Grape in focus

Madeira: five grapes, five styles

With madeira, the grape on the label tells you straight away how sweet the wine is. Sercial is the driest, Verdelho medium dry, Boal medium sweet and Malvasia sweet. Tinta Negra, the island’s most planted grape, can do every style.

Our madeiras

An island of terraces

On Madeira, almost all vineyards sit on small terraces carved out of red or grey basalt. After powdery mildew and phylloxera in the nineteenth century, the classic white grapes were largely replaced. Since then Tinta Negra has been by far the most planted grape. Sercial, Verdelho, Boal and Malvasia are difficult to grow and remain scarce.

A madeira with a grape name on the label must contain at least 85 percent of that grape. Most madeira is made from Tinta Negra; since 2015 that name may also appear on the label.

Sercial: dry and sharp

Sercial grows in the coolest vineyards, up to 800 metres high or low on the north coast. On the mainland the same grape is called Esgana Cão, literally dog strangler, after its fearsome acidity. The must is fermented almost completely dry. Sercial gives the lightest, driest and sharpest madeira: a superb aperitif.

Verdelho: medium dry

Of the four classic white grapes, Verdelho is the most planted on the island today. Verdelho is also fermented almost dry and has high acidity, but gives a little more roundness than Sercial. Lovely with consommé, mushrooms or a piece of smoked fish.

Boal: medium sweet

Boal, Bual in English, is the Madeira name for Malvasia Fina. The wine is fortified early in fermentation, so sugar remains. Boal is rich and round, with nuts, caramel and dried fruit, yet never heavy thanks to its acidity. A classic with nut tart or aged cheese.

Malvasia: sweet

Malvasia, malmsey in English, is the sweetest madeira. Here too fermentation is stopped early. Yet the wine stays fresh: the acidity keeps the sugar in check. Serve it with chocolate, crème brûlée or simply as a digestif.

Terrantez, Bastardo and Tinta Negra

Terrantez has almost disappeared from the island and mostly turns up in historic bottles. Bastardo is a rare black grape, as in Barbeito’s Duas Pipas. Tinta Negra, called Molar on the mainland, is the island’s workhorse and, in good hands, can make surprisingly fine madeira.

Heat and time

Madeira is deliberately exposed to heat. In the past this happened on the long sea voyage through the tropics. Today simple madeira is heated in tanks, the estufagem. The best wines age slowly in casks in warm lofts, on wooden trestles called canteiros, often for twenty years or more. The result is a wine that can hardly oxidise any further: an opened bottle keeps for months.

Frequently asked questions about madeira

Is madeira always sweet?

No. Sercial is dry and Verdelho medium dry. Only Boal and Malvasia are really sweet.

How long does an opened bottle keep?

For months. Madeira has already been aged by heat and oxygen, so an open bottle hardly changes.

At what temperature should you serve madeira?

Sercial and Verdelho lightly chilled, around 12 °C. Boal and Malvasia around 14 to 16 °C.

Plantings: IVV, castas mais utilizadas 2025 (ivv.gov.pt). Background: The Oxford Companion to Wine, via JancisRobinson.com.