acidity. With age the bouquet grows: dried figs, almonds and hazelnuts, vanilla, orange peel, coffee, tea, honey and spices. Very old wines add varnish, pine, eucalyptus and curry notes from sotolon. Sercial is dry and firm, Verdelho medium dry and full, Boal medium sweet and amber, and Malvasia sweet, with raisin and molasses. The rules attribute this range to grape, soil, climate, fortification and ageing.

Madeira must reach 17-22% alcohol. It is fortified during or after fermentation with neutral wine alcohol of at least 96%. Sweetness is set by degrees Baumé: extra dry up to 0.5, dry (Sercial) under 1.5, medium dry (Verdelho) 1-2.5, medium sweet (Boal) 2.5-3.5 and sweet (Malvasia) over 3.5. Rainwater is dry or medium dry. The rules allow two processes. Canteiro wine ages at least two consecutive years in wood and may be sold 36 months after its last fortification. Estufagem wine is held at no more than 50 °C for at least 90 days and sold no earlier than 31 October of the second year after harvest. Age statements are 5, 10, 15, 20, 30 and over 40 years; Colheita and Frasqueira are single-vintage wines. Listed grapes include Sercial, Verdelho, Boal (Malvasia Fina), Malvasia Cândida, Terrantez (Folgasão), Bastardo and Tinta Negra. DO Madeirense covers still and sparkling wine from the same islands; its reds age at least six months, usually in barrel.