204 Port anD the Douro
The term ‘shipper’ dates from the era when Port companies were little more than
agents taking a commission on the wines they shipped abroad. Nearly all shippers are
now intimately involved in the production of Port with their own quintas, centralised
winemaking and bottling plants as well as ageing facilities in Vila Nova de Gaia. This is
covered in detail in Chapters 3 and 4.
The Port shippers have been in a state of flux for the past fifty years. In the downturn
that followed the Second World War, many smaller family-owned shippers were
taken over by their larger brethren. Some of the leading brands fell into the hands of
multinational firms who were seen as the white knights of the Port trade in the 1960s.
After mergers, takeovers and restructuring, Croft and Delaforce were acquired by United
Distillers (ultimately Diageo), Sandeman by Seagram and Cockburn and Martinez by
Harvey’s (subsequently Allied Domecq then Fortune Brands). Even the Symington
family (owners of Dow, Graham and Warre, Gould Campbell, Quarles Harris and Smith
Woodhouse) relinquished 20 per cent of their family firm to Pernod-Ricard in order to
secure distribution.
The multinationals have all now backed out, and from 2001 to 2010 the Port business
underwent another restructuring which put many of the former multinational companies
back under family control. Sandeman joined Ferreira and Offley in the hands of Sogrape,
Portugal’s largest winemaker, which has itself become a multinational with interests
in Argentina, New Zealand and Spain. Croft is now part of the Fladgate Partnership
which was formed jointly with Taylor and Fonseca. Delaforce, briefly part of the Fladgate
Partnership, is now controlled by Real Companhia Velha (Royal Oporto). Cockburn and
Martinez, the last of the multinational firms to be sold on, now belong to Symington
Family Estates.
There are no officially released figures as to which companies are largest in terms of