Cockburn’s Vintage Ports were among the most sought after in the 19th and first half of the 20th century, often commanding prices greater than either Graham’s or Taylor’s for pre-World War II vintages.  In the 1960’s the family-owned firm was sold to the first of a series of multi-national drinks corporations.  Whilst the new owners did a brilliant job of creating and popularising the Cockburn’s Special Reserve Port, the Vintage Ports seemed to be less of a priority in the later 20th century. 

In 2006 Symington Family Estates purchased all the assets of Cockburn’s and produced the wines under contract for the then owners of the brand, Beam Global Spirits & Wine.  In the following years, wines from Quinta do Vale Coelho were used in the blending of Smith Woodhouse ports, most notably the Smith Woodhouse 2007 Vintage Port.

With the purchase of the Cockburn’s brand in late 2010, the Symington family, lead by head winemaker Charles Symington, set out to re-discover and re-build the Cockburn’s brand, with particular attention to the Vintage Ports.  Last September we held what has been nick-named “The Cockburn's DNA Tasting” in an effort to identify the qualities and taste profile that made Cockburn’s great.  Together with some of the most experienced and knowledgeable Port wine critics from around the world the Symingtons tasted 17 Cockburn’s Vintage Ports from 1896 to 2007 as well as the Quinta dos Canais Vintage 2009 and cask samples of more recent wines.  The qualities most consistently remarked were the finesse and long finish of the finest wines, and Johnny Symington recently remarked that several people observed a note of tropical fruit either on the nose or palate, which is uncommon in Vintage Ports.

As a result of both the review of historic Vintages and our work in the tasting room with the wines produced from each Quinta dos Canais and Quinta do Vale Coelho in recent years, the decision has been taken to re-dedicate Quinta do Vale Coelho to the Cockburn’s brand.  Both quintas have a long history of supplying grapes for Cockburn’s ports, but Quinta do Vale Coelho was actually purchased by the firm in 1893, whereas Canais was only purchased almost 100 years later. 

This tiny quinta – just 11.5 hectares under vine – is on the north bank of the river in the Douro Superior, the hottest sub-region of the Douro winemaking region (see our Douro Map).  Almost half the quinta is old mixed vineyards, the other half divided between Touriga Franca, known for its exotic, rich floral and fruit flavours and long finish, and Souzão which contributes wonderful acidity and depth of flavour.  The production is tiny – just 350 grams of grapes per vine in some years – but the concentration of flavour is absolutely fantastic.  Charles Symington characterises the Vale Coelho wines as being incredibly complex and concentrated, in contrast to the Quinta dos Canais wines which have more finesse, freshness and structure, as well as distinct aromatics of esteva and gum cistus.

With Vale Coelho once again contributing significantly to the Cockburn’s ports, we look forward to more great vintages from this legendary brand.

See the Cockburn’s Brand Profile and the Quinta do Vale Coelho Profile here on the Vintage Port Site for more information as well as the Knowledge Base for information on all Vintages from Cockburns.  The Cockburn’s website has details of the full range of Cockburn’s Ports as well as more history and brand news.  If you are interested in learning more about the Cockburn's DNA Tasting, look at our In The Press feed for links to articles by some of the critics who attended the event.

Michael Symington, que faleceu no dia 25 de Janeiro aos 87 anos, era a principal figura duma família de origem escocesa, há muito residente no Porto e activa na produção de Vinho do Porto há várias gerações.

Seu Avô, Andrew James Symington chegou ao Porto em 1882 com apenas 19 anos, proveniente de Glasgow na Escócia para trabalhar na Graham’s. Em 1891 casou com Beatrice de Leitão de Cravalhosa Atkinson, filha de John Atkinson, um produtor de Porto na Offley Forrester e sobrinha de Edward Atkinson, produtor da firma Smith Woodhouse. Os Atkinson iniciaram o seu percurso no Vinho do Porto em 1814. A mãe de Beatriz descendia de uma longa linhagem de famílias com fortes tradições no Vinho do Porto, incluindo os van Zeller, Kopke, Whittingham e Maynard. Esta último exportou Vinho do Porto para Inglaterra em 1652, a segunda expedição de que há registo de um súbdito britânico. Walter Maynard foi nomeado Cônsul Ingles no Porto em 1656 por Oliver Cromwell, cargo no qual foi confirmado pelo Rei Charles II em 1660, aquando da restauração da monarquia.

O êxito de Andrew James no Vinho do Porto levou-o a tornar-se sócio da venerável empresa Warre & Co., a mais antiga Casa de Vinho do Porto britânica, fundada em 1670. Na condução dessa empresa, juntaram-se-lhe os seus filhos Maurice (pai de Michael) e os gémeos John e Ronald. Em 1912, os Symington tornaram-se também sócios da firma Dow’s, que na altura estava nas mãos da família Warre.

Michael Douglas Symington nasceu no Porto no dia 13 de Maio de 1925, cidade da qual os seus pais também eram naturais. Iniciou o seu percurso escolar no Colégio Inglês do Porto (OBS) e em 1938 deu entrada na Oratory School em Caversham Park no Reino Unido. Em 1943 alistou-se no Exército britânico na famosa ‘Rifle Brigade’ e, depois de receber a patente de oficial, serviu no Egipto e na Grécia, onde foi condecorado.

Em 1947 juntou-se ao seu pai e tios na empresa familiar no Porto. Eram tempos difíceis porque durante a guerra as vendas tinham praticamente desaparecido e o Vinho do Porto não era visto como uma bebida da moda quando a paz regressou. Muitas das históricas casas de Vinho do Porto foram vendidas por falta de esperança num futuro melhor. Mas os Symington persistiram, em parte pela sua forte ligação ao vale do Douro e aos seus vinhos, mas também pelo sentido de dever que sentiam em relação aos seus pais e ao seu legado. O sector do Vinho do Porto deve muito a Michael Symington e a alguns seus contemporâneos que continuaram a acreditar no Vinho do Porto e no Douro, enquanto muitos venderam as suas empresas e deixaram o pais.

Melhores tempos anunciaram-se no princípio dos anos 1960, altura em que dois primos mais novos, Ian e James, entraram também na empresa. A firma foi fortalecida ainda mais com a entrada de mais dois primos — os irmãos Amyas e Peter. Por essa altura, a família Warre optou por se retirar do ramo, deixando as suas participações nas  mãos da família Symington. Por via da reforma de seu pai em 1960, ao que se seguiu também a dos seus tios John e Ronald em 1965, Michael viu-se à frente dos destinos da empresa familiar. Com os seus primos Ian e James, constituiu um triunvirato que dirigiu a empresa nos próximos 25 anos, levando a empresa à posição de destaque que ocupa hoje no seio do Vinho do Porto. Em 1970 os Symington adquiriram a casa Graham’s à família que tinha trazido o seu avô para o Porto em 1882, tornando-se esta empresa um elemento central no projecto familiar de Vinho do Porto.

