Tourists prefer holiday homes to hotels

Fly to Let holiday owners with properties in Europe could attract more customers looking for ‘healthy’ tourism.

According to the Portuguese National Tourist Office and the Portuguese Chamber of Commerce in the UK, health and wellbeing tourism is on the rise and is expected to increase by 5-10 percent by 2015.

At a major conference on the topic held at the beginning of November, Madeira has been highlighted for its potential in this expanding market. The Island has long been known for its excellent year-round weather and the rich natural beauty of the islands flora and fauna, fed by the fertile volcanic soil.

Steve Worboys, Director of Experience International, the overseas property agency, said: “We are finding that people are turning to overseas property instead of hotel stays so that they can enjoy greater flexibility and better value for money accommodation.

Funchal is the prime spot for overseas property buyers; the capital enjoys sunnier and drier weather than the rest of the island and has all the amenities expected in a cosmopolitan city plus the international airport close.

The Azulara Resort, nestled above the city of Funchal, has one, two and three bedroom apartments available and is proving popular with property hunters. Each apartment has panoramic sea views and there is a spa, gymnasium and swimming pools on site at the 5 star resort. Prices range from €251,530 – €429,038.

(source Fly2Let)

A Sweet Wine with Staying Power

During the recent New York Wine Experience’s Four Chefs food and wine pairing seminar, Mario Batali selected a Madeira to go with chef Wolfgang Puck’s wild boar dish, which had been braised in Madeira. The pairing of a sweet wine with the dish was unique, but undeniably delicious.

The Madeira that was served was a Sercial from the same Historic Series, bottled by Vinhos Barbeito for the California-based Rare Wine Co., as this wine I recently tried. The series covers the four major styles of Madeira, and each is named for the grape that makes up the majority of the blend (85 percent), though about 15 percent of old-vine Tinta Negra Mole is also used.

Malmsey is one of the two sweetest styles of Madeira (along with Bual), a fortified wine from the island of Madeira, which belongs to Portugal and sits off the coast of Morocco. This Malmsey bottling ($47 at retail) shows delicious charred orange peel, date, clove and caramel notes, along with a tangy hint of green tea piercing the finish. It’s sweet, but offset by almost edgy acidity, making it easily drinkable on its own, or with heftier cheeses. For me, it was 91 points, non-blind.

And one of the best things about Madeira? A little glass goes a long way to satisfying a wine thirst, and then the open bottle can be kept indefinitely, as the wine is already oxidized during the vinification. It’s the only “cooked” wine that’s good to drink (hence the term maderized for poorly stored wines that show overly mature characteristics).

(source Wine Spectator)

More than ‘cooking wine,’ centuries-old madeira modern again

Madeira has got to be the world’s wackiest wine.

Most folks know madeira as “cooking wine,” stocked on dusty bottom retail shelves. Aficionado’s, however, prize madeira as the finest of the rare, aged on likewise dusty cellars shelves, auctioned for $200 per bottle and up.

Madeira lends its moniker to “maderized,” qualities considered faulty in all wine – except madeira.

And this most traditional wine, beloved of Shakespeare, chosen to toast the signing of the Declaration of Independence, is modern again, with the all the most appealing characteristics of the undead.

Madeira takes its name from the Madeira archipelago, bobbing in the Atlantic some 350 miles north of Africa. Beginning in the 1400s, it proved a convenient rest-stop, first for Portuguese seafarers, then for all of Europe. An essential supply was Madeira’s wine, which the Portuguese stabilized for voyages by adding distilled spirit. This was custom back home in their local wine – Port – but even Port turned sour in the punishing heat and air of a ship’s hold. Madeira, however, tasted even better after “baking.”

Today, technology substitutes for months at sea. Most madeira is a blend of harvests, heated to about 130 degrees in tanks for three months or steamed in barrels for six. The finest madeira is vintage-dated, aged in barrels exposed to the grueling sun for three to 100 years, commanding descriptions of “mint and butterscotch” or “firm, intense and intriguing” even from bottles tasted 150 years after harvest.

