Prats & Symington

A World Heritage site and one of the oldest established wine-producing regions in the world, the Douro valley is, without doubt, one of the most distinctive terroirs in the history of world viticulture.

Great wines can only exist if there are people fortunate enough to appreciate them. There can be no doubt that the English aristocracy played an important role in the development of the Port wine vineyards, just as they did in Bordeaux, most notably with the Médoc Crus Classés.

The wines of the Douro, cultivated in an inhospitable climate under a scorching sun, with their low acidity and high residual sugar levels, were always difficult to transport. It was for this reason that the region invented fortification, a process which involves adding brandy to the wine before fermentation is complete,providing the Port with its distinctive alcohol-sugar balance, together with a remarkable potential for ageing. In addition, the process requires the rapid and energetic extraction of tannins by the traditional method of treading or, in more recent years, using mechanical presses.

Whilst the art of creating Port wine was being perfected, Bordeaux – another region with a talent for satisfying the thirst of the English – was inventing vinification using a process of prolonged maceration, allowing for the gradual and gentle extraction of tannins. This gave rise to the balance and finesse of the great Médocs.

The attempt to apply Bordeaux wine-making methods to grapes which are traditionally destined for the production of vintage Port is the essence of the exciting CHRYSEIA project.

The SYMINGTON family aimed to ally its extensive knowledge of the different Douro terroirs and grape varieties to the experience of Bruno PRATS in the Bordeaux region so that together they could produce wine from the best grapes grown on the best plots on the best estates, in true Bordeaux spirit.

Andrew James Symington first became established in the city of Porto in 1882. He quickly became a Port wine shipper and in 1914 assumed control of Warre’s. The descendants of his three sons are nowadays the owners of Warre’s, Dow’s and Graham’s, in addition to numerous estates which include some of the best in the Cima Corgo. The family’s vineyard holdings in the Douro now exceed 900 hectares.Charles Symington is responsible for the vineyards, vinification and production management, whilst Rupert, Paul, John and Dominic travel all over the world sharing the magic and secrets of their wines.

After the sale of the Château Cos d’Estournel which he had managed for thirty years,Bruno Prats turned his wine growing activities to Viña Aquitania in Chile where he established a partnership with Paul Pontallier, Ghislain de Montgolfier and Felipe de Solminihac, and to Anwilka in South Africa, in partnership with Lowell Jooste and Hubert de Bouard de Laforest. The friendship between Bruno Prats and the Symington family was developed through the family winery network Primum Familiae Vini, to which Cos d’Estournel also belonged.

In November 1998, the Symington family proposed that Bruno Prats should take part in a new project to produce a top quality, non-fortified Douro wine. This proposal took shape in 1999 with the creation of PRATS & SYMINGTON Limitada as an equal partnership between the two families. Experimental production in this first year enabled the best plots and most suitable grape varieties for the project to be selected. The CHRYSEIA 2000 was the first vintage to be released.

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PRATS & SYMINGTON is now the owner of two prime Douro estates, Quinta de Roriz and Quinta da Perdiz. Unusually for the Douro (at least until relatively recent times), PRATS & SYMINGTON selects most of its top quality fruit for Douro DOC production, with the authorised Port production of its vineyards being filled in with riper grapes and from those varietals deemed less suitable for top table wines. A small quantity of Vintage Port will be bottled from the Roriz estate only in exceptional years and when conditions allow.

Both Quintas lie in the parish of São João de Pesqueira, near the village of Ervedosa.Roriz sits in a natural amphitheatre on the banks of the Douro, and Perdiz lies on a steep gradient on the other side of the same mountain in the Rio Torto Valley, which runs North-West into the main Douro Valley near Pinhão.

The different microclimates of the two valleys produce very different results, as do the varying soils. Roriz has traces of tin mixed into the schistous soil from the old mine workings at the highest point of the estate, and this gives a strong minerality to the wines. Its location alongside the Douro, facing North, ensures cooler nights during the ripening season, which, in turn, results in the strong aromatic qualities, recognisable in its wines. Perdiz produces ripe, soft, velvety wines in the warmer climate of the relatively closed in Torto Valley.

In addition grapes are sourced from selected plots on the certain of the best properties – or estates – belonging to the Symington family, namely Vila Velha.

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CHRYSEIA and its partner wines POST SCRIPTUM and PRAZO DE RORIZ are now produced at the dedicated dry red winery facility at Quinta de Roriz. After a careful bunch selection, de-stemming and crushing, the must is transferred to small stainless steel vats (equipped with temperature control) where fermentation takes place. Tannins are extracted by pumping over and prolonged maceration after fermentation. The main concern is to respect the essential characteristics of the grapes whilst also obtaining a balance with finesse which is light and favours the elegant, silky tannins. Although the winemaking process is managed on site by Luis Coelho under the supervision of Pedro Correia, Charles Symington and Bruno Prats are personally involved in producing the final blends and during all the vital stages of production, from vinification to ageing.

Ageing takes place in the Roriz cellars in oak barrels sourced annually from a series of French coopers including Taransaud, François Fréres, TSO e Boutes. To prevent an excess of woody flavours which could compromise the aromatic finesse of the wine,CHRYSEIA is only allowed to age in new oak barrels for a short period of time – 8 to 12 months – according to the year in question. Larger 400-litre barrels are used to reduce the surface area/volume ratio. POST SCRIPTUM and PRAZO DE RORIZ typically use a lesser proportion of new oak, with the latter being matured mainly in second year barrels. Bottling takes place at Vila Nova de Gaia in a modern bottling centre owned by the Symington family.

A small amount of extremely high quality Vintage Port is made at Quinta de Roriz each year in the traditional granite foot treading tanks known as lagares. In exceptional years such as the 2007, PRATS & SYMINGTON will bottle and release a very limited quantity of Vintage Port under the QUINTA DE RORIZ VINTAGE PORT label.

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