How to pour
a madeira in
Put the bottle in the refrigerator for half an hour so the wine reaches 12 to 16 degrees. Keep dry Sercial and Verdelho at the cool end of that range and sweet Bual and Malmsey at the warm end. Ice-cold works against you, as the cold masks the nutty and caramel notes.
Remove the capsule and pull the cork. Many bottles of madeira have a stopper instead of a long cork, so you can close them again after pouring. If it does have a long cork, keep it, because the bottle will last for weeks to months after opening.
A decanter is almost never needed for madeira: the wine has already undergone oxidation and changes little in the glass. Only a very old frasqueira may have some sediment at the bottom; if so, pour it over gently and stop as soon as you see the cloudy layer coming through.
Pour 6 to 8 cl into a small stemmed glass, filling it about halfway. This keeps the serving modest and leaves room for the aroma to collect. Then close the bottle and store it upright in a cool, dark place; it will pour the same tomorrow and next month.
What did you think of this explanation?
One click on a star is enough. If you want to add something, we’ll read it first before it appears here.
Save this page
Send this page to your own email, so you have the explanation at hand when you are ready to serve. You will also receive a € 5 discount code for purchases from € 50 on the glasses that go with it.
The story
Madeira lies as an island in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean, on the route of ships traveling East and West. The wine that went aboard came back different after the heat in the hold: not spoiled, but rounder and more stable. That effect was later recreated in cellars. For the simpler wines, this is done with estufagem, in which the wine is brought to around fifty degrees in heated tanks and kept there for months. The better wines follow the canteiro method: casks in attics, where the sun warms them slowly, year after year. The more slowly the heat works, the finer the result.
The right glass
Madeira is served in small quantities because it contains more alcohol than regular wine and has a concentrated flavor. A footed bowl of around 14 cl is the right shape for this: you pour a small amount and leave room for the notes of nuts, caramel, and dried fruit to gather. There is no separate group of madeira glasses in our catalog; the model you are looking for can be found among the port glasses and liqueur glasses. Of the two below, the product description of the first glass mentions sherry, port, and dessert wine, while the description of the second specifically mentions madeira.
Royal Leerdam Carre Sherry Glass 14 cl (6 pieces)
Lehmann Grand Reserve Port Glass 13 cl (6 pieces)
Both sets together € 95,90.
The right tools
For a madeira, you need almost nothing besides the glass: use a nutmeg grater for the madeira sauce in the kitchen, and use cocktail picks to serve the olives, nuts, and cheese alongside it on the table. These are the bar tools we use ourselves; you can find everything in our bar tools & cocktail sets.
Glass set (our choice 01) + 2 bar tools together € 70,85.
Which wine goes with this?
Madeira is the wine itself, so these are the wines and drinks served before or after it. Start with wine, and for a sweet finish, check out moscato and amaretto. On each drink page, you can read the alcohol percentage, what it tastes like, which cocktails it pairs with and which glass you need.
Variations & twists
The four classic grapes represent four degrees of sweetness. Sercial is the driest and most sharply acidic, Verdelho is just above it, Bual is semi-sweet and full-bodied, and Malmsey, made from the Malvasia grape, is the sweetest. Tinta Negra is the most widely planted grape on the island and makes up a large proportion of bottles that do not have a grape name on the label. On that label, you will also find three years for the simplest wines, five years for reserve, ten years and older for the better wines, colheita from a single vintage, and frasqueira, also called vintage, with very long barrel aging. Read more? View all drinks and brands.
Servingtip
Madeira is best served at 12 to 16 degrees: the dry Sercial and Verdelho on the cooler side, the sweet Bual and Malmsey on the warmer side. Half an hour in the refrigerator is enough. Pour 6 to 8 cl into a small stemmed glass and put the bottle back in the cupboard afterward; because of the oxidation the wine has already undergone, it remains usable for months after opening.
