JOHN WOODHOUSE Sr
John Woodhouse “… young, smart, enterprising …” was an English merchant from Liverpool who traded soda ash, almonds, oil and other goods part of a thriving commercial activity between Sicily and Great Britain, and a connoisseur of Jerez and Madera wine.
According to one account, in 1773, John Woodhouse was sailing along the Sicilian coast en route to Mazara del Vallo to purchase a consignment of soda ash when a violent storm forced him to stop in the port of Marsala. Having tried the local wines, including “Perpetuum” wine, he immediately noted the similarities with the fortified wines from Spain and Portugal.
Around 1774, for the first time he took approximately sixty casks of “Marsala” wine to Great Britain. His ship set off for Liverpool from the port of Trapani with the aim of testing the wine in his home country.
To make sure the wine didn’t go off during the journey, he added to each cask (412 litres each) two gallons of alcohol (the equivalent of 9.08 l), and that is how the “Marsala” recipe started. Initially, he didn’t have much success, but he decided to send another shipment and it was a triumph. He returned to Marsala to start a wine production and export business, using “Perpetuum” wine with the “Soleras System”.
Good results convinced him to produce more wine, which he sold as “Madera-style” or “Jèrez-style” wine and started producing “Marsala” on an industrial scale. He moved to Marsala where in 1787 he was joined by his son John, and a few years later by his other two sons, William and Samuel.
John Woodhouse Sr is credited with discovering “Marsala” wine, starting production on an industrial scale, and introducing it to Britain.