Put this on your sweet map: H.M Borges Old Reserve 10 Years Old Bual Madeira!
What is Madeira? It’s a fortified wine, like Port or Sherry. Madeira wine gets its name from the volcanic island of Madeira in Portugal. In the 1600-1700s, Brandy was often added to wine in an attempt to keep if from spoiling (fortifying wine). The island of Madeira was a key location for shipping wines to England and America. The casks of wines would go through an intense heating and cooling process as the ships sailed through various climates. Sailors noticed how this intense temperature change produced unique flavors of the fortified wine, and thus the method for making Madeira was born. You may have heard the phrase, “you can’t kill Madeira!” This refers to the fact that the wine has gone through so much, that it can’t spoil. Today, Madeira is produced in dry, medium and sweet styles with flavors of wood, vanilla, caramelized sugar, orange peel. Dry style Madeiras are recommended as an aperitif while the sweeter styles are perfect with or as dessert.
I recommend trying the H.M Borges Old Reserve 10 Years Old Bual Madeira for its intricate flavors of wood, vanilla and burnt sugar. When I last served this I did so with a fun tray of cheese and chocolate! Mmmm.