Sounds pretty amazing
Wow.
Pretty impressive. I liked this fact:
America’s original 13 colonies imported about 95 percent of Madeiran wine produced on the autonomous islands of Portugal, according to historical accounts.
The only wine that can survive storage in an attic.
I am constantly amazed at how few Americans know that Madeira was one of the countries drink of choice back then. Can’t blame people though, not like our history as taught in schools is very detailed when it comes to alcohol thanks to the previous, and ongoing, temperance folks who are in charge of education. OK my rant is over, LOL!
And BTW, check out what they drank…
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In 1787, two days before they signed off on the Constitution, the 55 delegates to the Constitutional Convention partied at a tavern. According to the bill preserved from the evening, they drank > 54 bottles of Madeira, > 60 bottles of claret, eight of whiskey, 22 of porter, eight of hard cider, 12 of beer and seven bowls of alcoholic punch.
Damn, I was hoping this was about my old dorm at Rutgers. 
When I went to Rockingham in my old stomping grounds in South Brunswick Twp. in NJ they displayed a wine chest of sorts. George Washington spent several months at Rockingham during which time he composed his farewell address to his troops. So I asked if he kept Madeira. Yes replied the helpful docent.
Was I the only one who thought this thread was going to be about finding a stash of Boone’s Farm, Matuse, Blue Nun and Lancers? 
I watched a really cool documentary years ago on something like History channel. There was a segment from a guy that analyzed alcohol importation records and extrapolated from the population that our Founding Fathers were drunk every day. The statistics were something nuts, like those you posted. The story talked a lot about Madiera.
These guys drank alcohol in part because of tradition, also for health reasons. Cholera was rampant at different times in the 18th century and drinking water only from some of the questionable sources in cities (with wells being uncomfortably close to outhouses) was dangerous. Even low degrees of alcohol, (presumably the potency of some of the wine in those days was a bit less), acted as a countermeasure to bacteria. Reading Steven Johnson’s “The Ghost Map” helps convince you that if I lived in colonial America, I too would start my day with a glass of beer!
For the wealthy and powerful, Madeira was the drink of choice. Top quality Madeira cost the same as first growth Bordeaux!
Madeira was the drink of choice in the Colonies because the Bordeaux and Port trade were controlled by the British.
I Have had my share of misplaced bottles in my cellar but holy toledo!
We also banned the import of Madeira and other goods in the fall of 1774 during an economic boycott of Great Britain. It was only in April of 1776 that trade was opened up again. A few months later during June 1776 the Portuguese banned America ships from calling on their ports including those in Madeira. Tough times!
Yeah already posted
Twice elsewhere.
Yeah, bringing up the same subject in a new thread is grounds for a scolding.