I was skimming an article about Marsala recently, and it said that in the C18th this normal wine was 'discovered' by one Mr Whittaker, (produced near the city of Marsala in Sicily). He thought it was so delicious that he would export it to England, and in order to keep it in good condition on the long sea journey he fortified it by adding extra alcohol.
Same would go for sherry I suppose - another British invention (or concoction). I hope the article was reliable, I'm not an expert in these matters!
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