Meet the Producers
September 27, 2022, New York, NY: Madeira, the fortified wine produced in the Portuguese Madeira Islands (Madeira and Porto Santo) is a wine that excites the palate. Ranging from dry to sweet, Madeira can be enjoyed on its own, paired with a meal or mixed in a cocktail.
Next month, Madeira wine lovers will have the opportunity to taste Madeira wines and cocktails paired with appetizers and attend Madeira wine presentations hosted by sommelier and Portuguese wine expert, Bruno Almeida at City Winery, New York on Oct 3, 2022. Tickets can be purchased here: https://tinyurl.com/4v2fm755
Madeira Wine Experience New York
- City Winery, Oct 3, 2022
- 6:00 PM – 8:00 PM
- 25 11th Ave at 15th Street
- Pier 57 at Hudson River Park
- New York NY 10011
For those unable to attend the Madeira Wine Experience New York, here is an introduction to the wineries who will be showcasing their historic and unique wines:
BLANDY’S MADEIRA
The Blandy family is unique in being the only family of all the original founders of the Madeira wine trade that still own and manage their own original wine company, nowadays managed by Chris Blandy – seventh generation. Throughout its long history on the island the family has played a leading role in the development of Madeira wine and members of the family continue to live in Madeira maintaining a tradition that goes back to 1811.
COSSART GORDON
Cossart Gordon was established in 1745, by Scotsmen, G. Newton and W. Gordon, who were later joined by W. Cosart, in 1808. The company established a reputation as suppliers of the finest of Madeiras mainly due to their trade relationship with America. The firm today enjoys an unrivalled reputation as one of the finest producers of Madeira wine.
MILES MADEIRA
Established in 1814, Miles Madeira is synonymous with excellent Madeira wine and is one of the best known and most respected brands in the world. Today, Miles Madeira has become a Tinta Negra grape specialist, producing versatile wines perfect for cocktails or food pairing.
H.M. BORGES
H.M. Borges has as its basic elements the excellence of quality associated with technological evolution, maintaining the traditional values of Madeira wine production. Founded in 1877 by Henrique Menezes Borges, the company H.M. Borges Sucrs. Lda assumes itself as one of the main brands of Madeira wine, having an excellent and considerable stock of high-quality blended wines, from which it constitutes the varied range of wines currently on the market. It is managed by the fourth generation of its founding family. The H.M. Borges’ mission is to grow, produce, and sell the best quality wines of the highest value to its customers, seeking to improve quality, efficiency, effectiveness and sharing responsibility for maintaining a healthy environment.
HENRIQUES & HENRIQUES VINHOS, S.A.
The history of Henriques & Henriques goes back to 1850 when the company was founded by João Gonçalves Henriques, a descendant of a family that established itself in Câmara de Lobos many years ago. After his death in 1912, his sons, João Joaquim and Francisco Eduardo Henriques, formed a partnership from which the name “Henriques & Henriques” originated. The last of the Henriques died in 1968 and the company passed on to his closest collaborators and friends. The transmission of knowledge and tradition in the making of fine Madeiras continues to the present day. H&H is the only company to have continuously owned vineyards, resulting in the production of extremely high-quality grapes, namely Verdelho and Terrantez, which allows for better control of production. It also acquires grapes from various wine growers with whom it has a close and long-standing relationship. The construction in 1992 of the new aging wineries in the parish of Câmara de Lobos, where the head office and the commercial area is also located and the vinification center in the parish of Quinta Grande gave the company the adequate means to meet the demands of the markets, using the most recent technological innovations, whilst maintaining the family tradition of almost two hundred years in the production of the best Madeira wines.
JUSTINO´S – MADEIRA WINES, S.A.
Justino´s, Madeira Wines, S.A. is established on Madeira Island since 1870 and is one of the ancient producers and exporters of Madeira wine, to earn an outstanding position on the market for its certified good quality wines. Till 1953 it was a familiar enterprise, established in the old area of Funchal. In 1993, the company made an association with one of the largest French groups of wine and spirits distribution, building a new winery for the purpose of improving the conditions in which its wines are made, in particular the process of vinification, production, and aging. This large, modern, and functional winery has been equipped to combine traditional methods with the most advanced technology available. For over a hundred years, wines from Justino’s Madeira have been increasingly popular throughout Europe. Today, Justino’s Madeira Wines, S.A. holds one of the largest stocks of Madeira wine on the Island, including high quality wines aged in oak casks, which enables the company to meet the requirements of the most demanding and selective consumers. Over the years, Justino´s, Madeira Wines, S.A. has become one of the leading producers and exporters of Madeira wine thanks to the acknowledged quality of its wines and the substantial increase in its production capacity.
PEREIRA D’OLIVEIRA
Pereira D’Oliveira (Vinhos), Lda. is an independent family owned company, dedicated to the production, marketing and export of Madeira wine, which has been run since the beginning of the 1970’s by three brothers Luís, Aníbal (deceased in June 2017), and Miguel (deceased in August 2018), direct descendants, on the paternal side of the Founder João Pereira D’Oliveira, and, on the maternal side, of João Joaquim Camacho. This wine company represents five generations of vast knowledge and experience dedicated to the production of the fortified wines of Madeira, and is currently run by Luís D ‘Oliveira, the partner in the company responsible for the business, marketing, exports and innovation, and by Filipe D’Oliveira (Aníbal’s son), the other partner who belongs to the sixth generation and who has been in charge of the production and oenology since 2002. Their oenologist has always been a family member, who, from a very young age has gradually been acquiring knowledge and experience from the previous generation, in order to ensure the continuity of the house that guarantees its secular identity.
VINHOS BARBEITO (MADEIRA), LDA.
Vinhos Barbeito entered the wine business in 1946, during a particularly dark time for Madeira. During World War II, production and sales had ground to a virtual halt. As a result, far more companies were leaving the business than were joining. But Mario Barbeito had faith in the future. He also believed that the value of great Madeira could only go up as it became older, and production of young vintages declined. But while Barbeito saw those vintage wines as a nest egg for the future, he was content to let the wines age. He wisely built the business in the early years around more modest Madeiras. It was left to his daughter Manuela – when she gradually took over the business from him in the 1970s – to continue his work. In the mid-1990s, Manuela Barbeito began to turn over the reins of the company to her son Ricardo Freitas. He not only brought a deep respect for Madeira’s classical roots, but also brought new energy and new ideas to the company. One of these ideas was to restore the role that Madeira once had as a companion to food. Ricardo is continuing his grandfather’s and mother’s legacy of making wines and preserving them for future generations. But he is also creating his own legacy: a series of Madeiras he calls his “Signature” wines. These handcrafted wines combine the best elements of Madeira’s classical tradition with Ricardo’s own quest for purity and vineyard and varietal expression. Made in tiny lots, their astonishingly graceful style has prompted British wine critic Jancis Robinson to call Barbeito the “Lafite of Madeira.”
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.
For further information, please visit:
Vinho Madeira Wine
- https://vinhomadeira.com/
- https://www.facebook.com/VinhoMadeiraWine
- https://www.facebook.com/MadeiraWineEUA/
Wines of Portugal
