The 18th century marked the golden age of Madeira wine—a fortified wine produced on the island of Madeira, prized for its ability to endure long sea voyages. Around 95% of the island’s production was shipped to the American colonies, where Madeira was immensely popular. George Washington himself was a devoted admirer, regularly ordering large casks for his Mount Vernon estate. The wine’s resilience came from the addition of locally distilled sugarcane spirit, which fortified it and ensured it survived the long transatlantic journey.
Whiskey, by comparison, was a modest, largely rural industry at the time—farmers distilled their surplus grain into a shelf-stable, transportable spirit. Scotch whisky wasn’t legally regulated until 1823, and early American corn and rye whiskies—bourbon in embryo—were often cheaper than beer, wine, coffee, tea, or even milk. As a result, locally produced spirits were widely regarded as rough and utilitarian, while imported European wines, refined and sweet, represented the ultimate premium indulgence.
To demonstrate how loved and prized Madeira was, in 1787, just two days before signing the Constitution, the 55 delegates to the Constitutional Convention celebrated at a tavern. According to the evening’s bill, they drank 54 bottles of Madeira, 60 bottles of claret, 8 of whiskey, 22 of porter, 8 of hard cider, 12 of beer and 7 bowls of alcoholic punch. That’s almost a bottle of madeira each!
This incredible bottle was discovered by a private collector who holds sizeable numbers of 1800 and prior vintage wines and whiskies. The label for this 1770 vintage reads:
“This Madeira was bought by Mr. Francis Amory of Boston in the year 1770 and sent by him on two voyages in his ships. On his death, it was sold to Mr’s S. D. and M. Williams in 1805 who sold it to Stetson in 1818, who then kept a home in Boston. Stetson took this wine to Baltimore, then to New York. A bottle of this wine was opened with Home suppers in B. Presented to G. G. DeWitt Jr. by Thomas Mannon, February 4, 1884. Recorked by Dewitt. “
This bottle has certainly had quite a journey. The Madeira was likely shipped to Boston in pipes—large wooden casks holding roughly 126 gallons—and then either left to rest in the wood or decanted into glass demijohns. This practice remains common today, as transferring the wine into glass halts the aging process while allowing it to mellow gracefully over time. From there, it changed hands several times before finding its way into the Stetson estate.
Charles Stetson later became the proprietor of The Astor House, an esteemed hotel built by John Jacob Astor on Broadway in 1836. The Astor House set the standard for New York’s great hotels, earning a reputation for fine dining and exceptional wine pairings.
As the label notes, bottles of this Madeira were opened and recorked in 1884. When evaporation lowers the fill level in old bottles, winemakers will often consolidate the contents and replace corks to prevent further loss. Sometimes the original glass is reused; other times, new bottles and seals are employed. In this case, I believe the glass is original 18th-century manufacture, evidenced by its opaque hue and the distinctive, uneven shape typical of hand-blown bottles from that era.
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The inevitable question with any historic vintage is how its flavor compares to modern equivalents. In 1950, Winston Churchill visited Madeira and was served a remarkable 1792 vintage that had been bottled in 1840. It was described as having velvety, sweet notes of butterscotch, cocoa and coffee. Madeira produced today is fundamentally different, as Europe’s vineyards were devastated in the 19th century by the Oidium and Phylloxera plagues. These blights wiped out centuries-old vines across Portugal, France, and Spain, making pre-Phylloxera vintages—be they wines, brandies, or fortified—immensely prized.
Such vintages represent the legacy of original vine stocks that had been cultivated for hundreds of years. The same reverence applies to brandies from producers like Rémy Martin, whose pre-Phylloxera spirits have surged in both demand and value. A 1940s Louis XIII, for instance, containing spirit from this lost era, differs profoundly from modern production. The same principle holds true for Madeira—a fortified wine that has repeatedly proven its extraordinary ability to mature, evolve, and improve over centuries.
A handful of these century old Madeira have surfaced in the past few years, with equally special stories associated. This 1800 vintage for example was owned by George Buchanan, a British consul in New York City and bottled in 1913 by esteemed wine merchants Charles Bellows. A Madeira from 1800 bottled prior to prohibition!
Equally these 1900 Verdelho Madeira shipped by Blandy’s represent wine over a century old!
Where a 100-year-old whiskey remains a dream in the spirits world, centuries-old Madeira like these bottles are a reality. Both whiskey and Madeira mature, develop, and mellow in glass, but few whiskies survive beyond a few decades. Fortified wines, however, offer a rare window into history—one that reaches all the way back to the American Revolution. So while vintage bourbon and Scotch whiskies capture the essence of 20th-century craftsmanship, perhaps it’s worth taking a deeper look into the 18th century through the lens of old Madeira.
