Symington Family Estates
- Port
- Madeira
- Douro Wine Template: Infobox Company / Maintenance / products
Symington Family Estates, in short: Symington is a Portuguese company, which specializes in manufacturing and trading of Portuguese wine, especially port and Madeira. Over the years, Symington has bought numerous port wine lodges, and has thus become one of the largest port operators worldwide ( global market share > 30 %, as of 2008).
The Symington family is a member of the Primum Familiae Vini, a global alliance of traditional, leading family-owned wine cultivation and trafficking.
History
The company dates back to Andrew James Symington (1863-1939), a Scot who emigrated to Portugal in 1882 to trade with Port wine and other Portuguese goods. He first worked for Graham's, a different port merchants, but went independent after a few years. In 1891 he married Beatrice Atkinson ( 1870-1916 ), whose family was closely associated for several generations until the 17th century with the port wine trade. 1905 Symington acquired shares in Warre & Co., the oldest British Port wine trade house. This was followed in 1912 shares in Dow's, another well-known Port house.
After the death of AJ Symington and after the difficult times of the Second World War, the Symington family continued to expand: 1970 came Graham's (the house in which the company's founder, was once employed ) and Smith Woodhouse added. This was followed by several more specialized companies and wineries.
Today Symington, with a market share of about 30% next Sogevinus and Sogrape one of the most important port wine trade groups around the world.
Brands
The following wineries, trading houses and brands belong to Symington:
- Graham's
- Dow's
- Warre 's
- Smith Woodhouse
- Quinta Dovesuvio
- Gould Campbell
- Quarles Harris
- Martinez
- Royal Oporto
- Dela Force
- Blandy's
- Cossart Gordon
- Leacock 's
- Miles
- Chryseia
- Altano