REVIEW|WINESOFMADEIRA
Aftertheinitialstage,thewinesaretestedforqualityandpotentialforfurtheraging.Theyoungestwinessoldare3yearsold.Mostwinesareblendsofdifferentages,havinganaverageageof5(Reserve),10(OldReserve),15and20years.Alsomadearewinesfromsingleharvests.Thesewillbebottledandsoldafterbeingagedforaminimumof5years(Colheita)or20years(Vintage).storedupright.Unlikemostwines,Madeirasdonotdeterioratequicklyonceopened,sotheycan,ifthetemptationisresisted,beenjoyedoveralongperiodoftime.
IfyouhavenevertastedMadeirawines,youhavemissedagreatexperience.
Duringaging,manychangestakeplace,includingthecaramelisationofthesugars,givingrisetothetypicalaromasandflavours.Thesecaninclude:fruits,nuts,spices,driedfruits,caramel,honeyandchocolate.
Madeirawinesareextremelyversatileandcanbedrunkontheirownorwithfood.Thewinescanbeservedatroomtemperature,althoughsomeproducersrecommendslightlycoolingdrywines.Bottlesshouldbe
WinesofMadeiraiswrittenandpublishedbyTrevorElliott.ForourReadersOfferseepage42.
20|Summer2012|www.madeira-life.net|