No sector do Vinho do Porto é habitual declarar Portos Vintage duas ou três vezes em cada década. No seguimento da declaração do 1970, os três primos, Michael, Ian e James, viajaram para Inglaterra para apresentarem o vinho aos clientes, como era tradição. Cada um levou amostras das diferentes marcas da empresa. A Berry Brothers, ilustre garrafeira londrina, quando soube que os três primos Symington viriam a diferentes horas no mesmo dia, colocou uma placa na porta da sua loja de St. James’s Street, onde se lia: ‘Nada de vendedores ambulantes nem Symingtons.’

A revolução de 1974 em Portugal foi um momento difícil. O investimento parou, mas os Symington adoptaram uma atitude optimista, continuando com a actividade diária da sua empresa, contrariando o pessimismo instalado. Disponibilizaram a muitos lavradores do Douro — que subitamente confrontaram-se com a falta de compradores para as suas uvas — a possibilidade de usarem o centro de vinificação da família para processar as suas uvas que, de outro modo, poderiam ter ficado nas videiras. A sua confiança serviu-lhes bem, uma vez que os lavradores do Douro nunca esqueceram esta providência. Os clientes nos mercados de exportação ficariam também muito gratos pela continuidade de fornecimento.

Michael fazia também parte da Direcção do Grémio dos Exportadores de Vinho do Porto, a qual teve de negociar com o governo instalado que pretendia, na sua maioria, a nacionalização em massa do sector do vinho do Porto. Michael e os seus colegas Portugueses conseguiram demonstrar que tais medidas destruiriam um trabalho construído ao longo de três séculos e após muita negociação, o bom senso prevaleceu e as empresas puderam continuar a sua actividade. As casas bem geridas, as da família Symington incluídas, receberam sempre o apoio sem reserva por parte dos seus colaboradores ao longo deste período de instabilidade — um testemunho do respeito longamente construído.

Mais tarde Michael Symington foi decisivo no convite estendido ao Presidente Mário Soares, o primeiro presidente democraticamente eleito depois da ditadura, para um jantar em sua honra na Feitoria no Porto.

Em 1988 Michael foi agraciado pela Rainha Isabel II com a condecoração CBE pelo contributo dado às relações luso-britânicas neste período e pelas suas acções em prol da comunidade britânica do Porto.

Michael Symington orientou a vindima no Douro durante muito anos, tendo sucedido o seu tio Ronald neste papel e por sua vez passando o testemunho ao seu primo mais novo, Peter. Para alem de supervisionar a produção do vinho, o Michael e a sua mulher, Elizabeth, receberam no Douro inúmeras visitas do ramo dos vinhos e jornalistas, muitos dos quais do Reino Unido mas também muitos outros oriundos de todo o mundo. Ao longo de várias gerações tem sido lendária a hospitalidade da família Symington no Douro e no Porto, e o Michael e Elizabeth deram continuidade a essa tradição com o seu trato afável e informal.

Hoje, a empresa familiar dos Symington é a maior do sector do Vinho do Porto e uma das mais importantes empresas de vinhos de Portugal. Com a compra da Cockburn’s há uns anos atrás, a família é agora a maior proprietária de vinhas no vale do Douro, o maior produtor de Vinho do Porto e líder na produção das categorias premium (Reserva, LBV e Vintage etc.). Os Symington são também importantes produtores de vinhos Doc Douro e são sócios da família Blandy de Vinho da Madeira.

Michael Symington seguiu as pisadas do seu avo, pai e tios na forma como amou o Douro e as suas vinhas, passando uma grande parte do seu tempo no pais vinhateiro quando nao estava na sua casa na Maia, inicialmente na Quinta do Bomfim e, depois de reformado em 1990, na sua própria Quinta das Andorinhas, perto de Provesende no vale do Pinhão.

Michael Symington casou em 1951 com Elizabeth Ferreira Pinto Basto Stilwell, oriunda de uma numerosa família luso-britânica de Lisboa. Tiveram uma filha e três filhos, dos quais o mais velho, Paul e o mais novo, Dominic, sucederam-no no seio da empresa familiar. Paul é agora Presidente do Concelho de Administração, trabalhando estreitamente com os seus primos John, Rupert, Charles e Clare, para alem do seu irmão Dominic. Em 2012 Paul foi nomeado ‘Homem do Ano’ pela prestigiada revista de vinhos britânica — Decanter (‘Decanter Man of The Year 2012’).

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Michael Symington, who has died aged 87, was the senior member of a family of Scottish origin long resident in Oporto, Portugal and active as Port producers for several generations.

His grandfather, Andrew James Symington had come to Oporto in 1882 as a young man from Glasgow in Scotland to work in Graham’s, a business with wide interests in Portugal, including Port Wine.  After a few years he left Graham’s and his entrepreneurial spirit served him well as in 1894 he was entrusted by the Portuguese Government with the sale of some 20,000 pipes of Port, the result of a miscarried speculation by the Burnay banking family. He undertook the orderly disposal of this stock on behalf of the Government and avoided the collapse of the market.

In 1891 Andrew James Symington married Beatrice de Leitão de Carvalhosa Atkinson, daughter of John Atkinson, a Port producer in Offley Forrester and niece of Edward Atkinson, Port producer in Smith Woodhouse. The Atkinsons had been in Port since 1814. Beatrice’s mother was descended from a long line of distinguished Port families, including van Zeller, Kopke, Wittingham and Maynard. The latter is recorded as having shipped Port to England in 1652, the second oldest shipment ever made by somebody from the British Isles. Maynard had been appointed English Consul in Oporto in 1656 by Oliver Cromwell and was later confirmed in his position by Charles II after the restoration in 1660. Beatrice’s great-uncle was the 2nd Conde de Santarem, who, aged 16 sailed out of the Tagus in 1807 for Rio de Janeiro with John IV of Portugal and his court on the ships of the Royal Navy under the command of Admiral Sir Sidney Smith as Junot, Napoleon’s General, marched into Lisbon at the start of the Peninsular War. Santarem later became foreign minister and then for a short time Prime Minister of Portugal.

Andrew James’s success in the Port market led him to acquire a few years later the venerable firm of Warre & Co, which had been established in Oporto in 1670, the oldest British Port company. There he was joined in due course by his sons Maurice, father of Michael, and the twins John and Ronald. In 1912 the Symingtons also became partners in Dow’s Port, by then owned by the Warre family.

Michael Douglas Symington was born in Oporto on 13th May 1925, both his parents having also been born in the city. He attended first the Oporto British School and in 1938 went to the Oratory School at Caversham Park near Reading. In 1943 he enlisted in the Rifle Brigade and, after being commissioned, served in Egypt and Greece. In January 1947 he was awarded the Commander in Chief’s Commendation for outstandingly good service by General Sir Miles Dempsey.

