Explore Food & Wine

MADEIRA

In May 2008 I visited Madeira to try the food and wine in particular the Madeira fortified wines unique to the island.

We stayed in the wonderful Quinta de Bela Vista in Funchal.
Over the next three days we visited several wine lodges and ate in some great restaurants.

First visit was to see the Madeira wine Story in the Old Blandy Wine Lodge in the centre of Funchal. Their museum has many historical items [letters from Winston Churchill ] and artefacts on winemaking in Madeira. Wine is still made in the lodge and we followed the progress of the production of the wine with the added pleasure of wonderful smells coming from the maturing wine in the barrels.

Madeira wines are named after the main grape used to produce it. The basic grapes used in the making of Madeira are Sercial, Verdelho Bual and Malmsey. Tinta Negra Mole grape is the most produced on Madeira and is mostly used as the base for blends and younger wines.

After separation of the must from the skins the individual grape types are fermented for a time and when the decided level of natural sugar is converted into alcohol the fermentation process is stopped by the addition of a grape brandy. Each style has different levels of sweetness and if you want to learn more the Madeira wine web sites provide plenty of good information.

But the next stage of the wine making process developed from shipping the wines to customers through the tropics. The effect of the increased temperature developed a mellowed character and increased the time that the wine could be kept.
The process ESTUFAGEM , the heating of the wines was introduced and is the method being used today.

Once opened a bottle of Madeira will last for years. It is like a good brandy which never deteriorates. I saw many Bual wines ranging to over 100 years old and have tasted wines made in the 1920’s which were fresh and very tasty to drink.

After a good buffet lunch at Hotel Porto Santa Maria the afternoon was spent visiting the sub tropical gardens at Monte Palace returning to town via the toboggan. Then onto the restaurant Mohle an interesting concept Restaurant and club by the Harbour in Funchal. The food was very good and the evening finished with a Madeira back at the Quinta de Bela Vista for an after dinner drink of course.

The next day we tasted the amazing wines of Barbeito presented by Ricardo Diogo one of the family. They decided, some years ago not to add caramel to the wines. The result is light coloured wines with fresh vibrant flavours. The star of the tasting was a 100 year old Malmsey from his mothers cellar.
Look at the colour of the wines

We tasted the wine at the lodges of Pereira d’Oliveira , Barros de Sousa and Henriques & Henriques. Wonderful meals were enjoyed at the Restaurante do forte, Vila da Carne with the final dinner at Reid’s Hotel. Pate foi gras was a frequent on the menus. The restaurants in the centre of the Island serve traditional Portuguese style food. The chicken was delicious.

Madeira is a beautiful island and one tour I enjoyed was by taking the coast road along the spectacular north side of the island, via Seixal and Sao Vincente to Porto Moniz.

We stopped on the way for a glass of the local liquor after lunch in the only restaurant at Chao da Ribeira. We followed the road round to Ponta do Pargo, the island’s most westerly point then returned to Funchal by Estreito da Calheta to enjoy the evening sky.

The next trip was up the mountain road to the Paul da Serra plateau and back down to Encumeada, lunch at Pousada dos Vinhaticos and Ribeira Brava. We then followed the old coast road through the vineyards at Quinta Grande and Estreita de Camara de Lobos to Camara de Lobos.

Then continued along the coast road back to Funchal for Gala Dinner at Reid’s Palace

The road network on Madeira has been improved by the new motorways. You can travel easily round the island from the tropical sea shores to the tundra like centre In a reasonable time. For those with Caravans and Mobile homes. Madeira can be reached by ferry from Portamao in southern Portugal.