This is the Island of Madeira. Aside from being a supposedly great vacation destination, they also make a unique wine, which a friend recently introduced me to.

This wine is basically beaten into submission, heated, oxidized, left in casks for years.

Most wines would give up and simply become vinegar, but Madeira wine becomes stronger, fuller, and more resistant to going off.

Because of this, you can store this stuff for hundreds of years. Lighter than port, hardier than wine, slightly sweet,it's a pretty interesting after-dinner drink.

The proper storage method is indeed shown to the right, the upright bottles allow for continued slow oxidization of the wine as it matures.Here's a quick primer.

The wines come in distinctive, old-world style bottles, thick, often hand-blown glass.

I believe this could become another expensive hobby.

Below are the aging casks where the wine sits for years in one of the methods of making the distinctive wines.

There's four different methods on the Island, all resulting in a similar, yet distinctive varieties

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