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Continuing the theme of fortified wines, one cannot help but recall perhaps the most exquisite in taste, difficult to manufacture and unusual in terms of effect drink – “women’s cognac”, Madeira.
Continuing the theme of fortified wines, begun in the article about port wine, one cannot help but recall perhaps the most exquisite in taste, difficult to manufacture and unusual in its effects drink – “women’s cognac”, Madeira.
I don’t know what associations anyone has with the word “Madeira”. For me, this is the last warmth of autumn, when the fading September sun throws its last supply of rays into the warmed fallen leaves, this is the smell of fragrant freshly cut grasses, smoke from smoldering fires, the subtle aroma of harvested fruits … This is a drink for mature people, perfection that does not need improvements, this is life as you understand it in your declining years. If there is something settled in the world, something truly reliable, something that is guaranteed not to change, fail or betray, then this is Madeira.
“Twice-Born by the Sun”
Madera is a unique wine, with the most complex unique recipe. In our stores you can find Madeira from “Massandra” – although it is of high quality, it is still a fake that differs from the real Vinho da Madeira in the same way that the “White Stork” differs from the “Martel”. Madeira is a regional product, it can be made exclusively on the Portuguese island of the same name in the Atlantic, off the coast of Africa. A whole institute is engaged in the study of wine and its certification. (I remember, when I was a student, I dabbled in Madeira almost every day. Probably, in the “Instituto do Vihno da Madeira” he would have been an excellent student.)
On the island of Madeira, grapes have been grown since the middle of the XNUMXth century; local winemakers actively traded wine around the world. Once, because of the calm, the Portuguese cargo ships stuck around for a long time in the equatorial latitudes. Due to the high temperature, the drink became unsalable and had to be shipped back to Europe. Fortunately, someone’s greed did not allow pouring out a valuable cargo – they began to taste the wine, and it turned out that not only was it not lost, but on the contrary, it acquired an exquisite color and taste reminiscent of burnt sugar and a roasted nut. Very soon, the barrels with the “defective” drink were taken away from the satisfied sailors and sent straight to the table of the best European courtyards.
The popularity of Madeira in Europe can be judged by one interesting fact. During the War of the Scarlet and White Roses, a comrade named George Plantagenet lived in London, he is also the Duke of Clarence, a merry fellow and a big drinker. One of his jokes was misunderstood – the duke was convicted of betraying his brother, King Edward IV and sentenced to death with the right to choose the method of killing. Plantagenet, don’t be a fool, chose to drown in a barrel of sweet Madeira – Malvasia.
Since then, attempts have begun to artificially recreate the taste of “overaged” wine. He was swung on special swings, and tormented at high temperatures in special “baths”, and allowed to “breathe” the sea air. At this time, the popularity of the first batch of the drink reached such limits that it became profitable to specially equip entire squadrons of ships with wine on board and send them to maneuver around the equator. As a result, special greenhouses were invented that allowed the barrels to be in direct sunlight, but not suffer from temperature changes. From this time, you can start counting the life of that Madeira, which we know now.
You give maderization of production!
“Maderization” is the process of aging wine in oak barrels, at elevated temperatures under the influence of direct sunlight. Tannins, oxygen and heat do a triple job, turning ordinary wine into a real symphony of taste, color and aroma. In the liquid, the so-called “Maillard reaction” occurs – amino acids and sugar, interacting, color the wine and give it shades of walnut and caramel. The same thing happens, for example, when a dark crust forms on a baked cake.
Of course, before making wine, Vinho da Madeira goes through a winepress (in small “family” factories, grapes are still crushed with their feet), fermentation and fortification with 96% brandy. The must ferments from a month to just one day. Madera differs according to such criteria as:
- Color – white is made from sercial (riesling), muscatel, malvasia grapes, and red – from the varieties “Tinto Negra”, “Negra Mole”, “Bastardo”.
