The famous port house was already founded in 1692 by Job Bearsley in Villa Nova de Gaia (Porto), after which there were around 20 name changes until 1844. With the arrival of John Taylor in 1816, John Fladgate in 1837 and Morgan Yeatman in 1844, it took on its present name of Taylor, Fladgate & Yeatman, but is mostly referred to as Taylor's for short. In 1744, Bartholomew Bearsey (the founder's son) acquired the Casa dos Alambiques estate in Salgeiral near Régua, which is still the firm's central winery. Taylor's thus became the first English port wine trading house with its own vineyard property. The American Joseph Camo joined as a new partner in 1808. In 1893, the estate was expanded by the purchase of Quinta da Vargellas (220 ha) on the upper Douro, which is considered the flagship of the company.
In 1948, the takeover of the Fonseca-Guimarãens company took place with the three wineries Quinta Cruzeiro, Quintas Panascal and Quinta Santo António. The sister company still produces Port wines of its own style under its own label. The wineries Quinta da Terra Feita were added in 1974 and Quinta Terra Feita de Cima in 1990. Alistair Robertson (a nephew of Mrs. Dick Yeatman) took over the business in 1967 and is now the main shareholder. Taylor's port wines are among the absolute best. The top products are the Tawnys with age indication (20, years, 40 years), the LBV 's (introduced by Taylor's by the way) and the Vintage Ports. Of the latter, the outstanding vintages of 1948 and 1992 are considered wines of the century. Since 2001, the company has belonged to the Fladgate Partnership group.
Picture left: by Scott Dexter from Brooklyn, US - Flickr, CC BY-SA 2.0, Link
Picture right: by Chris Parker from South Ealing, UK - Flickr, CC BY-SA 2.0, Link