Justino's Madeira

Founded 1870 on the Portuguese Island of Maderia , Justino Henriques Filhos Ltda. today is one of the oldest Madeira producing and exporting companies.

Justino’s premium quality wines are sold extensively throughout Europe, North America and Asian.

The Justino’s winery is located in Cancela, Santa Cruz on the North-Eastern coast side of Madeira.

The Justino’s wine range is stored in an underground warehouse of about 5.000 m2. During the last 5 years the production lines have been renewed to the most modern standard of techniques. Nevertheless, these investments contributed to constantly improvement of the Justino’s Madeira wine range.

The harvest on Madeira begins in the middle of August and continues until September. The actual time frame of the allowed harvest is fixed every year new by the Institute of Madeira. The vines grow on the slightly hilly side of the island and move on down to the Atlantic coast. The single vineyards are surrounded by basalt walls. The use of technical machinery in Madeira’s vineyards is nearly impossible; therefore all grapes for Justino’s wines are hand picked.

Madeira

Madeira wines, like Port, are also fortified. The type of wine and its taste depends on the varietal utilized:

• Malvasia - for dark, sweet desert wines
• Bual - for wines with a semi-sweet taste suitable for cheese and deserts
• Sercial - for apertif wines to accompany soup or fish
• Veldelho - for wines with a tawny colour suitable for meat or madeira cake

The same production process "estufagem" is used to this day. After fermentation, fortification and racking the wine "cooks" in barrels in the sun with the help of hot water vody in pipes for 4 to 6 months at a temperature of 45 - 65 °C. The top part of the barrrels have opening for airing. As a result, the wine evaporates and must be refilled.

Due to special technological processes during production, a well closure manage and stored Madeira can practically last forever. Some manufacturers pride themselves on having 200 year old bottles with the original closure.