- Sweetness. Fermentation of the must from different grapes is interrupted at different stages. Madeira can be completely fermented – Dry Madeira (Sersial), semi-dry (Verdelho), semi-sweet and sweet (Boal). From the Malvasia variety, an exceptionally sweet (“dessert”) Madeira is obtained.
- And, of course, excerpt. Madeira is aged for three years, 5 years (Reserva), 10 (Reserva Velha), 15 (Exceptional Reserva) and 20 (Fresqueira Vintage). Due to the fact that the wine is specially aged during production, the bottle can be stored open for up to a year and a half. In a sealed form, it lies as long as you like (in barrels, the drink evaporates quickly, read the article “About 200-year-old cognac” – note).
In 1999, London hosted a tasting of the world’s oldest Madeira in 1670, accidentally found in a littered wine cellar. The wine turned out to be quite drinkable.
Madera owes its appearance to chance. Thanks to another accident that occurred in the American city of Savannah, a new, unique variety of Madeira called Rainwater was discovered. It turned out that wine, standing in barrels for a long time in the rain, significantly loses its strength, while retaining excellent taste and aromatic qualities. This drink is very popular among Americans.
“Royal Madeira” with small Arnautskaya
Despite the fact that the name of Madeira coincides with the name of the island on which it is produced, Madeira residents drink very little of it. Fortified, well tolerated by pitching, exposure to heat and sun, Madeira is popular mainly outside of Portugal. It is very much appreciated in the States – at one time Jefferson raised a glass with this particular drink, marking the proclamation of independence. And in tsarist Russia, “sunny” wine was so popular that Paul I once granted its supplier a baronial title.
By the way, in Catherine’s time, Madeira was used as a medicine – to raise the tone and maintain strength during recovery. Doctors recommended that old people drink a small glass of this drug every day. And the mysterious Grishka Rasputin, according to rumors, Madeira saved his life. They allegedly tried to poison the “All-Russian priest” by pouring cyanide into a glass of wine (of which, by the way, he could drink 3-4 bottles a day). Unusual sweet wine weakened the effect of the poison and Rasputin remained alive.
By the XNUMXth century, the popularity of the drink had reached such limits that they began to “body” it right and left. It was possible to get a bottle of real Portuguese Madeira only “from over the hill”.
“Madera comes in different varieties: the real one, the real one, and the “Guishpan” [Spanish]. Of these, only Gishpanskaya is manufactured at Vasilevsky, and the rest of the varieties are mostly in Moscow.
(Old Russian joke)
By the way, the phrase “Tsar’s Madeira” has nothing to do with wine – this is how the builders of St. Petersburg called the “front-line 100 grams” of cheap vodka, which was issued to them daily by Peter’s decrees.
Madeira was forged all over Europe and in America – winemakers not only made wine using a similar technology, but also tried to “maderize” ready-made wines of other varieties. We also set up production – in Armenia, Moldova, in the Kuban. But the Crimean plant “Massandra” achieved the greatest success. The company even has a separate “maderization workshop” – an open area under the burning subtropical sun, where barrels of wine stand for 5-6 years. “Madera Massandra”, “Crimean” and the now discontinued “Madera Koktebel” are in great demand and have a number of prestigious international awards. Of course, they will not be able to satisfy the sophisticated “mader snob”, but they are quite suitable for ordinary connoisseurs, and besides, they will fit perfectly into a variety of cocktails.
“No need to scold vermouth for not Madeira. He’s a vermouth, and that’s what it says on the label.”
(Victor Konetsky)
Some call Madeira “women’s cognac.” But it seems to me that this drink is as far from gender prejudice as the sun in the sky: it is ready to warm and please everyone, regardless of gender and social status. In my opinion, Madeira is one of the few wines that can be easily understood and appreciated by a simple amateur, without the manners of a professional sommelier. She, like an elderly, wise woman, loves all her grandchildren equally, gives a feeling of warmth and happiness, is always ready to console and give good advice …