Sercial

Sercial is the driest of the four classic "noble" white grapes of Madeira, the great heated-and-oxidised fortified wine of the volcanic Portuguese island. Grown high on the island's cool upper slopes, it ripens late and keeps a fierce natural acidity, and by tradition its name denotes the bone-dry style of Madeira, the austere counterpart to medium Verdelho and Bual and richly sweet Malmsey. Like all Madeira it is fortified with grape spirit and then deliberately matured warm — by the estufagem tank method or the slow, cask-aged canteiro method — but where the sweeter grapes turn to caramel and dried fruit, Sercial stays lean, saline and almost savoury: dry almond, lemon and lime peel, quince, and a smoky, tangy edge over piercing acidity. It is the aperitif Madeira, served chilled, and famously near-indestructible once opened.