🍷 Frasqueira Madeira
Vintage Madeira from a single year and a single grape.
Frasqueira Madeira is a top category of Madeira, the fortified wine from the island of Madeira, made from one grape variety of a single year. Frasqueira is the top category of Madeira. It is also called vintage Madeira: the wine comes from a single year and a single noble grape variety, and the harvest year is shown on the label.
The main rule is long ageing. Before bottling, Frasqueira spends at least 20 years in cask. Many wines age much longer, and in bottle they can keep for a century or more. Madeira is one of the longest-lived wines in the world, because it has already been through oxidation and heat during ageing.
The grape sets the style. Sercial gives the driest Frasqueira, Verdelho medium dry, Boal medium sweet and Malvasia the sweetest. The rare Terrantez also appears. The variety is usually named on the label.
A related category is Colheita: also a single-year Madeira, but aged for at least 5 years. Frasqueira is the summit of Madeira and part of Portuguese wine. An opened bottle keeps for a long time, sometimes for months.
How it connects to Wine
🍷 Frasqueira Madeira → made in → 🗺️ Portuguese wine → kind of → 🗺️ Wines of Europe → kind of → 🍷 Wine
Links
- Part of
- 🍷 Madeira
- Where it is made
- 🗺️ Portuguese wine
- Similar and different
- 🍷 Colheita Port, 🍷 Madeira
Frequently asked questions
How long is Frasqueira Madeira aged?
At least 20 years in cask before bottling.
How is Frasqueira different from Colheita?
Both come from one year, but Colheita is aged for at least 5 years and Frasqueira for at least 20.
How long does opened Madeira keep?
A long time: thanks to oxidative ageing an opened bottle can last for months.
Similar
🍷 Terrantez · 🍷 Rainwater Madeira · 🍷 Sercial · 🍷 Verdelho Madeira · 🍷 Bual · 🍷 Malmsey
⚠️ Wine contains alcohol: adults only, drink in moderation. Wine usually contains sulphites; egg white or milk proteins are sometimes used for fining — important for allergies and for vegans.