| Credit
must go to an exiled Scotsman |
| |
 |
| Wine
barrels being prepared for transfer onto boats on the “Calhau” of
Calheta, a strong wine producing village of Madeira in the 19th
century. |
|
Among
the distinguished British coming to Madeira to set up wine businesses
was the well-known Francis Newton, who arrived in 1745,
exiled from Scotland.
He saw the full potential of the yet-to-be-developed wine and was
one of those first few people during the Napoleonic occupation of
the Iberian peninsula that suggested the process of fortification
with brandy, which led to the permanent tradition of making Madeira
a fortified vinho generoso.
Before that time Madeira had been merely aged in wooden casks.
Newton had a good market in England with the veteran officers who
had returned from the Revolutionary War and yearned for a glass of
Madeira wine like they had enjoyed across the Atlantic.
|
 |
| Many
wine lables started to appear during the 18th century |
| |
|
| Later, more success
was held in consolidating the English market. British soldiers occupied
Madeira in 1801 for a year during the Napoleonic activities on continental
Europe. They returned to stay another seven years in 1807, till 1814. These
soldiers took home with them a taste for the wine which spurred the market
on to try it in England more..
|