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Pass the Madeira, my dear

© Anne Duguid

Can't remember who wrote the song, was it perhaps Tom Lehrer?

No, thanks to the Internet, the answer is no longer rhetorical. Have Some Madeira, M'Dear was one of the witty ditties from Flanders and Swann so popular with British audiences of the sixties

I never, however, saw or tasted Madeira until I lived on the Algarve - and it was a revelation. I loved it.

Now that we are starting to plan for the Christmas festivities, it seems a good idea to consider what special treats from Portugal we could stock in the wine cabinet to supplement and enhance the festive spirit.

Madeira wine and honey cake spring to mind instantly and perhaps for that reason feature towards the bottom of the front page of one of Madeira's websites.

The production of Madeira wine has a long history, told with interesting illustrations by Blandy's Madeira.

Another set of excellent articles on food and wine can be found on Nancy's incomparable website on Madeira and Portugal. Just select from the index on the left for other illustrated features. This site can be slow-loading but is well worth the wait, I promise.

An easy-to-read introduction to the wine itself, its history and a pronunciation guide for the wine vocabulary, this Into Wine article is full of interesting information.

According to news items, a bottle of Madeira wine was sold in the United States for 22.000 dollars. Fortunately it is perfectly possible to buy even 15-year-old award winning Madeira wine for one thousandth of that price. And a normal bottle of course can cost much, much less.

However, a look at Madeira's weather as found here in German on an island paragliding site is so tempting for those of us who live in greyer winters that it might make the island itself well worth consideration as a getaway destination instead of Portugal itself.

A further study of all the webcam photos available on island sites such as Paul Watson's Madeira Holidays and a visit to the orchid gardens, open all year round, may tempt you to invest in a trip to the Island rather than in the wine.

Portugal's bequest to the festivities must of course be one of its many ports. Sandeman's Don is in great dramatic form on their gradually developing website. Sadly the Portuguese translation is not yet up at the time of writing though we are told that it will be shortly.

The copyright of the article Pass the Madeira, my dear in Portuguese is owned by Anne Duguid. Permission to republish Pass the Madeira, my dear in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.