During the sixteenth century the old sailing boats that were used to traverse the oceans to and from places like India, China, or Japan rolled back and forth like a piston in an internal combustion engine. Fortunately for the wine, this hot and furious chamber of energy did not help immediately invent the car: What it did do, however, was to invent something just as fortuitous as the vehicle of the twentieth century would be: the design of wine by the “hot sauna” or “estufa” method.

The hardy barrels of Madeira wine seemed to have enjoyed the ride to India, they came home in  better shape than what they had been upon first departure. Their "sauna bath" in the hold was a healthy exercise and improved their good nature. The ships used to sail east to India, around  the Cape  of Good  Hope, passed over the equator subjecting the barrels of wine to sizzling temperatures. Some barrels that would not be sold  were  returned  to  Funchal  and, when tasted, were found to be superior to wines not taking these extended voyages.