Private Client Account Manager Aiden Schwarzer recently returned from a quick trip to a selection of Symington Family Estate properties.
I count myself very fortunate to have been picked to represent Tanners as part of a small group of other UK wine merchants for a trip to the Douro, courtesy of one of our agents, Fells. The plan was to spend a couple of nights, one in Porto and one up in the Douro Valley, to allow us to take in a few visits to the Symington Family Estate properties of (Dow’s) Quinta do Bomfim, Quinta do Vesúvio, and Graham’s Lodge back in Vila Nova de Gaia.Symington Family Estates, now run by the fourth and fifth generation, own an enviable clutch of top Port Houses: Graham’s, Dow’s, Warre’s, and Cockburn’s, as well as Quinta do Vesúvio, and a handful of other projects that focus on table wines – from the Douro, Vinho Verde to the north, and the Alto-Alentejo further south. They are the leading vineyard owners in the Douro Valley, with 26 Quintas that cover some 2,255ha, with about half of that land under vine. In 2019, they became the first company in Portugal to achieve B Corp certification, a proud milestone that is testament to their commitment to sustainability and ethical business practices.
In a rare turn of events, we had a relaxed evening flight out of Manchester on the Sunday (so much more civilized than an early AM alarm), flying into Porto and a night nearby in Vila Nova de Gaia. Gaia is the old town where the Port lodges are located, and it makes a nice day out if you are to travel to this part of the world – just be prepared for some very steep hills! Once unpacked we headed out for tapas and a couple of glasses of wine – keeping things sensible in preparation for a busy couple of days.
On Monday morning we were met by the always charming and incredibly calm Anthony Symington, who drove us the 90-odd minutes to the Douro Valley. We came in via the picturesque and winding Pinhão valley, to the eponymous town on the Douro River, where the Symington family’s homestead and Quinta do Bomfim winery is found. We decamped and made ourselves comfortable before making the short walk to Pinhão train station, where the needle must have been tipping into the thirties! Of course, the train was running late, and I must say those green oranges lining the platform looked increasingly tempting in lieu of some proper shade!
I can wholeheartedly recommend taking the train; much more comfortable than folding oneself up in the back of a Peugeot 3008! The interior is like something from a Wes Anderson movie, and you are spoiled, constantly, by stunning views as you chug through the vineyards and granite outcrops along the river’s edge. We sat and each of us enjoyed a little bottle of Super Bock, drinking with the sun on our shoulders, the schist and resin-like cistus aromas blowing through the open windows becoming ever more intense as we travelled further up the valley and into the Douro Superior.
Quinta do Vesúvio is the antepenultimate stop on the line and takes its name from the estate, which was itself named after the Naples landmark, following a visit there by António Bernardo Ferreira in the early 1800s. The architecture of the main house was directly inspired by the Italian Palazzo style and building work was completed in 1827, later expanded and improved by António’s niece, Dona Antónia Ferreira, with the addition of a school and a chapel. It’s a long story and worth a read, Dona Antónia was a real force for good and Vesúvio is an amazing legacy and tribute.
As a vineyard, Quinta do Vesúvio covers some 320+ha, around 133ha under vine over seven hills and 31 valleys, with vines planted as high as 530 metres above sea level. That makes it the largest single estate in the Douro and as Anthony told us, an enviable pallet for any winemaker to work with. The wines here have an innate power, with great intensity, concentration, richness and freshness and I often find a savoury thread which adds to a sense of structure, balance, and drive.
We enjoyed a delicious lunch as we soaked in the surroundings (*cough* and White Port and Tonic *cough*), and a fine tasting of some of the Symington table wines and Ports. Altano Branco (2023) is a huge favourite here – a super fresh and friendly Douro white that will appeal to Kiwi Sauvignon drinkers; it has a brilliant, bright perfumed and citrusy quality with a lip-smacking stony minerality; the new(ish) Pequeno Dilema 2022 is something that has occasionally appeared on our list, a very smart, lightly oaked Douro that feels a little more Burgundian than Altano… it’s a wine that improves with each release so I hope we will see more of it! The reds kicked off with a 2017 Altano Tinto, not the new vintage which we expected but for a more modest seven-year-old red it was holding up nicely. Comboio do Vesúvio 2022 was deeply flattering, with a host of blue/black fruits, crushed dark flowers, and juicy, supple, and finely astringent palate. Next up, Pombal do Vesuvio 2022, where oak brings a creamy and spicy dimension to the fruit and texture – it really hits the sweet spot in terms of value and quality!
