Tinta Negra Mole

Tinta Negra is the red grape behind a large part of Madeira's fortified-wine production, though the grape may not be the most prominent wording on the bottle. The older name Tinta Negra Mole is still common in references. Its importance is practical and wide-ranging, rather than limited to one narrow sweetness style.

Unlike treating a Madeira label's Sercial or Bual as a familiar style cue, the words Tinta Negra do not by themselves tell you how sweet the wine will be. Producers can make different expressions from it. The island's heating or maturation traditions and the selected sweetness level do much of the work in shaping the finished wine.

Choose the Madeira first by its stated style, age category and producer, then use the grape information as part of understanding it. A drier bottle can work before food or with savoury dishes; a richer one belongs with different partners. Small pours make more sense than treating fortified Madeira as an ordinary glass of dry red table wine.