In 1947 he joined his father and uncles in the family business in Oporto.  It was a difficult time as sales during the war had been negligible and Port was not viewed as fashionable when peace returned. Many of the historic Port companies were sold at this time as there appeared to be little hope. But the Symingtons persisted, partly due to their great love of the beautiful Douro valley and its wines and partly out of a sense of duty to their fathers. The Port trade today owes much to Michael Symington and a few others of his generation, who continued to believe in Port and the Douro when most were selling out and leaving.

Better times came in the early 1960s by which time two younger cousins, Ian and James Symington, had also come into the business. The firm was to be strengthened in due course by the addition of two further cousins, the brothers Amyas and Peter. At the same time the Warre family had decided to withdraw their interest, leaving the Symingtons owning the Warre and Dow Port companies.       His father having retired in 1960, the retirement of his twin uncles John and Ronald in 1965 left Michael Symington heading the family enterprise. With his cousins Ian and James he formed a triumvirate which ran the business for the next twenty five years, taking it from a modest size to today´s prominent position in the Port trade.  In 1970 the Symingtons bought the Graham´s Port company from the family which had brought their grandfather to Oporto in 1882 and Graham´s soon became a key element of their development programme.   

In the Port trade it is usual for a Vintage year to be declared two or three times in a decade.  Following the declaration of the great 1970 Vintage Port, the three cousins, Michael, Ian and James, each travelled over to the UK to offer the young Port to the wine trade, as was the tradition. Each took samples from one of the different family’s companies. The venerable Berry Brothers, knowing that all three Symington cousins would be coming in at different times on the same day, put a sign up outside their office in St James’s Street saying ‘No Hawkers or Symingtons’.

The revolution in Portugal in 1974 was a testing time for all businesses and the uncertainty led to a number of local bankers and businessmen taking up residence in Brazil, Spain and other countries while awaiting the eventual outcome.  Investment came to a halt although the Symingtons took a sanguine view and continued their daily involvement in the company and built a substantial grape reception centre at one of their vineyards in the Douro valley, defying the pessimism of the time.  They also offered local grape growers, many of whom suddenly found themselves without a buyer, the use of the family´s main wine production centre to process their grapes which otherwise might have been left on the vine. Their confidence was to serve them well, the Douro farmers never forgot and customers overseas were grateful to have continuity of supply.

Although the revolution caused such an upheaval in Portugal, and consequent worry, it also had its lighter moments.  One such occurred in late 1974 when left-wing vigilantes were rife throughout the country.  It was customary for citrus fruit to be sent down to the family from their vineyard properties in the Douro and on one occasion this had been divided up and placed in the family´s cars.  That evening all cars crossing the Douro River into Oporto from the south were being stopped by vigilantes and searched for weapons. When they found five or six cars with their boots full of oranges and grapefruit the vigilantes were convinced that it was a plot and that the fruit must be concealing something.  Only by laboriously removing all the fruit were they satisfied that there were no hidden weapons!     

Michael Symington formed part of a small group advising the British Ambassador in Lisbon of the situation in Oporto.  The north of Portugal was fortunately less affected by demonstrations and violence than Lisbon and the south. Michael was also on the board of the Port Producer’s Association who had to negotiate with the revolutionary Government, most of whom were determined on wholesale nationalistaion of the Port trade and all its vineyards. Michael and his Portuguese colleagues were able to demonstrate that this would certainly destroy three centuries of history and eventually common sense prevailed, and the companies were allowed to continue their work. The better managed Port companies, including those of the Symington family, enjoyed the unstinting support of their workers throughout this revolutionary period, a testament to the respect built up over many years.

Later, Michael Symington was instrumental in inviting President Mario Soares, the first democratically elected President of Portugal since the time of Salazar, to a dinner in his honour at the British Factory House in Oporto.

In 1988 Michael was appointed CBE for his contribution to Anglo-Portuguese relations during this period and for his work in the British community in Oporto.

The Symington business in the Douro valley is centred on Quinta do Bomfim at Pinhão in the Alto Douro.  Michael Symington oversaw the September vintage for many years, having taken over from his Uncle Ronald and eventually handing over responsibility to his younger cousin Peter.  Apart from the supervision of the wine making, Michael Symington and his wife Elizabeth entertained countless wine trade figures and journalists, many from Britain but also many others from all over the world.  Over several generations the hospitality of the Symington family in the Douro and Oporto has been legendary and Michael and his wife Elizabeth maintained this tradition with their friendly and informal manner.

Today the Symington family business is the largest in the Port trade and one of the major wine companies of Portugal.  Having acquired Cockburn´s Port a few years ago, the family is now the most extensive vineyard owner in the Douro, the biggest Port producer and the leader in the production of premium Ports (Reserve, LBV, and Vintage Port).  The Symingtons are also significant producers of Douro red and white wines and are partners with the Blandy family of Madeira in the wines of that island.

Michael Symington followed the tradition of his father and uncles of being a great lover of the Douro valley vineyard country and would spend much of his leisure time there, first at Quinta do Bomfim and later, after his retirement in 1990, at his own vineyard high up in the hills overlooking the Pinhão valley.  

Michael Symington married in 1951 Elizabeth Stilwell of a large Anglo-Portuguese family in Lisbon.  They had a daughter and three sons, of whom the eldest, Paul, and the youngest, Dominic, followed him into the family business.  Paul is now chairman of the family firm working with his cousins John, Rupert, Charles and Clare as well as his brother Dominic. In 2012 Paul was nominated ´Man of the Year` by the wine trade magazine ´Decanter`.      

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Vintage Port is reknowned for its long life, and its remarkable ability to be a joy at every age and stage of development.  Paul Symington demonstrated this again when he led a tasting that included Vintage Ports and cask-aged Tawny Ports from the 19th, 20th and 21st Centuries.

Porto’s Essência do Vinho wine show is a bright spot in the cold soggy winters here, and this year was no exception.  In addition to offering thousands of wines for tasting and the opportunity to discuss them with the producers in the main tasting areas, the show also offers a series of exclusive specialist tastings which are tutored by industry leaders and top winemakers.

On Saturday 9 February, Paul Symington lead 35 guests on a Journey Through Time:  3 Centuries, 10 Port Wines.  The line up included 7 Vintage Ports and 3 Colheitas (single-harvest Tawny Ports that have aged in cask, rather than bottle, ever since they were made) and included examples from four of Symington Family Estates’ major brands:  Graham’s, Dow’s, Warre’s and Cockburn’s.  With Paul on the tasting panel were Henry Shotton, Graham’s winemaker at Quinta dos Malvedos since 2000 and the rest of the year responsible for global distribution of our Vintage Ports, Manuel Rocha of our Tasting Room who is fourth generation in that role (Paul said their great grandfathers had worked together), and Joe Alvares Ribeiro, Executive Director of Symington Family Estates.

The Vintage Ports

Dow’s Vintage Port 2007 – Among the many honors and awards given this wine, it received a perfect score of 100 points from the prestigious Wine Spectator magazine.  Paul said that in the tasting room the family very often differ in their opinions, for example on the relative merits of the 2008 and 2009 wines, but the 2007 Dow’s is one which they are unanimous in believing it to be one of their greatest wines ever. 

