Smith Woodhouse Port

Christopher Smith, Member of The British Parliament and Lord Mayor of London, founded a small company to ship Port from the Douro in 1784. The Woodhouse brothers joined in the early 19th century and the name Smith Woodhouse was established. By the end of the 19th century their Ports enjoyed a strong reputation. Like so many shippers, Smith Woodhouse fell on hard times in the aftermath of the Second World War, and the brand was sold to a London based wine importer, whilst the wines were shipped by W & J Graham’s.

In 1970, when the Symington family bought Graham’s, they acquired Smith Woodhouse as well. The Symington family, with Scottish, English and Portuguese ancestry has been present in the Douro for five generations — since 1882 — and through the current generation’s great grandmother, the family’s links to the wines of the Douro span 14 generations, to the mid-17th century and to the very beginnings of the history of Port.