Lacking several hundred dollars, we can still glimpse the immortal in non-vintage styles:

Serial is the lightest, driest style, with flavors including almonds, coffee and butterscotch, beginning at $20. Serve for cocktails or with light seafood, including sushi.

Verdelho adds dried fruit and smoky notes, beginning at $20. Serve with seafood and light meats.

Boil and Malmsey are dark, rich and raisin-y with truffle and nut complexity, beginning at $20-ish. Serve after dinner with cheese, toffee and coffee.

All madeira is characterized by intense acidity that softens with age. Prices climb quickly depending on length of maturation but madeira lovers eschew wines under three years old.

“Rainwater,” about $15, is beginner’s madeira with aromas that recall the falling leaves, bonfires and taffy apples and flavors of toffee and dried fruit. It’s my favorite for toasting the coming of winter and the promised rebirth of spring.

(source Daily Herald)

World-class fusion cuisine at the Vine Hotel in Madeira

Fancy pan-fried frogs legs with chervil sauce or steamed wild sea bass with oyster tartar? These are just two of the creations Chef Antoine Westermann spoils his guests with at The Vine, Design Hotels™’ newest member hotel in Madeira. At UVA, the hotel’s gourmet restaurant, the award-winning chef creates fusion cuisine at its best. Locals have also discovered this gem – for its culinary delights as well as the spectacular views.

Tantalising Creations Above the City
UVA is situated on the rooftop terrace of The Vine with panoramic views over the capital Funchal. Like the hotel, the restaurant takes its name from the famous Madeira wine and means ‘grape.’ At this intimate restaurant Antoine Westermann combines the savoir-vivre of the French cuisine with the best and freshest ingredients from Madeira. The menu is quite diverse and includes extraordinary entrées such as roast pigeon stuffed with vegetable tagine and scallops pan-fried with walnuts and hazelnuts. To round off the dinner, a number of sweet desserts are on offer, including Westermann’s famous macaroons and salted caramel croustillant, served with Madeira wine. For a special dinner party or a cocktail reception, UVA offers a private dining room.

Maestro Antoine Westermann
The Alsatian chef is known for his innovative creations. His fusion cuisine blends Alsatian and international specialities. Westermann earned a total of three Michelin stars for his restaurant Le Buerehiesel in Strasbourg. Moreover, he received four Gault Millau chef hats. Westermann also runs the restaurant Drouant in Paris.

The “ninimalist” Design
The interiors reflect the vision of Nini Andrade Silva, a local designer with an international reputation. In reference to her name, her style is called “ninimalism”. The interior design of the 79 room property is inspired by the Madeira wine. This is also reflected in the UVA restaurant, with the shades of green, brown and purple representing the four different seasons and the maturation of a grape throughout the year.

(source Travel Blackboard)

Lower excise duties on liqueurs in Madeira and the Azores to stay

Despite a low rate of excise duty for local products, their market share has been lower, and the prices higher, than those of similar products from other parts of the EU. In Madeira local products take 20.3% of the market, in the Azores 38.9%.  This is mainly because raw materials such as sugar cane, fruit, plants, honey, cream, milk and wine are dearer in these remote regions than elsewhere.

The local industry employs around 130 workers in Madeira and around 90 in the Azores. In Madeira, the cultivation and processing of sugar cane and fruit provides work for around 1,000 family-owned agricultural holdings. According to the European Commission, without the reduced duty, higher retail selling prices would threaten the survival of the industry.

Under the EU Council decision approved by Parliament, the Portuguese government will continue to have the right to apply reduced excise duties in Madeira on locally produced and consumed rum and liqueurs, and in the Azores on locally produced and consumed liqueurs and fruit brandy.

A similar derogation applies to the production of traditional rum in the French Overseas Territories and to the Canary Islands. The rates of the excise duty are re-examined every two years.

