For The Love Of Port

I am thinking to do my first Madeira trip in the near future, have red some reports on sometimes not so nice weather and I am wondering what would be the best season to visit the Iland of Madeira to get most probably the best of it

Why don't you join us in late February when we make our first tour of the Island and the greatest wine and dining experiences you can imagine?

We'll introduce you to the folks you'd be hard pressed to every get to meet and drink wines that would not be made available, except for very well connected folks. If you are thinking of doing this trip in the next six months you really should consider coming along with us.

If that is not an option for you, what time of year are you planning to go? I am happy to let you know about the weather patterns there.

Roy Hersh wrote:...what time of year ... to go? ...

Roy, this is exactly the question. I will travel with my wife and we would like to do a bit of hiking, sight seeing (landscape, flora, fauna, cities, ...), wine tasting and dining - duration about a week.
Let me know the program for your tour in February - even if I am basically not a group traveller

Wilfried,

I just got back from 10 days on the island -- I would say that the summer months are somewhat higher in humidity (i.e., July & August), but I've been there in July, May/June and December, and I've never experienced a stretch of bad weather.

FYI, there are some very nice (and challenging) hiking trails on the island, including one that connects to two tallest peaks (Pico Arreiro & Pico Ruivo).

Bob

Bob,

How many times have you been there now?

What percentage of your time spent there is doing wine related things?


I assume you have made some fine contacts and know where to go for the good juice. :)

Roy,

This was my fourth trip. You know, I've never explicitly done any touring in a wine-related sort of way. The one place/lodge that I highly recommend you put on your itinerary is a visit to Artur Barros y Sousa, which is a tiny little producer right next door to D'Olvieira -- they are very small, and get a kick out of having visitors. There is a small courtyard in the center of the lodge where Artur has a vine of each of the major grape varieties growing so he can show vistors the differences in the grapes -- I found it very educational.

Bob,

Knowing you have been to Madeira quite a few times, I was surprised that it was not wine-centric. I guess you just love it for the natural beauty and the ability to hike into some pretty remote areas. Have you found these hikes doable for those in moderate physical condition or are they pretty difficult?

Bob Hughes wrote:... I've never experienced a stretch of bad weather...

Bob, thanks, glad to hear that. Had a hint for probably bad weather stretches in Madeira from a Becket biography - bad luck may be. Hiking seems the thing to do on Madeira

Roy,

The reason why it is not a "wine-centric" place to visit, IMO, is primarily due to the way the business is handled . Most of the classic grape varietals are grown on very small terraced plots by folks that are literally at the subsistence crop level -- it is generally not an "integrated" wine production model like the Douro where the producer owns the vineyard. Most grapes are purchased by the producers, who really only focus on the "elevage" and marketing of the wine.

So, if you think about it from a "touring" perspective, there really aren't any expansive stretches of vineyards where you could take folks to show them "how it's done".

You can obviously take folks to the Madeira lodges (i.e., Barbeito, d'Olveiera, Barros, Henriques etc.), but those aren't the kind of places where you will be able to spend all day (although with your connections, I'm sure you'll be able to line-up some "face-to-face" stuff with the actual winemakers that a single tourist like myself would not ordinarily have access to).