Madeira The world's longest living wine

Carol Wright on what makes Madeira the 'hottest' thing in wine

- Carol Wright

Fortified wines from the Portuguese island of Madeira in the Atlantic are the world's longest-living. There's no need to rush to finish a bottle once opened; it can last for at least a year. Its international reputation goes back some 600 years.

It is historically famed for the legendary 15th century drowning of the Duke of Clarence in a butt of Malmsey (Madeira), and for being the chosen wine with which America's independence was toasted on July 4, 1776.

Madeira's deep nutty richness was discovered by accident. From the late 15th century, the island of Madeira was the resupply point for ships voyaging to the Americas and East Indies. Barrels of wine were often loaded as ballast, and were bounced by the ocean through the tropics and over the equator. The story goes that after one round-trip to India, the barrels of wine were returned to the Madeiran producer who discovered that his wine had greatly improved as a result of being heated as the ship crossed the equator.

This started a trend of wine being sent on long voyages to improve it, while the producers tried to devise ways of replicating the effect of the heating.

Strong wine trade connections were made with America, especially during the 18th century, which was Madeira's golden age. Its popularity embraced Brazil, Russia and North Africa, although America consumed as much as 95% of the island's wine production. It was particularly liked by Thomas Jefferson and Benjamin Franklin.

The Boston Tea Party is renowned as a turning point in the path to the American Revolution, but before that, riots were caused in Boston in 1768 by the British seizure of a sloop that had unloaded 11,900 litres of Madeira wine, and disputes arose over import duties. America has remained a strong market for Madeira, though Japan and Europe are also important today.