Wine with a history: Getting reacquainted with Madeira

The framers of the U.S. Constitution used this wine to celebrate the signing of the Declaration of Independence.

Francis Scott Key is said to have had poured a glass while writing “The Star-Spangled Banner.”

And Betsy Ross supposedly sipped it while sewing the country’s first flag.

What wine was poured into those glasses of history?

M’dear, it was Madeira, a fortified wine produced on a spectacular volcanic island of the same name located about 500 miles from Portugal.

In the 18th and 19th centuries, Madeira was the most prestigious wine in the country, said Mannie Berk, founder of The Rare Wine Co., an import business based in Sonoma, Calif. It was shipped to every major seaport from Charleston, Va., and New Orleans to Boston and New York. Many wealthy families built up sizeable collections of this caramel-colored sweet wine. “It was the only alcoholic beverage that the affluent drank,” Berk said.

While Madeira may have been popular with the founding fathers, several events sent it into near obscurity, according to Berk, who has authored several books on Madeira and its rich history.

In the late 1800s, phylloxera and other diseases devastated grape production on the island. Consumption of Madeira dropped off even more after the Civil War. And finally, Prohibition “was the nail in Madeira’s coffin,” Berk said.

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Since then, the only encounter most Americans have had with the sweet red wine is the witty lyrics of the song “Have Some Madeira M’Dear,” about a vile old man who tries to seduce a 17-year-old girl.

Rediscovery » Yet in recent years, savvy wine drinkers have become reacquainted with this food-friendly wine.

“Interest today is at an all-time high,” Berk told members of the Association of Food Journalists during their annual conference last month in Charleston. “People are learning and re-appreciating its place in history.”

Berk and his company have helped spur interest in the South. In 2002, The Rare Wine Co. introduced its “Historic Series,” a group of five wines reminiscent of vintage Madeiras and named after American ports. The series is available in Utah only through special order, but state liquor stores do carry at least a dozen different versions of this “fortified” wine. (See box accompanying this story.)

One of the reasons Madeira become the favored drink in early America was due to the high tax that the English placed on port. He said colonists figured out that they could avoid paying the taxes by sending their own ships to Madeira.

Give me air » Unlike most wines, which are damaged when exposed to too much air and heat, Madeira is purposely exposed to oxygen and warm temperatures. The process is what creates its signature nutty smell and taste, Berk said. “It loves oxygen. You can’t kill it. It lives forever.”

Despite its unique taste and durability, Madeira still takes a backseat to other fortified wines such as port and sherry.

That’s too bad, explained Gus Magann, owner of Vine Lore, a Utah wine brokerage. Unlike many overly sweet wines, Madeira has a citrus finish “that makes you want to take another sip rather than be done with it.”

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