Dow’s is known for a slightly drier house style, and a particularly powerful and austere character when young.  Vintage years characterised by very ripe fruit character – like 2007 – suit the Dow’s style well:  because of the pronounced fruit flavours, the wines are more approachable in their youth, but in later years as this fruit-driven richness concentrates, it is beautifully balanced by the Dow’s dry spiciness.

On Saturday, the wine was showing perfect freshness and acidity and the 2007 “big fruit” quality – Henry Shotton (Graham’s winemaker at Quinta dos Malvedos) commented particularly on a distinct black cherry note.

Dow’s Vintage Port 1994 – Another year characterised by deep colour, rich fruit character and good structure across all brands, and another year that particularly suited the Dow’s style.  At nearly 20 years of age, the wine is still showing youthful deep colour and freshness, and Paul said 1994 was one of his picks to ultimately prove to be one of the great Vintages of the 20th century, alongside 1945, 1963 and 1970.

Graham’s Vintage Port 1970 – This wine is particularly dear to the Symington family as it is the first Vintage made by them after buying Graham’s.  After taking a taste of the wine himself, Paul asked the audience, "How many wines, even of the great Bordeaux or Burgundies, show this kind of quality and balance at 43 years of age?"  Henry Shotton, who knows the Graham’s wines well after producing them himself for the past 13 vintages, said that for him, the 1970 shows perfectly all the qualities that characterise Graham’s:  full bodied, complex, luscious, and with a touch of eucalyptus in the flavour.  Paul concurred, calling the wine absolutely incredible, citing its elegance, complexity, structure and sheer pleasure.  “This is a wine that deserves to be appreciated on its own, without dessert or cheese… this shows what a great Vintage Port should be.”

Graham’s Vintage Port 1963 – Introducing this wine, Paul reminded the audience what incredibly tough times the Port trade endured during and after World War II.  Unlike many other wines, the strongest market for Port is not in its home country, but abroad, particularly in England and Europe, which in the aftermath of the war were not buying “luxuries” such as Port.  Paul’s own father, Michael, was one of those who worked very hard to keep the firm going during the incredibly lean years of the 1940’s and 1950’s, when many other firms were forced to close.

Because of this, the 1963 Vintage is often called the vintage that saved the Port trade.  Such an extraordinary quality of wine, produced just at the time when most countries had recovered from the post-war hardships and were able to indulge in a little pleasure again, drew attention to Vintage Port once more.

The Graham’s 1963 was showing beautifully – again, characterised by deep colour for its age, and the classic Graham’s body, balance, richness in the mouth and long, luscious finish.  Another wine, Paul said, to be enjoyed on its own, without distraction.

Warre’s Vintage Port 1960 – In presenting this wine, Paul Symington spoke of how Vintage Port matures and changes character over time in bottle.  He said he can remember a time a couple years ago when this wine was slightly out of balance, but now, once more, it is absolutely beautiful, balanced and harmonious.  The Warre’s Ports contrast with the Graham’s style – whereas Graham’s is known for being full bodied, Warre’s is more about elegance and delicacy as was demonstrated by this Vintage.  At 53 years the wine was showing a touch of vinagrinho – a slight sharp, burnt almond note, which is a sign of age and adds a piquancy to the flavours of the wine overall.

Graham’s Vintage Port 1948 – Wines from the War and pre-War years are increasingly rare; quite simply they have already been enjoyed, and little is left for future generations.  The Symingtons are extraordinarily fortunate that their parents, grandparents and great-grandfather, Andrew James Symington, cellared wines both privately for their own families and for the firm´s own reserves.  Even so, we are down to our last sixty or so bottles of this extraordinary Vintage Port.

The Graham's 1948 is one which nearly defies description, it is so concentrated and complex yet ethereal, with an extraordinary finish which is just a joy in the mouth (as the writer can personally attest!).

Paul commented simply, “I have immense respect and admiration for this wine.”

Cockburn’s Vintage Port 1935 – At almost 80 years of age, this Vintage Port has turned a lovely pale golden colour, you could be forgiven for mistaking it for a cognac.  But in the mouth, it simply explodes with flavour and complexity and extraordinary freshness.  The wine is perfectly balanced, but it is more smooth, more delicate, it does not have as pronounced a structure as some of the preceding wines, but it is just as extraordinary.

We are often asked, Paul said, about how Symington’s can produce so many different brands and maintain the unique character of each.  It is actually incredibly simple:  it is the terroir.  The Douro has an astonishing level of micro-climatisation within individual quintas, let alone from one end of the region to the other.  As just one example of this, Paul cited the differences in rainfall at our major quintas – an average of 1,065 mm per year at Warre’s Quinta da Cavadinha, versus 777 at Dow’s Quinta do Bomfim, 606 at Graham’s Quinta dos Malvedos, and 423 at Quinta do Vesuvio in the Douro Superior, just slightly east of Cockburn’s Quinta dos Canais.  How could the wines not be unique and dramatically different between brands, when each brand has its own dedicated quintas?

The Cask Aged Ports

The last three wines of the tasting were Colheitas – single-harvest Tawny Ports that have aged all their life in wooden cask, rather than in bottle as for Vintages.  Wines aged in wood change flavour profile more rapidly than bottle aged Ports, due to the action of oxygen on the wine.  The microscopic pores of the wood allow oxygen in, and also allow the wine to slowly evaporate and concentrate – typically we lose 2% of each cask each year to "the angels' share.” 

Whereas Vintage Ports are made in the vineyards and adegas at harvest, Paul said Tawny Ports, like these Colheitas, are made by the winemaker/master blender in the tasting room, and by the coopers responsible for maintaining and managing our wooden casks in the lodge.

The first to be shown was Graham’s 1952 Colheita, which was released last year in a special limited edition bottling to celebrate the Diamond Jubilee of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II.  Much has been written about this magnificent wine, both on the Graham’s Blog and Graham’s website.  Suffice to say, it showed superbly again on Saturday.

Paul introduced Graham’s 1935 Colheita as the oldest Port in Graham’s cellars to be registered with the IVDP, the governing body of the Port trade.  Asked why there was nothing older, Paul said, "Oh we do have quite a few older wines – but the IVDP didn’t exist before 1935, and so those wines have never been registered!"  This wine has never been commercialised, and at this time we have just 2 casks left.

The contrast in colour with the Cockburn’s Vintage 1935 was remarkable, the Colheita showing a deep tawny – as the wine evaporates from cask, the colour concentrates into the lesser quantity of liquid, versus bottle aged wines from which the colour components precipitate out into sediment, leaving the liquid paler.  The flavours of the wines were somewhat similar, both quite complex and delicate, though the cask-aged 1935 had a touch of that burnt-almond vinagrinho quality.

