If you want to dive even deeper into Madeira—both the wine and the island(s)—then get stuck into some of the books below.
New to the wine? Start with the Madeira wine guide before disappearing down the bookish rabbit holes below.
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Where to start
- One Madeira wine book: Madeira: The Islands and Their Wines by Richard Mayson.
- More history and technical detail: Madeira: The Mid-Atlantic Wine by Alex Liddell.
- Atlantic and American history: Oceans of Wine by David Hancock.
- A short travel guide: Lonely Planet Pocket Madeira by Austin Bush.
- A young Ronaldo fan: Cristiano Ronaldo from the Little People, BIG DREAMS series.
Books about Madeira wine
Madeira: The Islands and Their Wines
By Richard Mayson
What it is about: A modern account of the island, its vineyards, production methods, producers and wines. It covers enough history to explain why Madeira is unlike any other wine, then returns to the practical matter of what is in the glass.
What stayed with me: This is the book I return to most often. Mayson is good at joining the landscape, the winemaking and the bottles without making any one of them feel like an appendix.
Who will enjoy it: Anyone who wants one serious, all-round book about Madeira wine.
View the book on Amazon (paid link)
Madeira: The Mid-Atlantic Wine
By Alex Liddell
What it is about: A detailed study of Madeira’s history, vineyards and production. Liddell gives the island the sort of space normally reserved for much larger wine regions.
What stayed with me: The depth. This is the book for the questions that arrive after the introductory questions have already been answered. It is older than Mayson’s current book, but it remains a rich source on how place, trade and production developed together.
Who will enjoy it: Readers who enjoy the long answer and do not mind a little work.
View the book on Amazon (paid link)
Madeira, The Island Vineyard
By Noel Cossart; expanded by Emanuel Berk
What it is about: Part history, part trade memoir and part reference book. Cossart wrote from inside the Madeira business, and the expanded edition adds further historical material.
What stayed with me: Its insider voice. Old firms, old bottles and the habits of the trade feel lived in rather than reconstructed from a distance.
Who will enjoy it: Collectors and readers already familiar with the outline of Madeira wine. Copies can be scarce.
View the book on Amazon (paid link)
The Essential Guide to Modern Madeira
By Richard Mayson
What it is about: A compact introduction to the grapes, styles and producers of modern Madeira. It does not try to be the larger reference book in miniature.
What stayed with me: Its restraint. It gives a beginner enough structure to make sense of a tasting without turning the first glass into an examination.
Who will enjoy it: Readers who want a shorter introduction before a trip, tasting or first serious purchase.
View the book on Richard Mayson’s website
Strong, Sweet and Dry
By Becky Sue Epstein
What it is about: A guide to vermouth, Port, Sherry, Madeira and Marsala. Madeira is only one part of the book, which is precisely why it belongs here.
What stayed with me: Seeing Madeira beside the other fortified wines makes its oddities clearer. Heat and oxygen stop looking like footnotes and become the main plot.
Who will enjoy it: Readers exploring Madeira from Port, Sherry or another corner of the fortified-wine world.
View the book on Amazon (paid link)
For the shorter online version, see how Madeira wine is made and the history of Madeira wine.
History, trade and old Madeira
Oceans of Wine
By David Hancock
What it is about: A substantial study of Madeira’s place in Atlantic commerce and American taste. The wine becomes a way into merchants, markets, shipping networks and the social life of drinking.
What stayed with me: The scale of the story. Madeira may be a small island, but the wine travelled astonishingly well and carried a great deal of history with it.
Who will enjoy it: Readers of economic, social or American history. It is not a quick introduction.
View the book on Amazon (paid link)
A Madeira Party (1895)
By Silas Weir Mitchell
What it is about: Four gentlemen sit around a Philadelphia table, open old Madeiras and discuss the wines, their histories and the rules for treating them properly. It is a short literary time capsule.
What stayed with me: The glorious mixture of tasting, memory, ritual and superstition. Great Madeira was not merely a drink to these men. It was practically a civilisation. I loved it.
Who will enjoy it: Anyone curious about Madeira’s place in nineteenth-century American life.
Read A Madeira Party on Madeira Wine Guide
Society as I Have Found It
By Ward McAllister
What it is about: McAllister’s memoir of Gilded Age society includes a memorable chapter on Madeira and returns to old bottles elsewhere in the book. Wine, hospitality and social rank are thoroughly entangled.
