Maderization

Now Madeira is a nice though currently unpopular and unfashionable wine, which has undergone slow oxidation to give it a unique character. Yet apart from Madeira and a few deliberately oxidized wine, maderizarion is a wine fault. Not that maderized wines are always horrible to drink! I first came across a maderized Chablis which was bought in a neighbourhood wine seller. There was a nuttiness that alerted me to the oxidation. I threw i away, although on hindsight, I might have used it like a sherry (or even like the Chinese rice wine) in cooking.

A recent episode had me re-discovering where a missing bottle went, outside the fridge and in a hot place. The bottle was a Sicilian sweet white with a difference, bering made out of a mix of grapes originating from other parts of Italy. When I tasted a little, there was the unmistakable nuttiness, which seemed to complement the basic dried apricot notes in the original wine, making it rather reminiscent of a sweet sherry (maybe a sweetend amontillado). I decided to keep this wine and put it in the fridge. I'll have a proper taste of it later and finish the bottle.;