And then two vintages of the Grand Vin, Quinta do Vesúvio. The 2021 offered a deep and cool nose, a touch of mint, and quite Bordeaux like with more oak evident, and the fruit – lead by rich cherries, was compact and undulating. Full, with a creamy/silky texture, stimulating acidity and spice, and an effortless flow, with superb length. The 2016 also shows that mint but with a more super-charged dose, like camphor which works with the gum cistus; really fragrant, some stony touches, plenty of grip and grainy tannins – a more powerful vintage and a serious long-term prospect.
We were treated with some local cheeses and a gorgeous bottle of 1995 Quinta do Vesúvio Vintage Port. It showed a little bricking, so a hint of the age of it, (but none of us got it!), and at 30 years of age, it showed great complexity: notes of lavender and vaporous mint, very pure blue/black fruits and notes of coal, liquorice, dried fruits and schist. A lovely sweetness on the palate, very good freshness, it was juicy and ample with a youthful flair and an easy-going mellow feel. Maturing nicely and drinking well! A final treat was a mystery wine, a never released family reserve Colheita (Vintage Tawny), which we estimated to be from the 90s and clearly unfiltered. It had aromas and flavours of oranges and stone fruits, lively acidity and great richness, with intensely tangy, salty and nutty elements and a moreish bitter edge. Wow stuff!
We topped up with water before taking a walk along the riverside vines to the winery. Quinta do Vesúvio’s Ports remains 100% foot trodden and that makes for an annual tradition where the local villagers and willing outsiders are welcomed into the old granite lagars for an evening (or two) of hard work, hard drinking (I expect), and lots of singing and dancing!
After (*cough*) inspecting some of the resting stock, we jumped in the back of a truck and took – and I’m not exaggerating here – the most spine-rattling journey up to the top of the vineyards. We even had a pair of curious dogs follow us up! The Douro gives you amazing views wherever you look, and the breezes higher up offer some relief from the humidity closer to the river. We had an ideal spot to take in the scale of the vineyards and to better appreciate the variety of exposition and aspect before bouncing our way back down to the station.
The trip back on the train was a little more… sombre.
The weather had cooled a touch by the time we returned to Pinhão, the clouds and humidity threatening rain and possibly storms. I grabbed a quick shower and took a refreshing dip in the pool amongst the vines behind the house, before joining the others for dinner.
White Port and Tonic. It is taking longer than it should to catch on over here, people, but please give it a go! There are younger and paler White Ports, and there are more mature, amber-coloured examples, like Churchill’s, and plenty in between. Graham’s No5 Blend is distinctly aromatic, like a citrussy Muscat, with the right mix of sweetness and spice and lip-smacking acidity – these things make brilliant long drinks and a great way to kick off an evening, or a lunch, or even rounding off a breakfast!
During dinner, while the welcome rains fell (quite noisily, actually) outside, we partook of a magnum of 2020 Post Scriptum – an old favourite here, the result of a partnership between the Symington Family and Bruno Pratts of Château Cos d’Estournel in Saint-Estèphe. It’s always been a Douro wine of sophistication and sartorial elegance, with carefully managed tannins and that tightrope walk of ripeness and savoury old-school cool. It was showing well, and I was pleased that Anthony served it chilled: graphite-tinged, saline-kissed reds over blue and black fruits, a touch of ink, leather, and gravels. Perfumed, juicy, with a savoury flourish!
Then we tried a run of Ports. A perhaps too advanced bottle of Dow’s 1983, offering a mellow stew of prunes, strawberry, and fresh figs, with a plump sweet core, and plenty of spice as you returned to it. Alongside that, we tried a stimulating Graham’s 1994, still with many decades ahead of it, offering a classically rich profile, a packed core and gobs of dark flowers and tight, plump blue/black fruits. We tasted these blind, but I was far too shy (and inexperienced) to make any educated guesses as to the shipper and vintage! Anthony drew a Dow’s 1994 almost as an apology for the misfiring ’83, and like the Graham’s it has plenty of time in hand, offering an energetic mouthful of peppery raspberry fruit, candied liquorice, ink, and lots of spice.
