Wine Lovers Discover the Beauty and Versatility of Madeira Wine at the Madeira Wine Experience New York

October 10, 2022, New York, NY: On Monday, Oct 3, hundreds of Madeira wine lovers gathered at City Winery for the Madeira Wine Experience New York, a wine and food event celebrating the diversity and versatility of Madeira wine.

The Madeira Wine Experience New York featured a walk-around tasting with food and wine stations and seminars for members of the industry during the day, followed by a ticketed event open to the public from 6-8PM that evening, featuring a walk-around tasting with wine, food and cocktail stations and educational speed tastings.

Seminars for the industry included ‘Pairing Madeira Wine with Food’ and ‘Colheitas and Frasqueiras’ presented by sommelier and Portuguese wine ambassador, Bruno Almeida and ‘Madeira and Cocktails’ presented by award-winning bartender, mixologist and philanthropist, Lynnette Marrero.

“This spectacular island has been producing stellar long-lived wines since the arrival of the first settlers in 1419,” stated Bruno Almeida. “The warm Gulf stream winds, balance of temperatures and its gentle volcanic soils high in acidity, makes conditions perfect for the uniqueness of Madeira wines.

“Bartenders love working with unique spirits and modifiers,” said Lynette Marrero. “Madeira is a classic ingredient being rediscovered by bartenders. In my class I show the history of Madeira cocktails and how to incorporate them into modern serves,” she continued. “With the booming trend of low proof cocktails, Madeira is poised for a strong comeback as other fortified wines have enjoyed with the cocktail re-emergence.”

Dozens of Madeira wines ranging from dry to sweet styles in both non-vintage blends and as single vintage wines were served by the attending producers: Blandy’s Madeira, Cossart Gordon, Miles Madeira, H.M. Borges, Henriques & Henriques Vinhos, Justino’s-Madeira Wines, Pereira D’Oliveira and Vinhos Barbeito.

Industry guests particularly enjoyed discovering the various styles of Madeira paired with a variety of menus at the ‘Pairing Madeira with Food’ seminar:

Blandy’s 10 year old Sercial with Hamachi Crudo
H.M. Borges 15 year old Sercial with Steak Tartare
Henriques & Henriques 5 year old Verdelho with Vegetable Spring Rolls
Barbeito Verdelho Special Reserve with Cured Salmon
Pereira d’Oliveira 1994 Verdelho with Spicy Chicken Meatballs
Justino’s Broadbent 10 year old Malmsey with Dark Chocolate Mousse

A highlight of the evening experience was the opportunity for attendees to sample delicious traditional cocktails created with Madeira:

Madeira Cobbler Variation (Recipe adapted from Bellocq, Hotel Modern, New Orleans)

2 oz Vinhos Barbeito Rainwater Medium Dry 10 year old Madeira
¾ oz simple syrup (1:1)
2 peels orange zest
1 peel lemon zest
Cracked ice
Chocolate bitters

In a shaker, combine the first four ingredients and shake vigorously with 6 cubes of cracked ice. Roll the contents of the shaker into a rocks glass. Top with a drop of the bitters and serve with a straw.

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Madeira Apple Mule

1.5 oz (45ml) Henriques & Henriques Saveiro Medium Sweet 3 year old Madeira
½ oz (15 ml) Apple Cider
½ oz (15 ml) Lemon Juice
2.5 oz (30 ml) Ginger Beer

Place ingredients into a highball glass with ice, stir to mix. Garnish with Ginger Candy

Madeira Negroni

1 oz (30 ml) Miles Rainwater Medium Dry Madeira
1 oz (30 ml) Campari
1 oz (30 ml) H.M. Borges Dry 5 year old Madeira

Place ingredients into a mixing glass with ice, stir to chill. Stain into a rocks glass over fresh ice. Garnish with an Orange slice.

Although barely a cocktail, a Madeira on the rocks is said to be a way that Madeira wine is occasionally enjoyed on the island. Either way, it’s a wonderfully mellow yet refreshing beverage.

About Bruno Almeida, Sommelier, Wine and Spirits Educator, Portuguese Wine Advocate:

Bruno Almeida is a New York CMS (The Court of Master Sommeliers), Somm Live “Wine Talks” Host, Wine Writer, Wine & Spirits Educator, Portuguese Wine Advocate Contributor, and a drummer. Born and raised in Lisbon, Portugal, Bruno came to the United States in 2002 as a drummer with a rock band. Rock drummer turned sommelier; Bruno has been a Sommelier since 2008. He has worked at legendary NYC restaurants such as Gusto Ristorante, Pao, Inoteca, Corsino, Balaboosta, Locanda Verde and Dirty French. His most recent position was as Wine Director/Sommelier at Tocqueville in Manhattan. Bruno supports his home country of Portugal by promoting the country’s growing wine regions. He has an effortless way of guiding you through the difficult-to-understand grape varieties, the art of blending, and the regions of Portugal—as well as the geography.

About Lynnette Marrero

Mixology Teacher at Master Class, Bar Director at Llama Inn, and Co-founder at Speed Rack.

Lynette Marrero is an Award-winning New York City-based bartender, mixologist and philanthropist known for co-creating the world’s first all-female speed bartending competition, Speed Rack. She is widely regarded as one of the pioneering bartenders in the industry.

About Madeira Wine

Madeira Wine is a fortified wine available in a range of dry to sweet styles that comes from the Island of Madeira in Portugal. The tiny viticultural region (approximately 500 hectares) with the Designation of Origin “Madeira” (DO Madeira), is a unique landscape characterized by very steep slopes and mostly basaltic soils volcanic in origin. The proximity to the sea and the climate, with hot and humid summers and mild winters provide the wines with unique characteristics and a singular winemaking and aging process.

Dry styles of Madeira are served chilled and sweeter styles are often served as after-dinner-sippers. These wines are made as both non-vintage blends and single vintage wines that can age for centuries.

Of all the accredited and recommended varieties, those that are used most and that have the longest tradition in Madeira winemaking are the Sercial, Verdelho, Boal, Malvasia, Terrantez and Tinta Negra varieties.

Madeira Wine has a set of designations that allow the identification of its different varieties. Indication of age: 5 years old – Reserve (or Old); 10 years old – Old Reserve (or Special Reserve or Very Old) 15 years old – Extra Reserve; 20, 30, 40, 50 and over 50 years old. Frasqueira or Garrafeira – with the indication of vintage year and a minimum aging of 20 years in wood. Colheita – with the indication of vintage year and a minimum aging of 5 years.

Madeira Wines also receive designation in accordance with their degree of sweetness as follows: Dry, Medium Dry, Medium Sweet, and Sweet.

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