Madeira is a fortified wine made in the Madeira Islands of Portugal, which is prized equally for drinking and cooking.

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 in subjecting the wine, in buildings called estufas specially designed for this purpose, to a high temperature for a period of some months. 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 spirits increased its ability to survive long voyages. Its numbing effects were a great benefit on these long journeys.

Exposure to extreme temperature and oxygen accounts for its stability; an opened bottle of Madeira will survive unharmed for a considerable time, up to a year. Properly sealed in bottles, Madeira is one of the longest lasting wines; Madeiras have been known to survive over 150 years in excellent condition. It is not uncommon to see Madeiras pushing the century mark for sale at stores that specialize in rare wine.

Types

There are four major types of Madeira: Malvasia (also known as Malmsey or Malvazia), Bual (or Boal), Verdelho, and Sercial, the latter two being drier. Occasionally one sees Terrantez, Bastardo and Moscatel varieties, although these are now increasingly rare on the island due to oidium and phylloxera. After the phylloxera epidemic, many wines were mislabeled as containing one of these noble grape varieties. Since the epidemic, Tinta Negra Mole is the workhorse variety on the island and is found in various concentrations in many blends and vintage wines. Of these, Bastardo and Tinta Negra Mole are red grape varieties, the rest are all white.

Regulations enacted recently by the European Union have applied the rule that 85% of the grapes in the wine must be of the variety on the label. Thus, wines from before the late 19th century and after the late 20th century conform to this rule. Other madeiras do not.

Many vineyards have in the past been ripped up for commercial tourist developments or replanted with such products as bananas for commercial concerns. There is some replanting taking place on the island; however, the tourist trade is generally seen as a more lucrative business than wine-making.

Madeira may be sold as a vintage wine with a specific year when aged in casks for more than 15 years, or a blended wine with a minimum age, such as 3, 5, 10 or 15 years. Also there are solera wines, having been started in a specific year.