Madeira Wines: A Taste of History
Reading "taste wines from the age of piracy" is mind-blowing. Piracy's 'Golden Age' was 1650-1730, but it persisted, overlapping with some of the oldest available wines on the market. Imagine, bottles like the 1795 Madeiras on @ruepinardliquors, surviving the French Revolution, pirate raids... If they could talk!
But would they be drinkable, enjoyable? Fortified wines, like Madeira, have a chance. Fortification - adding stronger alcohol - halts fermentation, preserving sweetness and extending lifespan dramatically. Not that it'll be 'fresh'. Oxygen, even in tiny amounts, alters wine over time. I'd guess this wine is nutty, dried fruit, maybe caramel, brown sugar. Freshness is likely replaced by tertiary notes.
But let's be real: is flavor even the point? This is living liquid, preserved, witnessing more than any human. It's shared Earth's rotations with ancient trees. More than wine, it's a story, a history you can hold, taste, connect with.