Adegas de São Francisco - Step from the bustle of Funchal’s main street into the calm courtyards of the Adegas de São Francisco [St. Francis Wine Lodge] and enter a world where time has a different meaning. On payment of a fairly substantial sum, you can buy wines that were bottled in the 1860s and also see the huge barrels of Brazilian satinwood and American Oak where wines are slowly maturing.
The lodge started life as thee monastery of St Francis and was converted to its present use in 1834. At that time, Madeira wines were still being sent on board ship to the equator and back in the belief that the rocking motion improved the wine. The production process was revolutionised by the accidental discovery that Madeira’s unique quality comes not from motion, but from gentle hearing. Now the wine is “cooked” in vast vats using the warmth of the sun boosted when necessary by heat from hot water pipes.
All this becomes clear when you tour the cobbled yard and then head for the sampling.
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