The last wine of the tasting was a private Symington Family treasure of late 19th Century Port.  The Symington dynasty in Portugal was founded by Andrew James Symington, who arrived in Porto from Scotland in 1882, to work for the Graham family, though not, initially, in their Port business.  Only after some years in Portugal did AJ enter the Port trade, both by marriage and by professional involvement with various enterprises.

Some time in the 1920’s AJ was offered three pipes of Port which had been made by one of the many small-scale farmers who supplied Dow’s and other Port shippers with wines.  The Port had been made in 1882 – the year of AJ’s arrival in Portugal – and aged up in the Douro.  AJ bought the pipes, and they have been in Vila Nova de Gaia ever since, first in the Dow’s lodge, and now at the Graham’s Lodge, where you can see them yourself when you visit.

In the dry heat of the Douro, Port in cask evaporates, concentrates and ages even more rapidly than in the cooler and more humid conditions of Vila Nova de Gaia.  This was literally visible in the intense dark colour of the wine in glass which showed nearly as opaque at the Dow’s 2007, though the colour was a deep dark tawny brown (in the photo of all the wines on the tasting mat, compare the Dow’s 2007 in the top left glass with the 1882 in the bottom right glass). 

Once again, the 1882 Port has a flavour so intense and complex as to defy description, and it had a wonderful long finish – the perfect conclusion to this extraordinary voyage through time, through three centuries of Port.

Symington Family Estates will be showing a full range of our Port wines at the Essência do Vinho wine show this weekend at the Palácio de Bolsa in Porto.  Join us any time after 15:00 Thursday, Friday, Saturday or Sunday, February 7 – 10.  Full details of the venue and special events are on the Essencia do Vinho website 

We will be located in one corner of the the main floor, and showing over two dozen of our fine Port wines, including Tawnies and Vintages, as well as a selection of the Symington Douro DOC wines.

You will have the opportunity to taste Vintage Ports from each of our top brands and appreciate for yourself the unique character of each: 

Graham’s – known for its luscious sweetness – we will be showing a full range of Tawny Ports, as well as the 1969 Colheita, Graham’s Vintage 1983, Graham’s Vintage 1994 and Graham’s Quinta dos Malvedos 2001.

Dow’s – distinguished by its trademark drier finish – will be represented by the Dow’s Nirvana (a Ruby Reserve specially blended to pair with dark chocolate) and Extra Dry White (start dreaming of those summertime Port & Tonics), Dow’s Vintage 1997 and Dow’s Quinta da Senhora da Ribeira 1998.

Warre’s – is known for its wonderful elegance – we will be serving the Otima 10 and 20 Year Old Tawnies which changed for ever the image of Tawny Port, as well as Warre’s unique Traditional Late Bottled Vintage 2002, which is bottled without filtering or fining and aged in bottle in our own cellars for at least 4 years before release to market. Vintages on show include Warre’s Vintage 1985 and the Warre’s Quinta da Cavadinha 1996.

Quinta do Vesuvio – the property is iconic and the wines are powerful and concentrated, with distinctive dark fruit flavours.  Three of Vesuvio’s wonderful Vintage Ports will be available:  Quinta do Vesuvio 1994, Quinta do Vesuvio 1998 and Quinta do Vesuvio 2010.

In addition, be sure to taste the range of Altano Douro DOC wines and the Quinta do Vesuvio 2009 and Pombal do Vesuvio 2009 Douro DOC wines.

On the Saturday, Paul Symington will be leading a tutored tasting of a fantastic range of nine rare old Vintages from Graham’s, Dow’s, Warre’s and Cockburn’s from 1935 to 2007.  This extraordinary event is already over subscribed, but we will be reporting  on it in full for you.

We look forward to seeing you there!

We took a whirlwind tour of the office last week and asked colleagues what Ports they would be enjoying over the holidays.

Paul Symington was in England for The Wine Society Festive Dinner, but e-mailed to say,

I will be enjoying Dow’s 1966 Vintage Port over Christmas.  I have long had a debate with my old friend Johnny Graham over the relative merits of this wine and the Cockburn’s 1967 Vintage Port.

We had a bet many years ago about which would be better. In fact both are lovely wines.  As he is having dinner with me on Christmas eve, I will be serving this wine and I will see if he can guess what it is.

The Cockburn 1967 is one of the best wines they made in the last 50 years.  In their typically eccentric way, they ignored the 1966’s that most declared and went for the ’67.  In fact it is now a very beautiful old wine, quite outstanding.

Dominic Symington has also chosen the 1966 Dow's, though for rather different reasons.  He and his son Anthony were recently discussing the 1966 ports and although he has tasted the Dow's, Anthony said he doesn't know it very well, so Dominic is looking forward to sharing this extraordinary Vintage Port with his son and all his family this Christmas.

Henri Sizaret of our Marketing department, will enjoy Graham’s 20 Year Old Tawny as an aperitif before his Christmas dinner – in his native France Port is traditionally served as an aperitif.

Our Communications manager, Miguel Potes, will be serving his last two bottles of Quinta do Vesuvio 1994.  He added he may have to start opening his Vesuvio 1997, as his wife’s very large family loves Port, and always finds a reason to ensure that the Christmas dinner is held at Miguel’s house.

Upstairs in the winemaking part of our offices, Charles Symington said he will probably be serving his favourite Graham’s 1970 – it is the vintage nearest his own birth year and was served at his wedding and to mark many other memorable occasions in his life.  His assistant Ermalinda is looking forward to enjoying Graham’s 20 Year Old Tawny after her Christmas dinner.  João Pedro Ramalho, another of our winemakers and responsible for organising Symington’s participation in the annual São João race of the barcos rabelos, is looking forward to Dow’s 1980 Vintage Port.

António Filipe, Symington Family Estates’ General Manager, will be enjoying a 1980 as well, but his choice is the Graham’s 1980 Vintage Port.  1980 is one of those Vintage years which has been slightly underrated, following as it did on the hugely successful 1977 Vintage.  In fact, the 1980 wines have tremendous depth of flavour and superb structure and are ageing magnificently. 

Rupert Symington will be spending the holidays in the United States, so is trusting to our importers there, Premium Port Wines, to supply his wine needs – he will be serving the Pratts + Symington Douro DOC Chryseia 2007 with dinner, and is hoping PPW will be able to supply him a few bottles of Graham’s 1983 Vintage Port.

Henry Shotton, our winemaker at Graham’s Quinta dos Malvedos during harvest, was not yet sure of his wine selection, but said his dream wine would be Warre’s 1977, in Magnum. 

The blogger has one precious bottle left of Warre’s 1983 Vintage Port which she hopes to enjoy with friends this holiday season.

We also asked about what foods people would enjoy with their Ports.  Dominic will have an array of typical Portuguese sweet desserts as well as walnuts and Portuguese cheeses such as Azeitão and São Jorge as well as English cheeses, both Stilton and a small Cheddar which has had 12 months maturation.  Henry Shotton will enjoy a similarly Anglo-Portuguese array of desserts and cheeses, choosing a Queijo das Ilhas and Azeitão.

