The prehistory of the firm of Fonseca lies in the late 1700s, in a company known as Fonseca & Monteiro, located in Oporto. The Fonseca family, of Brazilian origin, conducted trade in various products primarily with Brazil, but by the 1820s, Fonseca & Monteiro dealt solely in Port wines. The present firm was not formally founded until 1815, when Manuel Pedro Guimaraens, who had been trading for the company, acquired control through purchase of the majority of the Fonseca holdings. As a con…