1904 Madeira Malvazia Fortificado

Description

John Leacock sailed to Madeira from the United Kingdom after his father’s death in 1741, and at 15 he became the youngest apprentice at the Madeira trading firm Catanach and Murdoch, staying there until his contract expired on March 11, 1749. During his apprenticeship he kept in constant contact with an old friend, John Patient, who at that time lived in Charlestown, South Carolina, and suggested that they start trading themselves. Leacock agreed, marking the birth of the now world‑famous company. In 1925 the wine industry was going through tough times, and both Leacock’s and Blandy’s joined forces and became members of the Madeira Wine Association, now the Madeira Wine Company. Leacock’s is today one of the company’s flagship brands, with its main markets including the United States, the Scandinavian countries, and the United Kingdom. The Madeira Wine Company originally was an association of several Madeira‑wine producers who decided to combine forces to strengthen their purchasing and production capabilities. The association was founded in 1913. During the years of discord, the old family businesses of Blandy’s and Leacock joined together, followed shortly thereafter by the dispute over Miles and Cossart Gordon, creating the largest producer and exporter of Madeira wine. Whatever its size, preserving the unique characteristics and style of each individual company was at the heart of the association’s focus. By the late 1970s, the interests in the Madeira Wine Company, as it had become known, had shrunk to only a handful of the original families, with the Blandy family holding the controlling stake. In 1989, the Blandy family, needing to strengthen the sales and marketing arm of the business, invited the Symington family from Porto, Portugal, to partner with them. This partnership has continued to the present day, enabling the Madeira Wine Company to play a leading role in the development of the Madeira wine trade. The bottling year may not match the image shown. (illustrative image only)