How Madeira Wine Shaped U.S. History with Cossart Gordon

There wasn’t an empty seat in the private room of San Francisco restaurant La Connessa when Cossart Gordon CEO Chris Blandy took the floor to present “A Toast to Independence with Cossart Gordon & Miles Madeira.” It was just one of many stops on a weeklong U.S. tour Blandy undertook to celebrate Madeira’s role in the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence.

Introducing him, host Garret Nagle, Northern California sales manager at importer Vineyard Brands, shared an anecdotal observation that sent a wave of optimism across the room: “Madeira is having a moment in San Francisco, and it is happening because of you.” But it’s not just happening there. In terms of global sales, “we’re having record years [across] the whole [fortified] wine sector year after year,” according to Blandy, who added, “Our biggest challenges are coming from a supply point of view.”

Madeira’s enviable place in our nation’s history tells a compelling backstory. “Any wine region in the world would love to have the authentic marketing hook that we have with the birth of the United States,” Blandy said with delight as he cited ways in which Madeira shaped the American Revolution.

In a nutshell, Madeira was a tax-free product because the island was considered a British port; a riot known as the Liberty Affair broke out over the seizure of a ship carrying Madeira belonging to John Hancock, inspiring further acts of rebellion (including the Boston Tea Party); George Washington relied on Madeira to soothe toothaches before battle; and Benjamin Franklin employed Madeira in his booze-fueled diplomatic negotiations with New York Governor George Clinton.

The word madeira in Portuguese means “wood,” and the island of Madeira
itself is heavily forested, with just 995 acres under vine—an example of “nano-viticulture,” in Blandy’s words. Tiny, terraced plots line its hillsides up to about 900 feet in elevation, above which its volcanic soils are too meager for cultivation. Blandy noted that lower elevation plantings are being supplanted by bananas, which can produce multiple crops, making them more profitable for small growers.

While presenting five wines, Blandy spoke at length about the increased use
of the Tinta Negra grape variety, which represents 80% of plantings on the island. Historically used to produce cooking Sherry, it’s now getting its due as a component in all four styles of Madeira, and Cossart Gordon has invested in the Miles brand as a way to explore its potential. “We want to turn Miles into Madeira’s Tinta Negra experts,” he said.

Composed of 100% Tinta Negra, Miles Rainwater was the driest style we tasted, offering a mélange of dried fruits, including orange peel. The four Cossart
Gordon madieras that followed had increasing levels of residual sugar. The Sercial, aged five years, was elegant, with nutty, citrus, honeyed, and saline flavors that would complement oysters. The Verdelho, at ten years of age, was lightly caramelized, with notes of dried cherry. The 2013 Bual Colheita, bottled in 2024, showed vanilla, baked pear, golden raisin, and Brazil nut as well as notes of chocolate and beef bouillon. And the 1995 Malmsey, bottled
in 2023, had an olive-green rim and flavors of coffee bean, fig, and chocolate
along with smoky, woodsy notes.

During the question-and-answer session that concluded the tasting, one attendee seeking a talking point for retail sales asked Blandy which madiera style he thought George Washington would have drunk. “Although there is nothing in the archives at Mount Vernon that describes either the style or the grapevine, we assume that it was Malmsey,” he responded. “It was the main style that was being shipped during that period when people wanted something sweet.”

The historic connections to our fledgling nation aside, Madeira holds plenty of appeal for modern-day consumers: Its rarity, complexity, and beauty are undeniable.