Sercial

Sercial is the driest of the four classic Madeira grapes, and its other Portuguese name tells you everything about it. On the mainland it is called Esgana Cão, which means dog strangler, for an acidity so aggressive that the wine is barely drinkable before it is aged and fortified.

On Madeira it is planted highest and coolest, on the northern side of the island, which keeps the acid higher still and the sugar low. In the traditional hierarchy of the island's grapes it sits at the dry end, with Verdelho next, then Bual, then Malmsey at the sweetest. A Sercial Madeira is fortified late, so little sugar remains, and it is then baked and oxidised for years in the estufagem or in cask under the roof.

The result is a wine of extraordinary tension: pale amber, almost bracingly dry, with almond, lemon peel, smoke and a salty finish, and an acidity that keeps it fresh after decades. Madeira is the most indestructible wine there is, and Sercial is the version that shows it most clearly, because there is no sweetness to hide behind.