On July 4, 1776, in Philadelphia’s Independence Hall, the 56 delegates to the Second Continental Congress toasted the newly adopted Declaration of Independence the best way they knew how: with Madeira.

It was an inevitable choice. Madeira was not only the Americans’ most prized wine; it was for them the only wine worthy of such an important moment.

For a quarter century, The Rare Wine Co. has celebrated the reverence that early Americans had for Madeira. And we’ve done so through a series of remarkable Madeiras honoring people and places with a strong historical connection to the wine.

Among the honorees have been American seaports that were centers for Madeira trading, and such founders as George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison and Benjamin Franklin.

We now pay tribute to what historian Joseph Ellis has called "the most potent and consequential words in American history,” the Declaration of Independence, which celebrates its 250th birthday on July 4th, 2026. And we do so with arguably the greatest of our “Historic Series” Madeiras yet.

Created for us by Barbeito’s brilliant winemaker, Ricardo Freitas, the Declaration of Independence Madeira is based on years of historical research by RWC’s founder Mannie Berk and fellow Madeira historian, Aaron Nix-Gomez.

It captures a style of Madeira favored in 1776 America: refined, elegant, a pale copper color, with its very modest sweetness balanced by bracing acidity, and featuring the aromatic complexity imparted by a long ocean voyage in barrel.

To create this richly evocative Madeira, Ricardo blended five old Madeiras from his priceless collection of barrels and demijohns. Balancing power with bracing salinity, 15% of the blend was a magnificent 80-year-old Tinta Negra, while 8% was a 1991 Vintage Sercial. The vines that produced the Sercial are so close to the sea on the island’s north coast, the grapes are often bathed in sea spray during the growing season

It is a measure of Ricardo’s blending mastery that the five components represent five different grape varieties—Bual, Verdelho, Bastardo, Tinta Negra and Sercial—all seamlessly integrated.

The Madeira’s label features John Trumbull’s “Declaration of Independence” painting, depicting the presentation of the draft of the Declaration to the Second Continental Congress.

A limited release timed to coincide with the Declaration of Independence’s 250 th anniversary in July, this wine is sure to take its place among the most celebrated Madeiras of the past century.

For anyone who loves either great wine or American history, it is an essential purchase.