What stayed with me: The social detail. A great cellar was not just expensive; it suggested inheritance, connections and judgement. The Madeira passages are entertaining, revealing and occasionally absurd. I loved this one too.
Who will enjoy it: Readers interested in old wine, old New York and the theatre of hospitality.
Explore the Madeira passages on Madeira Wine Guide
Still on my history reading list
- American Views on Madeira Wine, edited by Duarte Miguel Barcelos Mendonca and Marcio A. A. Ribeiro — a large anthology of nineteenth-century American texts. Specialist territory; I have not read it yet. View on Amazon (paid link)
- The Blandys of Madeira, 1811–2011 by Marcus Binney and Adam Blandy — an illustrated family and company history. I have not read or consulted it, so it remains a reading-list entry rather than a recommendation. View on Amazon (paid link)
Travel and walking books
Lonely Planet Pocket Madeira
By Austin Bush
What it is about: A compact, area-by-area guide with walking tours, food and drink suggestions and a pull-out map. It is designed for use on the island rather than display on a coffee table.
What stayed with me: It answers the small practical questions quickly. That matters when two adults and two children are trying to agree on tomorrow before breakfast is over.
Who will enjoy it: First-time visitors planning a short trip.
View the book on Amazon (paid link)
DK Top 10 Madeira
By DK Travel
What it is about: A visual guide built around maps, photographs and short themed lists. It is the fastest way to turn a vague week on Madeira into a rough plan.
What stayed with me: The maps and lists are easy to scan. I would choose it over Lonely Planet only if that is how you naturally plan; most travellers do not need both.
Who will enjoy it: Visual planners and families comparing several possible days out.
View the book on Amazon (paid link)
Walking on Madeira
By Paddy Dillon
What it is about: Sixty mountain and levada routes with access notes, maps and GPX support. This is a walking book, not a general guide with a few hikes tucked into the back.
What stayed with me: The route detail is the point. Conditions, closures, fees and access can change, however, so I would still check official information immediately before every walk.
Who will enjoy it: Walkers who need more than a list of the island’s famous levadas.
View the book on Amazon (paid link)
Planning a trip? Continue with Visit Madeira, where to stay and the walks and itineraries guide.
Fiction set in Madeira
I have not read the four novels below, so this is a reading list rather than a row of reviews. I will add proper notes when I have earned them.
- Distant Music by Lee Langley — literary historical fiction beginning in fifteenth-century Madeira. View on Amazon (paid link)
- Tango in Madeira by Jim Williams — post-First World War fiction involving a Madeira family wine business. View on Amazon (paid link)
- Past Caring by Robert Goddard — a layered historical mystery with a Madeira setting. View on Amazon (paid link)
- The Malady in Madeira by Ann Bridge — a Julia Probyn mystery with Cold War intrigue and an older Madeira atmosphere. View on Amazon (paid link)
Cristiano Ronaldo books
Cristiano Ronaldo
By Maria Isabel Sanchez Vegara; illustrated by Joao Fazenda
What it is about: A short picture-book biography beginning with Ronaldo’s childhood on Madeira. It follows the usual Little People, BIG DREAMS pattern: simple story, strong pictures and a clear theme of practice.
What stayed with me: The Madeira beginning gives a football-mad child a reason to care about the island before the family arrives. In our house, that is not a small advantage.
Who will enjoy it: Younger Ronaldo fans.
View the book on Amazon (paid link)
For older Ronaldo readers
- Who Is Cristiano Ronaldo? by James Buckley Jr. — a longer children’s biography for independent readers. Madeira is the beginning, not the whole story. I have not read it yet. View on Amazon (paid link)
- Cristiano Ronaldo: The Biography by Guillem Balague — the substantial adult or teenage option. It is a football biography, not a Madeira book. I have not read it yet. View on Amazon Australia (paid link)
Madeira books FAQ
What is the best book about Madeira wine?
For one all-round reference, I would choose Madeira: The Islands and Their Wines by Richard Mayson. Add Alex Liddell’s Madeira: The Mid-Atlantic Wine when you want more historical and technical depth.
What should I read before visiting Madeira?
Lonely Planet Pocket Madeira is the simplest general choice. DK Top 10 Madeira suits visual planners; Paddy Dillon is the better companion when walking is the main event.
That is the shelf for now. I will update it as I read more.