(source Europaisches Parlament)

Enjoy a round of golf in Funchal

News in the travel press is that Madeira is to get a brand new golf complex as there are plans for a new Nick Faldo resort on the island.

Planning permission has apparently been granted for an 18 hole golf resort at Ponto do Pargo and it is thought that the approval of the new resort will cause property values to rise steeply in the Ponto do Pargo region. Madeira is well served by cheap flights to Funchal and has all the ingredients necessary for this project to go ahead say cheap flight website airflights.co.uk.

Madeira has an ideal year round climate and golfers tend to be bigger spenders than some other holiday maker groups. Golf enthusiasts whilst enjoying the availability of cheap flights to Funchal will look for better quality hotels on the island and consequently bring spending power to the area and this no doubt will have an effect on improving the infrastructure on Madeira say airflights.co.uk

Describing the proposed Madeira course on his website, Faldo writes: “With many of the holes hugging the cliff tops and views across the ocean from much of the course, this will certainly be an aesthetically appealing round of golf.”

Airflights report that the availability of cheap flights through their website has meant an increase in golfers booking with them in 2009. Airflights try to arrange for the carriage of clubs with the airline where possible thereby saving their clientele the worry. Golf is a fast up and coming pursuit with clients wanting some sunshine to play in rather than struggling round in the wet and windy British climate say the flight agent.

You can book with airflights at www.airflights.co.uk where they offer a choice of cheap flights to beach destinations in Europe such as cheap flights to Funchal, Malaga, Alicante, Dalaman and Bodrum (Turkey), Paphos, Larnaca, Tenerife, Fuerteventura Lanzarote and Gran Canaria as well as Cheap flights and All Inclusive hotels in Egypt at the Red Sea resorts of Sharm El Sheikh and Hurghada which are popular for scuba diving. They have literally thousands of cheap hotels and apartments and offer cheap Resort Transfers, car hire and of course cheap airport car parking. Visit them on line at www.airflights.co.uk or call them free on 0800 093 2615. Airflights are Fully protected by ABTA and have been established for 15 years.

(source Airflights.co.uk)

Madeira aquaculture in sharp growth

The Regional Secretariat of Environment and Natural Resources anticipates that the volume of Madeira aquaculture exports will increase around 80 per cent this year, going from 283.1 exported tonnes in 2008 to nearly 500 tonnes.

Regional secretary Manuel Antonio Correia estimates that the value of exports overseas will increase from EUR 990,800 in 2008 to EUR 1.7 million in 2009.

On the basis of these projections, Correia considers that “marine aquaculture of a commercial nature in the autonomous region of Madeira is in full growth,” Jornal da Madeira reports.

On the issue, he pointed out that the region has excellent conditions for farmed fish production, since the average temperature of sea water in winter is far superior to that of continental Europe.

“Due to this factor, the growth of farmed fish is faster, and the production cycles are shorter and lower in cost, making the activity more competitive at the European level,” he maintained.

“In Europe (the Mediterranean zone), the necessary time for juvenile common sea bream specimens to reach commercial size is 13 to 16 months. In Madeira, that time can be reduced to between 10 and 12 months,” Correia explained.

According to producers, it is possible to explore market niches with origins in Madeira, because the sea bream produced in this Portuguese water “has better flavour and consistency,” the regional secretary commented.

“The region’s marine aquaculture is concentrated in sea bream production, which is in full expansion. In 2005, nearly 37 tonnes were yielded, of which 26 tonnes were sold in Madeira and 11 tonnes exported,” Correia affirmed.

Meanwhile, in 2006 they produced around 126 tonnes of sea bream, of which 27 tonnes were commercialised in the region and the 99 remaining tonnes sold in Portugal.

Last year, Madeira produced 470 tonnes –187 tonnes of which were sold in the region and 283 tonnes off the island.

(source FIS)

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