Madeira Leacock's Malvazia Velha Fortificado

Description

John Leacock sailed to Madeira from the United Kingdom after his father’s death in 1741, and at the age of 15 became the youngest apprentice at the Madeira trading firm Catanach and Murdoch, remaining until his contract expired on 11 March 1749. During his apprenticeship he kept in constant contact with an old friend, John Patient, then resident in Charlestown, South Carolina, who suggested that they start trading themselves. Leacock agreed, marking the birth of the now globally famous company. In 1925, the wine industry was going through difficult times, so both Leacock’s and Bland’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 main brands, whose key markets include the United States, the Scandinavian countries and the United Kingdom. The Madeira Wine Company was originally an association of several Madeira wine producers who decided to unite their forces to strengthen their purchasing and wine‑production capacities. This association was founded in 1913. During the years of discord, the old family businesses of Bland’s and Leacock joined together, followed immediately after the dispute over Miles and Cossart Gordon, creating thus the largest producer and exporter of Madeira wine. Whatever its size, maintaining the unique characteristics and style of each individual company was at the centre of the association’s attention. At the end of the 1970s, the interests in the Madeira Wine Company, as it was known, were reduced to just a handful of the original families, with the Bland family holding the controlling stake. In 1989, the Bland family, needing to strengthen the sales and marketing side of the business, invited the Symington family from Porto, Portugal, to join them in partnership. This partnership has continued to the present day, allowing the Madeira Wine Company to play a leading role in the development of Madeira wine trade. The bottling year may not correspond to the image presented. (Illustrative image only)