1871 Madeira Cossart Gordon Boal Solera Fortificado

Description

Cossart Gordon & Co. was founded in 1745 and is the oldest company in the Madeiran wine trade. Francis Newton, a young Scotsman, set sail from Gravesend in Britain and arrived in Madeira on 12 September 1745, founding the company. His younger brother Thomas joined him from 1758 to 1763, followed by another Scotsman, Thomas Gordon of Balmaghie, also in 1758. The Cossart family has been among the island’s most influential for almost two centuries. The most authoritative book on Madeira, *Madeira: The Island Vineyard*, was written by Noël Cossart, a former senior partner of the firm born on the island in 1907. To this day, Cossart Gordon Madeiras is considered the finest available. The Madeira Wine Company was originally an association of several Madeiran wine producers who decided to join forces to strengthen their purchasing and production capabilities. This association was founded in 1913. During a period of discord, the old family companies of Blandy's and Leacock merged, followed immediately by Miles and Cossart Gordon, creating the largest producer and exporter of Madeiran wine. Regardless of size, maintaining the unique characteristics and style of each individual company was central to the association’s focus. By the late 1970s, the interests in the Madeira Wine Company, as it became known, had shrunk to just 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 side of the business, invited the Symington family from Porto, Portugal, to partner with them. This partnership has continued to the present day, allowing the Madeira Wine Company to play a leading role in the development of the Madeiran wine trade. The year of bottling may not correspond to the image presented. (Illustrative image only)