Good to know
Why Madeira is heated
In ordinary wine, heat and air are the two enemies. In Madeira, they are the recipe. The wine is fortified with wine alcohol and then deliberately heated and exposed to air, so that the compounds that would otherwise cause spoilage later react already. For simple wines, this is done with estufagem: the wine goes into heated tanks at around fifty degrees and remains there for months. For finer wines, there is canteiro: casks that stand for years in a warm attic, where the sun does the work. What emerges is already oxidized, which is why it barely changes afterward.
The four grapes from dry to sweet
Sercial is the driest and has the most acidity, with a sharp, almost salty impression. Verdelho is medium-dry and somewhat rounder. Bual is medium-sweet, fuller, and darker in character. Malmsey, made from the Malvasia grape, is the sweetest and thickest of the four. There is also Tinta Negra, the most widely planted grape on the island; it is used for many bottles that do not name a grape and can be made from dry to sweet. If a grape name appears on the label, you immediately know where it falls on the sweetness spectrum.
What the designations on the label mean
Three years is the simplest category and is generally made using estufagem. Five years is labeled reserve, ten years is the point at which canteiro wines begin, and above that you find fifteen years and older. A colheita comes from a single vintage and then matures for years in cask before being bottled. A frasqueira, also called vintage, also comes from a single vintage but has undergone very long cask aging and is therefore the top category. The year on a colheita or frasqueira is the vintage year, not the bottling year.
How long an opened bottle stays good
This is Madeira's practical advantage. Because the wine has already been heated and oxidized before it is bottled, a little air in a half-full bottle does little more. An opened bottle therefore remains usable for weeks to months, whereas an ordinary bottle of wine clearly declines after just a day or two. Seal the bottle well, store it upright, and keep it cool and dark. This makes Madeira one of the few wines you can comfortably pour a single glass of without the rest going to waste.
Madeira in the kitchen
Besides being a sipping wine, Madeira is also a cooking wine, especially for sauces. You sauté shallots, deglaze with Madeira, let it reduce, and add stock; that is essentially Madeira sauce. The sweetness and acidity in the wine give a sauce depth without needing to add sugar. Freshly grated nutmeg on top is part of the appeal. For cooking, a simple three-year-old or five-year-old reserve is enough; a ten-year-old or frasqueira is too good to cook away.
What to eat with it
The dry styles, Sercial and Verdelho, work with food: with soup, almonds and olives, and aged cheese. The sweet styles are served at the end of the meal. Bual and Malmsey pair with nuts, dried figs and apricots, caramel and nut pastries, and dark chocolate. Blue cheese works too, because the saltiness of the cheese counters the sweetness of the wine. The small glass keeps the portion in proportion to the dish alongside it.
Frequently asked questions
What is Madeira?
Madeira is fortified wine from the Portuguese island of Madeira in the Atlantic Ocean. Wine alcohol is added, after which the wine is deliberately heated and exposed to air: in heated tanks for the simpler wines, or for years in a warm attic for the better ones. As a result, it tastes of nuts, caramel, and dried fruit, with a distinct streak of acidity running through it.
How long does an opened bottle of Madeira keep?
Weeks to months. That is because the wine has already been oxidized before it is bottled, so extra air in a half-full bottle changes little. Close the bottle tightly, store it upright, and keep it cool and dark. So you can pour a single glass without the rest of the bottle going to waste.
At what temperature do you serve Madeira?
Between 12 and 16 degrees. The dry Sercial and Verdelho belong at the cooler end of that range, while the semi-sweet Bual and sweet Malmsey belong at the warmer end. Half an hour in the refrigerator is enough; ice-cold temperatures mask the aromas, while room temperature makes the alcohol stand out too much.
How much alcohol is in Madeira?
Madeira is roughly between 17 and 22 percent alcohol, so higher than regular wine. That is because wine alcohol is added during or after fermentation. The exact percentage is stated on the label. Because of the higher percentage, the serving size is small, around 6 to 8 cl.
Also delicious
Everything for your bar,
to one address
Catering-quality glasses, delivered by the set. Order today, delivered quickly.
Shop the glasses →