The Portugal Wine Grand Tasting: Madeira

Portugal is a country dear to our hearts. The people are hospitable without being ingratiating; the food—codfish, sardines, lots of pork, and chicken—is exactly what we like to see on our plates; the number of indigenous grape varieties is high, which enlivens and enriches the wine-drinking experience; and the country is the cleanest one we have ever visited, which is noteworthy in and of itself, as we’ve been to quite a few. So, we were, as usual, looking forward to the Portugal Wine Grand Tasting, which was held at Tokyo’s New Otani Hotel on June 23, 2025.

Our attention was drawn to the Henriques & Henriques table and their array of high-quality Madeira. The wine takes its name from the island off the coast of Africa. Fortified Madeira has long been at the top of our list of such wines and deserves to have its status restored to the lofty position it once held, especially in places like New York City before, during, and after the Revolutionary War, or was that actually the War of Secession? After all, no one wanted to overthrow King George III: they just wanted to say good-bye to the guy. In those days, “Madeira, served during the meal, was the most expensive and popular wine. The consumption of wine, like punch, was limited to the more affluent.”¹

The Henriques table featured a number of styles of the wine, which varied according to sweetness level, grape variety used—Tinta Negra, Verdelho, Sercial, to name a few—and age. The fifty-year old Tinta Negra was opulent and highly complex.