Word on the Vine - Malvasia

This noble white grape, anglicised to malmsey, makes the sweetest of Madeiras

THE GRAPE

Of the four noble white grapes that can be used for fortified Madeira – sercial, verdelho, bual and malvasia – malmsey (to use the anglicised term) makes the sweetest wine. The grape was brought to Madeira by merchants from the Aegean Sea in the Middle Ages. Look for ‘malmsey’ or ‘malvasia’ on the label; inferior imitations will simply be marked as ‘rich’ or ‘sweet'.

THE TASTE

It’s as densely fruity as Christmas pudding yet, thanks to high alcohol and refreshing acidity, neither cloying nor sickly. Madeira is the world’s longest-living wine and the unique way in which it is produced – exposing the young wine to extreme heat for six months before cooling and resting for 18 months – oxidises the wine, caramelises its sugars and imparts a burnt tang. It also means that, unlike other fortified wines such as port and sherry, Madeira never deteriorates after opening. So any left will be here for next Christmas too.

THE PAIRINGS

Forget about Madeira cake, which isn’t made with the wine, or the poor-quality stuff sold by the bucketload in France to deglaze the pan. Malmsey is the ultimate end-of-meal sweet wine, perfect with a handful of nuts and the ideal pairing for Christmas pudding, mince pies and blue cheese, with acidity to cut through fruit cake like a knife through marzipan.

THE VINES

The sub-tropical island of Madeira is an autonomous region of Portugal, lying in the Atlantic Ocean almost 725km west of Morocco. The late-ripening malvasia grape crops best close to sea level on the coast of the island, where the mountainous terrain means the harvest must be picked by hand. The vines are often shaped in pergolas on terraces to permit the growth of other crops – often bananas – in the fertile volcanic soil beneath.

This Article was taken from the November 2024 issue of Food and Travel. To subscribe today, click here.