I've been lucky enough to have tasted several ancient Madeiras...most notably, a 1795 on its 200th anniversary. Truly a defining moment, and I'm tearing up just thinking about it. Stunning, evocative, humbling... I just sat there for 20 minutes sipping and contemplating its life, then marveled at the evolution of the residue over the next hour. Bottles are probably still being released. Jump at the chance...even if $100/taste.
We Portuguese have a lot of excelent wines and great liquors, but we suck at marketing them and selling them abroad, so thanks for this video! Besides Madeira and Port, our table wines are great too, especially Vinho Verde (literally Green Wine, or Young Wine) a type of wine tradicional from the Minho region, a sub-category of white wine where the grapes are harvested earlier, impacting it more acidity and fruitiness. And as for liqueurs, Licor Beirão, an herbal liquor with hints of caramel, is the most famous one. Amarguinha is my personal favorite, a sour almond liqueur, very sweet - great on the rocks with a few drops of lemon, or on a Sour cocktail just with lemon and egg white. Poejo (distilled from a flower, used to treat colds and indegestion back in the day), Ginja (a type of sour cherry from Lisbon and Óbidos), and Poncha (also from Madeira) are also great. Our brandys are also very good, both the regular kind like Macieira, and the ones made from medronho (arbutus) which is strong and very flavorful. And we've been doing some great gins as well, lately, most from the Alentejo region - Gin Sul, Sharish, Black Pig, and Adamus are but a few examples. So, since you probably won't be able to find any of these, come to Portugal and have a taste! 😊
I had some of my most memorable glasses of wine when I visited Portugal. A vinho verde from Alentejo and a Madeira wine. Also I went to the famous Ginja shop in Lisbon. All great.
I would not be so harsh. Indeed Portugal has amazing wines, and even if Porto is probably the first one that comes to mind for many, and without a doubt the most recognisable (in my opinion) I think the things are changing and more and more Portuguese wines are being discovered abroad and the market is changing. Also as I see it, people who enjoy a madeira or a regular Portuguese wine, usually do because they know what they want and are coming back for the great taste and quality. One way or the other I think demand is increasing and I just hope eventually meeting it will not decrease the quality. Cheers!
Don't sell your country's marketing skills short. Hungary produces a great variety of eminently drinkable wine, yet with the exception of Egri Bikavér ("Bull's Blood") and Tokaji you can't find a lot of it outsideof Hungary. The going suspicion (jokingly confirmed by a co-worker who's married to a Hungarian) is that that's completely intentional. If the rest of the world knew how good Hungarian wines were they'd buy them all up and the Hungarians wouldn't be able to enjoy a glass of good wine whenever they wanted. I wouldn't be surprised at all if Portuguese wines were subject to that same regrettable oversight.
You are wealth of knowledge about Madeira-I recently bought a bottle at Mount Vernon. The reason they sell it is because that was George Washington’s favorite drink. (Ordered 200 gallons at a time.)
Haven't watched yet - too busy typing Comment, will start ASAP. Madeira is definitely a favorite..... Looking forward to this. Without having watched, how to drink it? IN A GLASS! JUST DO IT!
If I remember my history correctly, Madeira was an obscure, niche product until one (well, two actually) fortunate circumstances catapulted it into popularity. During the 18th Century, Britain became a major consumer of Sherry and Port. The dominance of English merchant shipping meant that merchants had no trouble supplying the demand. Then Napoleon happened, and implemented the "Continental System" that prohibited countries within the French sphere from trading with countries outside the French sphere. Spain and Portugal were allied with France, so had to (at least officially) follow the rules. Loading whole ships to the deckheads with casks of Sherry or Port and sailing them into English ports was a bit too obvious, and more discreet arrangements didn't have a hope of satisfying the demand. So what's a thirsty Englishman to drink? Enter the Royal Navy. In the process of protecting England's trade lanes (and ensuring any French or Spanish ships had uncommonly exciting voyages) the Royal Navy temporarily occupied a small, rocky island in the Atlantic that was perfectly located to serve as a support base for ships blockading the Spanish and Portuguese coasts...Madeira. I doubt it took them very long to realize how good Madeira (the wine) was, and little longer for some clever chap to bethink himself if how his friends in England were bemoaning the lack of good Sack and Port. Soon enough, Napoleon managed to alienate the Portuguese and utterly infuriate the Spanish, and Port became more available, followed shortly by Sherry as the respective ports were reopened to English merchants. But Madeira had, in the mean time, made an impression on the English, and it's days as an obscure local tipple were over. Probably horribly wrong on many points, but hopefully at least mildly entertaining...
I had some Madeira that was brought up off a pirate ship and was older than the US, mid 1700's I believe. Was excellent! Wouldn't do it again because of the cost but was interesting to try.
Also, Cara is great at this. I would consider my self a well-intentioned Madeira novice. I love how this information is approachable but ushers us into the deeper end of the pool. It doesn't hurt that she could read the phonebook and make it interesting.
In the 60s, a US folk trio called the Limelighters sang this song (as a cover of the above I presume, but don't actually know the origins). That's who I hear in my head.... I didn't get it as a kid but kinda creepy lyrics.
@@bgclo Oh, yeah. It's creepy as all get-out. That's why you *have* to sing it tongue-in-cheek the way Flanders & Swann did. And use "prowess", not "finesse" like they had to for the US production (and the one decent video of them performing it).
Hi Cara, interesting, thanks for this episod...i'm not super familiar with this fortified wine as a drink for itself (I alas haven't tried yet some good quality ones, and really struggle with the cheap blends we have here, acidity & "greeneness" wise, but paradoxally, I'm a big fan of Madeira cask finishes for Whisky (I've done a video on my channel but it is quite an old one with less audio/visual quality than now & it needs updates) as it seems to bring on the table more complexity & depth to them (when well done, of course, I mean when not overpowering the distillate, which can be an issue with strongly flavoured wines & fortified ones like this). I know now that I have to try those bottles on the right of my screen in your video (the single varieties). Cheers !
Polite request. It's interesting to hear what you're saying, but can you please try to speak more slowly. I'm fining it hard to disentangle what you're saying, because I almost have to replay your words to stop them tripping over each-other. Thanks. As I say, I do appreciate your words, but find you hard to listen to.
