Editing Madeira wine (section)

== History of Madeira ==
===Development and success (15th–18th centuries)===
[[File:MadeiraLocation.png|thumb|Madeira's location made it an ideal stopping location for voyages to the [[East Indies]].]]
The roots of Madeira's wine industry date back to the [[Age of Exploration]], when Madeira was a regular port of call for ships travelling to the [[East Indies]]. By the 16th century, records indicate that a well-established wine industry on the island supplied these ships with wine for the long voyages across the sea. The earliest examples of Madeira were unfortified and tended to spoil before reaching their destination. However, following the example of [[Port (wine)|port]], a small amount of [[distilled alcohol]] made from [[cane sugar]] was added to [[stabilize the wine]] by boosting the alcohol content. (The modern process of fortification using [[brandy]] did not become widespread until the 18th century.) The [[Dutch East India Company]] became a regular customer, picking up large, {{convert|423|l|USgal|adj=on}} casks of wine known as "[[English wine cask units#Pipe or butt|pipes]]" for their voyages to India.

The intense heat in the holds of the ships had a transforming effect on the wine, as discovered by Madeira producers when one shipment was returned to the island after a long trip. The customer was found to prefer the taste of this style of wine, and Madeira labeled as ''vinho da roda'' (wines that have made a round trip) became very popular. Madeira producers found that [[aging the wine]] on long sea voyages was very costly, so they began to develop methods on the island to produce the same aged and heated style. They began storing the wines on trestles at the winery or in special rooms known as ''estufas'', where the heat of the island sun would age the wine.<ref name="Oxford pg 416-419">{{Citation | title =The Oxford Companion to Wine | editor-last =Robinson | editor-first =J. | edition =Third | year =2006 | publisher =Oxford University Press | isbn =0-19-860990-6 |url=https://archive.org/details/oxfordcompaniont00janc }}. Pages 416-419.</ref>

With the increase of commercial treaties with England such as the [[Marriage Treaty]] in 1662, important English merchants settled on the island and, ultimately, controlled the increasingly important island wine trade. The English traders settled in the Funchal as of the seventeenth century, consolidating the markets from North America, the [[West Indies]] and England itself. Notable brands include Cossart and Gordon founded in 1745 and Blandy's in 1811.<ref>{{cite web |title=History of Madeira Wine and the United Kingdom |url=http://www.discoveringmadeira.com/the-history-of-madeira-wine-and-the-united-kingdom |website=Discovering Madeira |access-date=29 May 2023}}</ref>

The eighteenth century was the "[[golden age]]" for Madeira. The wine's popularity extended from the [[Thirteen Colonies|American colonies]] and Brazil in the New World to Great Britain, Russia, and Northern Africa. The American colonies, in particular, were enthusiastic customers, consuming as much as 95% of all wine produced on the island each year.

=== Early American history (17th–18th centuries) ===
[[File:John Hancock painting.jpg|left|upright|thumb|[[John Hancock]], whose boat seizure after unloading a cargo of 25 pipes of Madeira caused riots in Boston.|alt=Full-length portrait of a young man seated at a table - he wears a finely tailored dark suit, knee breeches with white stockings, and a wig in the style of a European gentleman. He holds a quill pen in his right hand, and is turning the pages of a large book with the other hand.]]

Madeira was a very important wine in the history of the United States of America. No wine-quality grapes were grown among the thirteen colonies,<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Tuten|first1=James|title=Liquid Assets: Madeira Wine and Cultural Capital among Lowcountry Planters, 1735-1900|journal=American Nineteenth Century History|year=2005|volume=6|issue=2|pages=173–188|doi=10.1080/14664650500314513|s2cid=144093837}}</ref> so imports were needed, with a great focus on Madeira.<ref name="Oxford pg 416-419"/><ref name="Oxford pg 719-720">{{Citation | title =The Oxford Companion to Wine | editor-last =Robinson | editor-first =J. | edition =Third | year =2006 | publisher =Oxford University Press | isbn =0-19-860990-6 | url =https://archive.org/details/oxfordcompaniont00janc }}. Pages 719-720.</ref> One of the major events on the road to the [[American Revolution]] in which Madeira played a key role was the seizure of [[John Hancock]]'s sloop {{HMS|Liberty|1768|2}} by [[Boston]] customs officials on 9 May 1768. Hancock's boat was seized after he had unloaded a cargo of 25 pipes ({{convert|3150|gal|L}}) of Madeira, and a dispute arose over import duties. The seizure of ''Liberty'' caused riots to erupt in Boston.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia|last=encarta.msn.com |url=http://encarta.msn.com/encyclopedia_761559910/John_Hancock.html |title=John Hancock |encyclopedia=Encarta Encyclopedia |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091028185547/http://encarta.msn.com/encyclopedia_761559910/John_Hancock.html |archive-date=28 October 2009 |url-status=dead }} Retrieved on 23 February 2007</ref><ref>{{cite web|last=ushistory.org |url=http://www.ushistory.org/declaration/signers/hancock.htm |title=John Hancock |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070219162141/http://www.ushistory.org/declaration/signers/hancock.htm |archive-date=19 February 2007 }}</ref>

