Symington Family Estates
Symington Family Estates - Port & Madeira shippers
| Owner | Symington Family Estates |
|---|---|
| Vineyards | Quinta do Vesuvio, Quinta Retiro Pequeno. Quinta Atayde, Quinta do Sabordela |
| Vintage Port Brands | Cockburn, Dow, Gould Campbell, Graham, Martinez, Quarles Harris, Quinta de Roriz, Quinta do Vesuvio, Smith Woodhouse, Warre |
Andrew James Symington left his Scottish homeland when he was 19 years old and arrived to Porto in 1882. He was employed in a textile company owned by Graham but acquired more taste for port than for wool and 1894 the Portuguese government asked him to handle a shipment for Port consisting 20000 pipes to be sold to the British market. The pipes derived from a bankrupt estate who owed the State some money. In 1905 he took over Warre & Co and 1912 he became co-owner of Silva & Cosens. His port empire grows and he had to involve his sons, Maurice, John and Ronald in his business. After Second World War the third generation was ready to be involved and to take over. Michael belonging to this generation decided to buy the vintage 1945 even if they were hard to sell and he made 120 pipes of that vintage, a decision the family never regret. Ian joined the firm in 1950 and the 50’ies was difficult and the family seriously considered giving up port but when James joined the company 1960 things had changed. When the vintage 1960 was declared the family shipped more than had been shipped since 1896 and when the celebrated and even greater vintage of 1963 was made, the last vintage where all grapes were trodden by foot, the family decided to bottle a considerable part of the vintage themselves instead of shipping all port abroad. 1961 the Warre family sold the last of their shares to the Symington Family Estates and during the 60’ies they bought Gould Campbell. 1970 Graham & Co, including their sister company Smith Woodhouse, was purchased and Quarles Harris has been in the family since Andrew James Symington days. Quinta de Vesuvio was bought from Ferreira 1989 and Cockburn and Martinez in 2010 after that in 2006 bought their quintas. Symington Family Estates began its relationship with Quinta de Roriz in 1998 through a partnership with Joao van Zeller and became joint owner of the quinta in 2009 with Prats. Quinta do Sarbodela was bought in 2013.