Hi,

Try and do the Blandy's tour first if possible, its particularly good and
informative about Madeira wine.

Bear the following in mind;

There are a number of "noble" Madeira grapes that are used to make several
styles of Madeira from dry to sweet - Sercial, Verdelho, Bual and Malmsey -
if they are not mentioned on the bottle the wine is made from Tinta Negra
Mole - a grape which mimics the others according to what height it is grown
at. Most restaurants will offer sweet - dry and all are probably t-n-m.

Vintage Madeira must have spent at least 20 years in a barrel before being
bottled.

Most Madeira (from the noble grapes) will be referred to as 5,10 or 15 year
old. Some are excellent, some less so - you've got to try as many as you
can!

There are a few colheitas - wine produced from one years harvest but that
don't fall into the above categories.

Good luck with the trip - sorry if the info is a bit overload.

Any other help on Madeira & places to visit etc drop me a line at
or afw

ds

"Knagsted" > wrote in message
...
>
> "Derek Stubbs" > skrev i en meddelelse
> ...
> > Sorry that should have been west of Reids Palace - must have stayed too
> long
> > at Blandy's!
> >
> > ds
> >
> >
> Thank you for the information, it was just what we needed!
>
> Yes, we'll stay in Funchal, but we've rented a care and plan to explore as
> much as possible of the Island during our one-week stay. Our interest in
> wine in general is far from new, but the interest in Madeira Wines is
quite
> new.
>
> Thanks again.
>
> Best regards
> Henning
>
>