Later, with a beautiful platter of local cheeses, we were treated to a special bottle of Tawny Port – a Graham’s Single Harvest Tawny (aka Colheita) from 1997, which was served very chilled and was almost refreshing to drink. I picked out layers of salted and roasted nuts, red and darker fruits, cherry brandy, sweet tobacco, candied liquorice and red plums – it’s a marvellously textured, bright and tangy wine with a rich and mellow core. How would I describe it? Lip-smacking, incredibly long and well worth seeking out.
On Tuesday morning we walked around the corner to the Quinta do Bomfim winery, where we compared their state-of-the-art Robotic Lagars with the 200-year-old granite examples we saw at Vesúvio. We were incredibly privileged to sample a couple of varietals from the newly tanked 2024 vintage, which suggest a superb quality Port harvest (wink wink), before packing up the car and heading back to Porto.
I slept most of the way back – that meandering drive uphill through the Pinhão Valley was much more pleasurable on the way in!
Back in Porto, or more accurately, Gaia, we visited Graham’s Lodge: a superb visitor’s centre that includes an historic tour as well as access to the cellars, an excellent gift shop, and the wonderful Vinum restaurant offering picture-perfect views from the terrace.
We’ve seen plenty of wineries and barrel cellars over the years but it’s still fascinating to me. Instead of the sweet aromas of new wood and recently pressed juice, here it was (clean) old cellars, stones, earth… everyone whispers… it’s truly special and you feel privileged to be able to try and catch a glimpse of the oldest and rarest casks and bottles!
Lunch followed, we enjoyed some more Port and Tonic, and a couple of interesting bottles from the Symington’s Port Alegre estate, Fonte de Souto, in the Alto Alentejo. The white is something you may have spied at Tanners previously and will do again with any luck – it’s a convincing Burgundy style, based on Arinto, with fine oak and a mix of white fruits, stone fruits, lemon/grapefruit citrus and fine minerality. It reflects the cooler and more luscious surroundings of the high Alentejo; a bit of a paradise and some great conservation work too. Our meal was rounded off nicely with some Graham’s 30 Year Old Tawny poured, naturally, from a jumbo gallon-sized bottle!
Post-dinner we headed upstairs to another grand old room for a private tasting where we went over some familiar wines from the trip and a couple of others. The Fonte de Souto stable’s entry point white, Florão, is perhaps a more muscat-like take on Altano Branco, with a crisp mineral bite; the unoaked Florão Tinto felt like it could chill down in warmer weather – great candied fruits, not crunchy but super fresh and supple. We retasted the Fonte de Souto Branco alongside it’s two red siblings, both Rhône-like reds, offering a mix of pine-scented bramble fruits, lush herbs with a creamy ripeness and perfumed black pepper from the Syrah. Really smart wines.
Then a run of Ports from Graham’s: Six Grapes and it’s more selective Vehlas Vinas (old vines) cuvee are Ruby Ports par excellence, and the 2012 Quinta dos Malvedos was in fine form, offering some classic Graham’s mint over creamy black fruits, and crushed cistus. Full, but rounded, supple, and plenty sweet.
The following four wines were all Tawnies: Graham’s 10 Year Old was all demerara, oak, roasted nuts and a mix of red and orange fruits and sticky dates, with a pleasing chew. The 20 Year Old was racier, packed with red fruits, a certain contemplative mineral coolness and then a rich, deep, creamy and weighty palate, layered with roasted nuts, salt, and dried fruits – and seriously long! Graham’s 40 Year Old is based on the 1982 Colheita, and was very special – it might have even had a touch of green to the colour (indicative of long aged Tawny Port). A whiff of varnish, walnuts, and green olives, raspberry and orange fruits, demerara and fine toast. Full, rich and deep with notes of soft muscovado and loaded with roasted nuts, fresher red and dried fruits too. It was warming, complex and wonderfully intense… thrilling stuff! And finally, a return to the 1997 Single Harvest Tawny: a little more mellow on the nose after the 40 Year Old but still a mineral quality. It was fresh but with dense creamy fruit, lovely acidity with a fine grip and a tantalising sweetness.
For anyone taking a trip to the lodge, there are tasting packages available that take place in the most amazing, ancient, library-like rooms – it really does put a smile on your face (and a glow in your cheeks)!
And that was pretty much that – off to the airport for fun and games (multiple delays) before flying back to Manchester. A memorable trip, lots of notes and photos, and I can’t wait to go back!