Fun Fact #2: rumor has it Rainwater got it’s name because a ship off the coast of Georgia got heavily dumped upon w rain, which seeped into the casks and slightly diluted them. And Tinta Negra is the lone red grape and used for Rainwater. Malvasia is used to make Malmsey, the sweetest of the Madeiras. It is complex, has mouthwatering acid, just enough sweetness and is a cool amber w hints of green color. I’m pretty sweet on Bual right now, not just because of my exam, but because it is some pretty tremendous wine. Like you shouldn’t really drink it for like a decade kinda acid.
#Gourmet ranch thanksgiving quest skin
Sercial has intense acid, like the strip the skin off the inside of your mouth kinda acid. The noble grapes, that the bulk of the good stuff is made of are: Sercial, Verdelho, Bual, Malvasia and Tinta Negra. Now that I have your rapt attention, onto the grapes. So how about you celebrate this 4th o July w a tasty glass of Madeira? Then two days later you can raise a glass in honor of my birthday. Mind blown yet? Cos if you have actually heard of it, my guess is that you haven’t tasted it. Our founding fathers actually toasted the signing of the Declaration of Independence over Madeira.
Fun fact: Thomas Jefferson was a big fan o the stuff, which makes sense cos he was a total wine geek like your’s truly. Thankfully the lushes good people in the US dug it. It was fortified to preserve it, but there was nada they could do about the whole cooking thing.
And it would literally cook in the hull of the ship because it was freeking Africa hot (obvi, since it is off the coast of Africa). See back in the olden days, the wine had to travel by ship to get to the US or UK or other destinations. And have the funkiest flavor because they are ‘maderized’ which means they are cooked.
They range from uber dry to syrupy sweet. The blends tend to be cheaper, but totally don’t quote me on that. There are five dominant types of Madeira, many of which are single varietal (which if you have been a loyal follower of Only One More, you will remember is a fancy name for a grape #boom). Think about it… I could scuba by day, madeira by eve. And this may officially be my dream location because it blends tropical islands with wine, two of my most favorite things. And make a particularly delicious style of fortified wine out of these grapes. They actually grow a ton of grapes there. But grow grapes there they do, says yoda. It is tremendously uncool for grape growing, as in literally uncool, hot. So the isle of Madeira is hot, like lava hot, with volcanic soil and steep slopes. Madeira is a fortified wine made on the isle of… wait for it… Madeira! Which is that red dot off the coast of Africa, and yet is a territory of Portugal. If you haven’t heard of madeira, please, allow me to rock your world MJ style. #winnerwinnerchickendinner And the third I hope was a tawny port? Please, pretty please? Why was there not a venerable Palo Cortado in the mix? Palo and I are pretty much in love now, and I am positive I would have identified him easily. Pretty sure one was a Bual 5 year Madeira in one of those glasses (props to Todd at Hi Times who insisted I buy a bottle because it is his favorite camping wine & thanks to the universe for putting him in my path), also fairly confident the second was a vin doux naturel and I just realized I completely identified it wrong. They got me this time, somethin’ fierce like. #highfivesallround I had to write about the blending in sherry, oxidation and vintage port. I didn’t even see you, as I was so busy NOT studying about cooked wine! Not studying because I just took my exam y’all.