Madeira was a favorite of [[Thomas Jefferson]], and it was used to toast the [[United States Declaration of Independence|Declaration of Independence]].<ref name="Oxford pg 416-419"/> [[George Washington]], [[Alexander Hamilton]], [[Benjamin Franklin]] and [[John Adams]] are also said to have appreciated the qualities of Madeira. The wine was mentioned in Benjamin Franklin's autobiography. On one occasion, Adams wrote to his wife, Abigail, of the great quantities of Madeira he consumed while a Massachusetts delegate to the [[Continental Congress]]. A bottle of Madeira was used by visiting Captain James Sever to christen {{USS|Constitution}} in 1797. Chief Justice [[John Marshall]] was also known to appreciate Madeira, as were his cohorts on the early U.S. Supreme Court. Madeira and [[Juglans regia|walnuts]] were often served together as a last course at dinner parties in Washington in the early decades of the 1800s.<ref name=Poore> [https://archive.org/details/perleysreminisce00poor/page/n187/mode/1up?view=theater Poore, Ben. Perley, ''Perley's Reminiscences of Sixty Years in the National Metropolis'', Vol.1, p.178 (1886)].</ref>

===Modern era (19th century – present)===
The mid-19th century ushered an end to the industry's prosperity.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Silva|first1=António|title=Once Upon a Time: The Old Blandy's Wine Lodge - Property Management and Business Strategies in Madeira (1811-1855)|journal=Herança - Revista de História, Património e Cultura|year=2023|volume=6|issue=2|pages=1–15|url =https://www.academia.edu/102068098}}</ref> First came the 1851 discovery of [[powdery mildew]], which severely reduced production over the next three years. Just as the industry was recovering through the use of the copper-based [[Bordeaux mixture]] fungicide, the [[phylloxera epidemic]] that had plagued [[France (wine)|France]] and other European [[wine region]]s reached the island. By the end of the 19th century, most of the island's vineyards had been uprooted, and many were converted to sugar cane production. The majority of the vineyards that did replant chose to use American vine varieties, such as ''[[Vitis labrusca]], [[Vitis riparia]] and [[Vitis rupestris]]'' or [[hybrid grape]] varieties rather than replant with the ''[[Vitis vinifera]]'' varieties that were previously grown.

By the turn of the 20th century, sales started to slowly return to normal, until the industry was rocked again by the [[Russian Civil War]] and [[American Prohibition]], which closed off two of Madeira's biggest markets.<ref name="Oxford pg 416-419"/> After the repeal of Prohibition, improved shipping technology meant that ships no longer needed to stop off in Madeira, the island which was directly in the trade winds between Europe and America. The wine became known as The Forgotten Island Wine. The rest of the 20th century saw a downturn for Madeira, both in sales and reputation, as low-quality "[[cooking wine]]" became primarily associated with the island—much as it had for [[Marsala (wine)|Marsala]].

In 1988, the Symington family of Portugal invested in the Madeira Wine Company which owned many of the Madeira brand names. They asked [[Bartholomew Broadbent]] to re-launch Madeira and create a market for it again in America, which he did in 1989, establishing a firm rebirth of Madeira.

Towards the end of the 20th century, some producers started a renewed focus on quality—ripping out the hybrid and American vines and replanting with the "noble grape" varieties of [[Sercial]], [[Verdelho]], [[Terrantez]], [[Bual]] and [[Malvasia]]. The "workhorse" varieties of [[Tinta Negra Mole]] now known officially as just Tinta Negra, and [[Complexa]] are still present and in high use, but hybrid grapes were officially banned from wine production in 1979. Today, Madeira's primary markets are in the [[Benelux]] countries, France (where it is only used for cooking, salt and pepper having been added prior to bottling), and Germany; emerging markets are growing in Japan, the United Kingdom, and the United States.<ref name="Oxford pg 416-419"/>