Symington Family Estates Launches "School of Port"
New digital platform will provide education and training for wine professionals and wine lovers alike to learn more about Port and the Douro region
Symington Family Estates, producers of some of the finest Ports in the world for five generations and owners of the renowned Port brands W. & J. Graham’s, Cockburn’s, Dow’s and Warre’s is excited to launch School of Port, an online educational platform developed in response to the coronavirus lockdown and current limits of in-person meetings. The new initiative will consist of a series of free digital workshops and online video courses, designed for wine trade professionals working with Port.
Requests for the first training module, “School of Port – The Essentials”, can be made online at www.schoolofport.com. The contents include how Port is made, the different styles, serving and pairing suggestions, as well as best practices for selling Port both on and off premise. The workshops will be delivered by a professional Port wine educator via Zoom, followed by a short test; successful participants are awarded a certificate.
The dynamic School of Port Instagram account supports these workshops, providing an informal, behind-the-scenes look at various aspects of how Port is made and consumed. Short videos and infographics are punctuated by regular Instagram Lives with special guests and Port wine experts. Weekly Expert Q&As have proved popular, allowing a broader audience to have their Port queries answered.
“A big part of our work is educating people about the Port category. Often people who don’t know about Port become really enthusiastic once they learn more and taste the wines. We do a lot of consumer education through our tours and tastings in Porto and the Douro, but another crucial aspect is training the trade. People who work in wine shops and restaurants can be great ambassadors for Port, if they have sufficient knowledge and an affinity for the category. We are excited to use School of Port to deliver engaging, contemporary and useful Port education to wine trade professionals all around the world,” said Rob Symington, fifth-generation Port producer
About Symington Family Estates -- The Symingtons of Scottish, English and Portuguese descent have been Port producers in northern Portugal since 1882. For five generations they have combined their passion for producing premium Ports and wines with a deep commitment to the region’s land and people. Today ten Symingtons work across their four famous Port houses – Graham’s, Cockburn’s, Dow’s and Warre’s – as well as their Douro wine projects – Quinta do Vesuvio, Quinta do Ataíde, Altano and Prats & Symington (of Chryseia fame) – and a new venture, Quinta da Fonte Souto in the Alto Alentejo.
Symington Family Estates is a leading premium Port producer and the family is the leading vineyard owners in the Douro Valley, with 26 Quintas covering 5,527 acres and 2,530 acres of vineyard. Their vineyards are managed under sustainable viticulture practices and 276 acres are organically farmed, the largest area of organic vineyards in the Douro. In 2019 Symington Family Estates became the first winery in Portugal to achieve B Corp certification. Symington Family Estates is unique amongst the major Port companies in that each working family member farms their own vineyard, alongside those under the family’s joint company ownership.