Not being familiar with the Portuguese desserts Dominic described, I asked one of our market assistants, Angela, to explain them to me.  See the photo in the gallery below of her mother’s dessert table last Christmas!  It includes:

• Rabanadas – bread soaked in a mixture of milk, eggs, sugar and cinnamon which is then fried and served with a syrup of water and sugar.  Some recipes add a little Port to the syrup, some add it to the soaking liquid for the bread.
• Aletria – a dessert made from a type of pasta cooked in a crème brulée like mixture of eggs, butter and milk with a little lemon rind and cinnamon
• Sonhos – (literally, dreams!) is a fried sweet dumpling
• Bolinhos de abóbora – small cakes made with puréed pumpkin as part of the dough
• Pão de Lô – a soft sweet bread with a custardy centre
• Bolo de Rei – a sweet bread studded with crystallised fruit, which may contain dried fruit and nuts as well.

Angela has taken home a bottle of Dow’s Quinta da Senhora da Ribeira 2008 to enjoy with her family and this year's dessert table!

What Ports are you enjoying during this holiday season?  Use the comments below to let us know your choice of Port and any food pairings.

From all of us at Symington Family Estates, best wishes for a joyous and safe holiday season and a prosperous new year.

For many readers, the holiday season is the ideal occasion to introduce Port to their friends and family.  Whether you will be enjoying a fine Vintage or another style of Port, a little preparation ahead of time will ensure your pleasure at table.

Glassware

Port should be served in a tulip shaped glass, in other words, one which is taller than it is wide, and which closes slightly towards the lip.  Whilst many glassware manufacturers make specific designs for Port, don’t worry – if you have good classic white wine glasses, those will work beautifully.

One of the great pleasures of Port is its aroma, and a glass which is slender and closes slightly towards the top captures and holds the aromas within the glass.  As you sip, your nose is pretty well plunged into the aromas captured in the glass, which enhances your taste sensations. 

Remember also to fill the glass only one quarter to one third full – really just up to the “hip” of the glass, or the point where it begins to taper towards the lip.  The lower fill point and the slight closure at the lip make it easier to give your wine a good swirl to help release those aromas.  To give you an idea just how important those aromas are:  our head winemaker Charles Symington is able to judge the character of both finished wines and musts during harvest just by swirling a serving in a glass and inhaling the aromas – tasting is not always necessary for him to get the measure of a wine’s potential.

And please… we love our grandmother’s elegant little cordial glasses too but they are among the worst possible choices for serving Port!  The same is true of any kind of straight sided shape, or large balloon-style wine glasses.  Cordials are too tiny to give you a decent serving and still have room for the aromas to gather, and wide-open shapes allow the aromas to escape, which would be a shame!

If you are curious to learn more about wine glassware and how it affects your perception of the wine, you might be interested in learning about a tasting of Vintage Ports in 20 different glass styles to determine the optimum glass for serving Port - read about the Riedel glassware tasting and Charles Symington's review of wine glasses on the Graham's Blog.

Decanters and Decanting

If you are serving Vintage Port and have a decanter to use, wonderful.  If not – no worries! 

Decanting is simple:  let the bottle stand upright at least 15 minutes, open it, and pour out the wine gently into your decanter, or any pitcher or other receptacle from which you can easily pour out again (and be sure it has capacity to receive the full 750 ml bottle or 1.5 litres if you are decanting a magnum).  Stop pouring when you see sediment, or pour through a funnel and clean muslin (or cheesecloth) if you wish to be absolutely certain no sediment gets into the Port to be served.

When you are done, rinse out the original bottle with clean water, and rinse until the discarded water runs clean – no signs of sediment – from the bottle. 

Next, rinse the bottle with a little Port.  Why?  Because very often tap water, particularly in cities, is heavily chlorinated and the scent of the chlorine or other chemicals can linger in the bottle (or other glassware) and create an off scent in your wine.  If you happen to have some Ruby Port or LBV open or even a dry red wine, a little of that will do fine to rinse out your Vintage bottle.  If not, you will have to sacrifice a little of your Vintage, but don’t worry, you only need a spoonful or two.  Be sure to rinse the entire bottle with it – swirl the liquid up the sides and on all sides – before emptying out the rinsing port.  Then, carefully pour your Vintage Port back into its original bottle. 

By the way, even when we do have decanters, we often use this method of decanting as guests enjoy seeing the original bottle at table.

One last point – many antique decanters from the 18^th and 19^th centuries are smaller than the now standard 750 ml bottles.  You may just want to fill them with water then measure it out to be sure of their capacity!

If you want to learn more, consult our reference article about Decanting Vintage Port.  Port is one of the easiest wines in the world to decant.  We cover the absolute basics, but we also provide more technical details for those who are interested.  We also have an article on Serving Vintage Port which covers a few more aspects of Serving Port.  You may also enjoy a short video of Rupert Symington decanting Graham's 1980 Vintage Port.

A Final Note on All Glassware

Please, make sure your glassware is clean and fresh.  At the holidays many of us take out special glassware that is not used year round, or we may buy new glassware if we are entertaining a larger crowd than usual.  A few days ahead of time please sniff every glass you will use (for all your wines, not just Port!) and your decanters or other decanting equipment.  After just a month or two in storage glassware can pick up the scent of cardboard cartons or wooden cupboards. 

Wash everything in hot water, then rinse it all again in lots more hot water and leave to drain – if the water is hot enough, chances are it will simply evaporate leaving your glasses sparkling and fresh.  If you do need to use a tea towel to dry or polish the glasses please use a clean fresh towel and sniff to be sure it does not smell of laundry detergent or fabric softener, as these scents can transfer to the glass.

Enjoy your holidays and your Vintage Port!  Best wishes to you and your family from all of us at Symington Family Estates.

Many of our readers will no doubt be familiar with the many large-format bottles for fine wines, such as magnums, jeroboams, nebachudnezzars and the like.  But how many are familiar with the Tappit Hen bottle?

A throwback to the 18^th century mallet and earliest cylindrical styles of wine bottle, the Tappit Hen hold 2.1 litres of Port wine, and is about the same height as a standard 75cl bottle, but with a greater circumference in the body and a thicker neck.  This bottle is rarely seen commercially as the size, shape and weight of the bottle require special handling.

The Dow’s 1977 Vintage Port was bottled, in part, in Tappit Hens, which have all remained here in Vila Nova de Gaia, ageing in Dow’s own cellars.  Occasionally the Symington family would share a bottle with visitors, but the Tappit Hens have never been offered for sale to the general public.

Until now.  The bottles were mentioned by Paul Symington to Patricio de la Fuente Saez, the Managing Director of Links Concept, our distributor in Hong Kong, and an agreement was made to offer the bottling – just 303 bottles – exclusively to their customers.  The first 100 were released earlier this year and have been very well received, and the next 100 are being released and shipped for the holiday season.

