MADEIRA WINE. The Portuguese introduced viticulture into the island of Madeira in the early part of the fifteenth cen tury, but all the wine which was made in the island from that early date until the latter part of the seventeenth century was merely for local consumption, none being exported ; sugar was then the staple commodity grown at Madeira for export. Sugar canes were uprooted and replaced by vines, and the export of wine became the chief source of revenue of Madeira, owing to an ordinance of 15 Car. II. cap. 7 (1663), by which it was enacted that "wines of the growth of Madeiras, the Western Islands or Azores, may be carried from thence to any of the lands, islands, plantations, colonies, territories or places to his Majesty belong ing, in Asia, Africa or America, in English built ships." As, at the same time, all exports from France, Spain, Italy and Portugal to any English colonies were strictly prohibited, Madeira and the Azores were thus given the monopoly of the supply of the wine required by all English ships and colonists overseas.
The bulk of the wine shipped from Madeira to the West Indies, North America and India was just plain beverage red wine, vintaged in September, racked in January and shipped for immediate consumption in the following spring and during the ensuing twelve months, or, at most, eighteen months. A smaller quantity of beverage white wine was also made, from the V erdelho grape, which was sharp and refreshing as a summer drink, being usually consumed in the summer following the vintage, before having reached the immature age of twelve months. A small
quantity of a very dark red wine, known as tinto or tent, was also made from a black grape called the Negra Molle, and was chiefly used for blending with red wines lacking in colour.
In some vineyards, where the soil was particularly suitable, finer species of vines were grown, mostly of the Vidonia and Malvazia varieties; the grapes they yielded were gathered later than the commoner grapes and they were pressed with greater care. A wine was made from such grapes which was better and richer than any other Madeira wine, but not a fortified wine. It was only when, during the wars of Queen Anne's reign, ships failed to call at Madeira for wine that surplus stocks of wines were distilled into brandy, which later was used to fortify some , of the best wines. Gradually, by careful selection, blending, and ageing, the best wines of Madeira reached a degree of excellence in the early nineteenth century, which placed them in the first rank of dessert wines. (See WINE.) See A. J. D. Biddle, The Madeira Islands (1900) ; Andre L. Simon: Wine and Spirits (1919) and The Blood of the Grape (192o). (A. L. S.)