Wine Producers

Dow's is a family-owned Port house that has been producing traditional-style Port for more than 200 years, despite war, disease and economic turbulence. One of the most revered of Port producers, it owns some of the finest vineyards in the Douro Valley. The business that would eventually become Dow's was founded in 1798 by Bruno da Silva, a Portuguese wine merchant who moved to London to sell his wines there and quickly became an integral part of the London wine industry. During the Napoleonic Wars, da Silva obtained a Letter of Marque (a Royal warrant allowing a privately-owned ship to fight enemies of the British crown), enabling him to transport his produce in relative security across the naval battleground that was the Bay of Biscay. In 1877, Bruno's grandson sought to expand the company and merged with another famous Port producer, Dow and Co. The co-owners decided that the company would be known Dow's.