What is Madeira wine?
Madeira Wine is actually a family of wines that come from the Portuguese Islands Madeira. Various wines that are created using methods that have been commonly used for centuries can be used in many different ways. Some types of Madeira wine are ideal for cooking, while others are more suitable for use with desserts or as an aperitif.
Madeira wine can be formulated as sweet wine or dry wine. In all cases, wines are fortified by a process that helps the finished product to enjoy a long life without minimizing the taste or smell of wine. In any case, the fortified wine is subject to the process of vinification, which is somewhat unique to the fermentation process used in other parts of the world. The final result is that Madeira wine tends to have a strong taste and bouquet that makes it popular in many places around the world.
One of the distinctive elements in the Madeira wine production process is the use of avsis temperature for a longer period of time. This is achieved by building stone buildings,that are known as Estufas. Estufs are usually served with sections that are located for a long time when the wine is exposed to higher temperatures. The time that the wine is subject to this exposure to the high temperature helps to determine the type and quality of the end product.
The advantage of this unique process is that the process tends to control fermentation in a way that allows wine to become somewhat pasteurized. Adding grape brandy also helps stabilize fortified wine and helps not only in color uniformity, but also in a long wine life as soon as the bottle opens. Properly enriched wine made on Madeira islands can easily remain fresh and usable for up to one year after the first opening.