Each bottle has been sealed with the traditional red wax (rather than the alloy capsules which covers the bottle mouth and cork on modern bottlings) and the labels have been individually numbered by hand and signed by Paul Symington to certify the provenance of the Port.  Having aged in our own cellars for over 30 years, these bottles of the Dow’s 1977 Vintage Port deliver perfect quality and immense pleasure now, though they will continue to age graciously for years in your cellar if you wish.

Interestingly our customers in Hong Kong and the Far East have often asked for specific bottle numbers, as many people prefer a number relevant to their own or the recipient’s auspicious personal numbers, birth dates, or other significant numbers.  Knowing this, we have avoided known unlucky numbers or combinations of numbers in our labelling of these bottles.

Dow’s 1977 Vintage Port would be an outstanding addition to your own Port Cellar or make an extraordinary gift this holiday season or for the Chinese New Year celebrations which start on 10 February 2013.  Each individually signed and numbered bottle is presented in a custom made black laquered case together with a booklet explaining the background of Dow’s 1977 Vintage Port.  The presentation case is itself housed in a handsome transport box with thick felt padding for extra protection and corded rope handles for easy carrying.

Please contact Links Concept in Hong Kong through their website or at  +852 2802 2818, as they are the exclusive distributors of the Dow’s 1977 Vintage Port in Tappit Hen.    

The 1977 Vintage and Dow’s

The 1977 harvest year presented challenging weather conditions, with unsettled and generally cool weather leading to some desavinho (abortion of flowering and fruit set) in June.  In the first half of September the temperatures rose and the hot dry spell was welcomed by Michael Symington (Paul’s father), who wrote in the Guest Books at Dow’s Quinta do Bomfim around the 12^th-14^th September:

A very hot two weeks (35-36° C daily) with little or no wind has had a dramatic effect on the wines: at Bomfim sugar testing on 1st September gave 10.5 - by 8th it had risen to 11.5 and is now over 12. If the hot weather holds, the prospects for a good quality Vintage are much improved.

Picking began in the last week of September and continued until the end of October, with just one brief interruption for rain, which did no harm to the quality of the grapes coming in.

The 1977 Vintage was declared by most of the Port houses, and the Port wines generally are characterised by their structure, concentration and complexity.  The strong tannins which are essential to long-lived wines were remarked in early years as “hard” or showing “grip”, but since the turn of the millenium, as the Port has aged, critics have focused on the extraordinary balance, flavours and texture of the Dow’s 1977, and its wonderful finish.

Dow’s Vintage Ports have a distinctive quality and style:  superbly concentrated wines that are scented with violet and mint aromas, intense and tannic when young, maturing towards a superlative racy elegance with age.  Dow’s hallmark is its attractive and distinctively drier finish as compared with other Port brands.

The 1977 Dow’s Vintage Port shows a vivid ruby/garnet colour, with a soft bouquet of ripe concentrated fruit, plums, black cherry and hints of chocolate. On the palate it is full-bodied, with an iron back-bone of mature tannins and acidity, and it has a long and elegantly dry finish.

If you will be in Lisbon or Paris this weekend, you will have the chance to taste some wonderful Vintage Ports as well as other top Ports and fine wines.  These shows are the perfect opportunity to select your wines for the holiday season, whether to serve at your own festivities or gift to loved ones.

In Lisbon, the 5^th annual Adegga Wine Market will be held Saturday 1 December from 14:00 to 21:00 at the Hotel Flórida.  If you are familiar with the social wine discovery site Adegga.com, then imagine that atmosphere brought to a live event:  the chance to taste wines, ask questions and share your thoughts with friends and the wine producers themselves in a really relaxed and friendly atmosphere.  It is not uncommon for visitors to spend the entire afternoon and evening at the event and continue the conversation at dinner afterwards with friends and winemakers from the Market (ask us how we know!).  Best of all, the Adegga Wine Market is unique in that you can actually buy the wines by the bottle or case at the show and take them home with you.  Read more about the wine market in an interview with one of its founders, André Ribeirinho, on the Iberian wine-centric site, Catavino, which has been celebrating Port and the Douro all month.

Serving Symington wines at the Wine Market this year will be Luis Fernandes whom many of our readers will know from the Graham’s Lodge and José Brandão from Portfolio Vinhos, SFE’s distributor within Portugal.  They will be showing a broad range of our Ports and Douro DOC wines including the Graham's Quinta dos Malvedos Vintage Port 1999:

• Graham’s 20 Year Old Tawny Port
• Graham’s The Tawny
• Graham’s Six Grapes
• Graham’s Quinta dos Malvedos Vintage 1999
• Dow’s Nirvana
• Altano Bio 2010
• Altano White 2011
• Quinta do Ataíde Reserva 2008
• Pombal do Vesuvio 2009
• Post Scriptum 2010

This year the Wine Market organisers have again created a Premium Tasting Room, where you can taste a range of super premium wines rarely served at public wine fairs.  A sommelier will be on hand to serve you and answer your questions.  The focus is on Ports this year, with a special tasting of Port with Chocolates and we will be showing two extraordinary Ports: 

Warre’s Vintage Port 1963 – The 1963 Vintage is a legend for its powerful and balanced wines which have aged magnificently, often mistaken for younger vintages.  Michael Broadbent summed up over 30 years of tasting notes for the Warre’s 1963 by saying simply “this is now one of the best and most elegant of all the ‘63s.”   After enjoying the Private Cellar Release of Warre’s 1963 earlier this year, UK wine writer Sarah Ahmed commented “…it’s hard to believe just how intense and lingering this is and, after nearly 50 years, how smooth.   It’s a seamless flow of deliciousness…”

Graham’s Diamond Jubilee Colheita 1952 – This extraordinary wine from 1952 was set aside for ageing in small cask in our Lodge during the tough post-war years, and remained there until last November when this wine caught the attention of the Symington family during their routine tasting review of all our old casks.  They decided it was time to release this Port and received permission to bottle it in Commemoration of the Diamond Jubilee of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II.  Old Port like this defies the wine writer – its flavour simply cannot be parsed out in terms of specific fruit or other flavour notes.  Instead, Simon Field, MW and Port Buyer for London’s Berry Bros & Rudd wine merchants, describes the 1952 as “redolent of old libraries, autumnal bonfires and distant poetry.”

Note that you need to reserve a place for the Premium Tasting Room - just 10 places were left at the time of posting this blog – follow the link and don’t miss this opportunity.

If you will be in Paris you will not want to miss Le Grand Tasting, at the Carrousel du Louvre this Friday and Saturday from 10:30 till 20:30.  Symington Family Estates are proud members of the Primum Familiae Vini, an association of the most prestigious family-owned and managed wineries in the world, and the PFV will be showing the group’s wines at the Tasting and in an exclusive Master Class at 16:00 on Friday. 

