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Some 1,100 litres of young Bual in barrels

Do you store it horizontally or vertically? Should you finish the bottle within a few days of opening it? Is it an aperitif or a digestif?

Is it made using the solera system, as is Sherry? What's all this about crossing the Equator'?

Our short holiday in Madeira answered all these questions and more.

Madeira is definitely a wine to store vertically.

The process of making Madeira allows for oxygen to come into contact with the wine and this is known as pre-oxidation.

But first, what are the four types of Madeira? The driest is Sercial, less dry is Verdelho, sweeter is Bual and the sweetest is Malmsey.

The first two are usually drunk as an aperitif, as is sherry, and the last two are usually taken after the meal, rather like port.

Like us, you might well have an open bottle of Madeira in the cupboard. Don't worry, it will last for a year as it has been allowed contact with air during the maturation process and this process is known as pre-oxidation.

Wine writer John Walmsley from Cattistock

So if you open the bottle and do not drink it all in the immediate following days or weeks then no harm will come to it.

If you store your bottles of Madeira horizontally then the wine will attack the cork quite quickly, hence the advice to store bottles in the vertical position. But you need to note that Madeira does not improve once it has been bottled.

More next month!

• John Walmsley can be contacted at John Gerard Wines on 01300 320987 for information on regular free tastings at Cattistock.

  He is a specialist wine merchant dealing in wine from Western Australia (and Irish whiskey). He is available for talks and corporate events and his wines can be bought via www.johngerardwines.co.uk

2:45pm Monday 3rd March 2008

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