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Now Viewing: Cossart Gordon
Gorgeous, structured and supple Madeira, with loads of candied pear, almond, vanilla and cream flavors. Finish is still fresh and is filled with butterscotch, spice and orange marmalade notes. Drink now through 2015. The island of Madeira was discovered in 1419 by the Portuguese mariner João Gonçalves Zarco who had been instructed by Prince Henry the Navigator to explore the West African Coast. Prince Henry appointed Zarco first Governor of the island and ordered him to plant sugar cane and vineyards. The original impetus to the trade in Madeira was provided in the late 17th Century by the King of Portugal, Felipe I, who ordered that ships bound for the new Brazilian colony should call at the island to take on wine for the settlements that he was developing there.By the reign of the English King, Charles II, demand for Madeira was firmly established along the North American seaboard. Indeed the wine played such an important part in the American way of life that it was used to toast the Declaration of Independence (July 4th 1776) and the Inauguration of George Washington (first President of the United States -1789) who, it was said, “drank a pint of Madeira at dinner daily.”
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