At Le Grand Tasting, The Graham’s Vintage Port 1994 will be served from Magnum.  1994 is an outstanding year, now being regarded as one of the best of the 20^th Century.  The 1994 is a classic Graham’s, showing the opulent, concentrated fruit perfectly balanced by ripe tannins and acidity which have characterised the brand’s Vintages for almost 200 years.

What Port will you be enjoying this weekend, either at these tastings or elsewhere?

The Vintage Port Academy has just concluded a very successful third year in Hong Kong and this year, for the first time, offered a workshop in Shanghai as well.  Clearly the Port workshops have become THE reference for information and knowledge about Port in Asia, with all sessions over-subscribed, and the alumni of prior years now sending their staff and colleagues for training.

The Academy was established jointly by Symington Family Estates and The Fladgate Partnership to promote knowledge and appreciation of Port among fine wine professionals and connoisseurs in the Far East and Asia.  In collaboration with the Hong Kong based Independent Wine Centre, the Academy presents its workshops for wine, food and hotel professionals, as well as supporting a number of related events including tastings for consumers, trade professionals, and journalists from both print and internet publications.

Euan Mackay of Symington Family Estates and Nicolas Heath of The Fladgate Partnership jointly present the workshops to educate the sommeliers, retailers and others on the front line of consumer contact so they are well prepared to assist their customers in selecting and enjoying a Vintage or other style of Port.  At the conclusion of the classes, all participants take an exam which includes writing a short recommendation of one of the Ports.  Those who successfully pass the exam are awarded with a certificate and Vintage Port Academy lapel pin.  A special prize of a VPA presentation box with bottles of each the Graham’s and Taylor’s 2000 Vintage Ports is given to those with top marks in their class.  This year’s winners were Anobia Lam, Assistant Food & Beverage Manager, The Hong Kong Cricket Club; Cindy Cheng, Director of Learning & Development, Hyatt Regency Sha Tin; and Rossie Huang, Manager, Cheers, Shanghai.

Port and Innovative Food Pairing

The participants’ suggestions on pairing Port with the local cuisine are thought provoking for those accustomed to thinking only in terms of cheese or chocolate for food pairing:

Anobia Lam, Assistant Food & Beverage Manager, The Hong Kong Cricket Club recommends Port, “especially (with) Chinese cuisine from Sichuan and Shanghai, with its strong flavour and complex seasoning.” 

Cindy Cheng, Director of Learning & Development, Hyatt Regency Sha Tin suggested “To be more adventurous, try LBV Port wine with the Chinese treasure duck.”

At lunch during the workshops, a range of Ports were paired with both Chinese and Western dishes, and the outstanding favourite with a 2000 Vintage Port was the Shanghai sweet and vinegar spare ribs (糖醋排骨).   10 Year Old Tawny Port proved particularly versatile, with the Hong Kong students enjoying it with Cantonese roasted pork belly (燒腩肉) and the Shanghai class enthusiastic about pairing with both a seasonal Hairy Crab dish and Peking Duck.

At the consumer tasting event at the Kee club in Hong Kong emphasis was again on innovative food pairings in the form of canapés including

• Graham’s Late Bottled Vintage 2006 with Francesca hazelnuts covered in dark chocolate
• Graham’s 20 Year Old Tawny with foie gras and Graham’s 20 Year Old Tawny jelly on chocolate biscuits
• Graham’s Vintage 1980 with venison patties
• Taylor’s Late Bottled Vintage 2007 with roasted pork belly
• Taylor’s 20 Year Old Tawny with Peking duck
• Taylor’s Vintage 2007 with Francesca Java 64% chocolate

Vintage Port, Terroir and Your Cellar

The focus was squarely on Vintage Ports at the Hong Kong Trade tasting with a line up of 12 Vintages in pairs of declared brand Vintage Ports and Quinta Vintage Ports from the flagship property of each brand: 

• Graham’s 1980 and Quinta dos Malvedos 2001
• Dow’s 1997 and Quinta da Senhora da Ribeira 2009
• Warre´s 2009 and Quinta da Cavadinha 1996
• Taylor 2007 and Quinta de Vargellas 2009
• Croft 2007 and Quinta da Roêda 2004
• Fonseca 2009 and Quinta do Panascal 2001

This was a unique opportunity to taste six iconic Vintage Port brands side by side to appreciate their respective house styles, as well as “taste the terroir” of their flagship quintas which are located throughout the Douro from Quinta do Panescal south west of Pinhão in the Rio Távora valley, to Warre’s Quinta da Cavadinha in the Valley of Pinhão at the heart of the region, to the eastern reaches of the Douro Superior  as represented by Taylor’s Quinta de Vargellas and Dow’s Quinta da Senhora da Ribeira.

Familiar as he is with all these wines, Euan remarked that tasting the lineup again this year just reinforced for him the incredible individuality of these brands.  While all six houses began as independent shippers, which are now owned by two firms and and the wines made by two head winemakers, each brand retains an absolutely unique and consistent character which is clearly a product of its terroir.  In the workshops, participants noticed that the house styles were just as clear in comparison tastings of the 20 Year Old Tawny Ports as well.

For Euan and for the wine, food and hospitality professionals at the workshops, it is beyond question that Port has a place in any fine wine collection, and in fact a wine connoisseur’s cellar is incomplete without a good range of fine Ports.  Consumers have long since understood that a collection of Bordeaux must include several different Chateux to represent the range of possibilities, that the individual villages in Burgundy each offer unique flavour profiles, and that Single Malt Whiskies show incredible regional character.  With Port tastings like these hosted by The Vintage Port Academy, it becomes clear that a fine wine cellar must include both Vintage and Tawny Ports from a range of producers – otherwise, you are simply missing out on the richness of the Douro and its extraordinary micro-climatisation. 

Attendee Response

Feedback on all the events was enthusiastic.  Anty Fung of Asian Palate not only appreciated the events and the wines shown, but expressed very well the role we hope all the attendeees will play in promoting Port in Asia:

Just a note to properly thank you for all the time and information you've provided me… Today's tasting is an eye-opening experience.

…. it was inspirational hearing you talk about the notion of promoting Port as a culture and a total experience during lunch. I'd hope that some day in future, we may all have a part to play in the creation of such a trend - something that encompasses food and wine pairing, winery tourism and potentially extend further to stressing the relation between different music and art forms….

Slightly less formal but equally cheering feedback came to us from other sources:  the magazine editor who admitted he was sceptical when invited to last year’s press event, but said the tasting completely changed his perspective on Port; and the wife of an enthusiast who attended last year’s events who told Euan she now enjoys a glass of port after dinner too – every night! – as her husband explores the many brands and different styles of Port.

The Asian Palate site has already posted a report and a wonderful video featuring Euan and Nick talking about Port and the Douro and footage of the tasting events.  See our News Feed for more links to related press coverage.

Are you interested in attending The Vintage Port Academy next year?  Be sure to visit the VPA site and send a message to us through the Vintage Port Academy Contacts page, expressing your interest and asking to receive the quarterly VPA newsletter.  We look forward to seeing you in Hong Kong or Shanghai next year!