The Madeira Islands, an archipelago 750 miles southwest of Lisbon in the Atlantic Ocean, has a nearly perfect climate—warm all winter and never too hot in summer. Ancient volcanic cliffs that rise dramatically from the sea dominate Madeira’s fascinating landscape, with beautiful flora and fauna that lead to comparisons of Madeira with Hawaii.
Madeira is a semi-tropical island rising from sea level to over 6,000 feet. Its steep pitch gives the island six distinct climate zones. The ancient Laurissilva cloud forest at the highest elevations is classified as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. In fact, 2/3rdsof Madeira is conservation land. It has mountain plains, valleys, high peaks, streams, rocky coastlines, and tidal pools. The island has a unique landscape accessed by a modern roadway system of new tunnels, and the older mountain roads they replaced that wind along the hillsides.
The south coast is sunny, and home to the cultivation of bananas, sugar cane, and grapes. Quaint fishing towns rise off the coast, where small hotels and villas welcome guests. The east coast is home to the historic towns of Caniçal, Machico and Santa Cruz. The wild Ponta de São Lourenço reserve snakes out into the ocean with great hiking and impressive views. The north coast is rugged, and features small towns and great surf. Santana is known for its straw roofed homes and great hiking and Sao Vincente has a series of lava caves. Inland, the massive peaks of Pico Ruivo and Areiro make for wild valleys and cliffs, with lots of grazing sheep and sweeping views. To the west lies the massive flat mountain plain of Paul da Serra, which feels like the surface of Mars, and the crater valley of Curral das Freiras. The sunny west coast runs from the tidal pools of Porto Moniz to the cliffs on the point at Cabo Girão.
Some 30 miles from Madeira is the smaller island of Porto Santo, famed for its long sandy beach, dunes, and vineyards. Porto Santo was where Portuguese ship first landed in 1419. Today, it earns the nickname the “Golden Island” from its undeveloped beaches and features a handful of hotels. Porto Santo’s beach is said to be one of the best in Europe, and its golden magnetized sands are famous for healing sore aches and pains. A new set of spas has recently opened to feature the sands, joined by a new golf course. Dry and sunny Porto Santo gets very little rain, perfect for a relaxing beach getaway any time of the year.
The uninhabited Desertas and Selvagens Islands are southwest and south of Madeira. The Desertas Islands’ three small, volcanic islands are a nature reserve. They serve as the last refuge of the Mediterranean monk seal (Monachus monachus), the rarest seal in the world. Another 180 miles south of Madeira are the Selvagens Islands, two groups of small islands also serving as a rich nature reserve for some of the rarest plants on the planet. Ideal nesting conditions make the islands a perfect bird sanctuary. Boat trips can be arranged, but environmental laws limit visitor numbers.
Getting to Madeira
Madeira is a Portuguese archipelago in the Atlantic on the 32nd parallel north. It lies southwest of Lisbon, and several hundred miles west of the coast of Morocco. It is made up of the islands of Madeira and Porto Santo, as well as the Desertas and the Selvagem Islands.
The cuisine of Madeira can be summed up in one word: Unique. The sunny island is part of Portugal, but it is just a few hundred miles off the coast of Africa and soars from sea level to more than 5,000 feet, thus having a unique climate. Due to the abundance of sun and water almost anything seems to grow there. And there is also a variety of fishing in the waters surrounding the island.
One of Madeira’s most popular dishes, espada, is a fillet of scabbard fish traditionally served with fried banana or passion-fruit sauce. Speaking of passion-fruit, this is one of the many tropical fruits that you can eat in Madeira.
Another regional treat is milho frito, small cubes of fried corn flour that look similar to Italian polenta. This is typically a side dish for tuna steaksor espetada, a skewer made from beef seasoned with garlic and baby leaf, and marinated in Madeira wine before being grilled.
Madeira has never been easier to get to. TAP Portugal offers easy connections from Lisbon – and with non-stop service to Portugal from 9 US cities on five airlines, getting a connection is easy. It is a 1.5-hour flight from Lisbon, Porto or the Azores and it takes about 15 minutes to fly between the two islands in the group—Madeira and Porto Santo. Madeira’s Cristiano Ronaldo International Airport and the Porto Santo Airport serve the archipelago. The airport on Madeira is about a 30-minute drive to Funchal, the archipelago’s capital. Madeira has also become a major stop for cruise ships.
And the wine?
From the time of Da Gama to the age of the steamship, Madeira served as a supply and fuel stop for countless sea voyages. Madeira’s location along the trade routes to Africa and the Americas made it a strategic port for provisioning the new colonies, and the colonists in these new territories were a thirsty bunch. The export of wine quickly grew to 30,000 barrels annually.
In 1665 Charles II prohibited the shipping of European goods to the West Indies and America unless these goods were being shipped with British ships and from British ports. Madeira had been intentionally left out of this decree, because it meant more tax income for the king.
Now, the new American colonies became a favorite trading partner for this wine. General Washington was a great friend of this wine; it is said that he drank a pint of it daily. His inauguration as president of the United States and the appointment of the city of Washington as the capital were celebrated with Madeira. So, it’s no surprise that the Americans celebrated their Declaration of Independence with a glass of Madeira. The legendary frigate Constitution, the oldest ship in the world that is still afloat, was also baptized with Madeira wine. Together with its special sandwich live oak planking construction this Madeira wine treatment might have contributed to the invulnerability of "Old Ironsides".
As a remembrance of this event, the Madeira vintage of 1802 has been named Constitution as well. While the European market remained unstable, the US remained a solid importer of Madeira wines. Jefferson was an early advocate of the link between wine and longevity -- "Wine from habit has become an indispensable for my health," he maintained -- and was perhaps America's most devoted early collector. He adored Madeira and was no stranger to Sauternes. (A few of his bottles are still kicking around today, wildly expensive refugees from his legendary cellar).
George Washington was a great fan of Madeira wine. Both his inauguration and the signing of the Declaration of Independence were celebrated with Madeira wine. The legendary frigate Constitution was christened with Madeira wine. New England's own President Franklin Pierce spent several months exploring the island with his wife after leaving office in 1857.
Until the twentieth century Madeira played an important part in the social life of the upper class. It was especially favored in cities such as Baltimore, Boston, Charleston, Philadelphia, New York and Savannah where they celebrated with so-called ‘Madeira-parties’. At these events, you drank several vintages of Madeira to a light meal like terrapin-soup. In Silas Weir Mitchell’s famous book "A Madeira Party" the reader will find a very detailed and slightly ironic picture of such an event. Visitors of Savannah today can do a "Madeira Tour" at the Davenport House and there still is a "Madeira Club" in Savannah
Much to the delight of the colonists, the wine did not suffer from the long Ocean voyage. In fact, the heating and sloshing in the barrel improved the wine, and soon a trans-Atlantic voyage became part of the elaboration process for all Madeira wines. This practice continued well past the age of the sailing ship. In the early 20th century casks of Madeira were floated back and forth across the Ocean in the holds of steam ships that also docked in Funchal harbor in Madeira to load coal.
The popularity of Madeira wine has decreased over the years, and in modern times the island has turned to Tourism to fund its continued prosperity. In the last twenty years the Madeira wine producers have modernized their wineries and improved their vineyards, and today production of Madeira wine is once again on the increase.