Symington Family Estates

There is a natural affinity between wine and family. Long-term vision and commitment through many generations are essential for the success of a family wine company. A newly planted vineyard takes time to produce great wines and often requires a lifetime’s work to yield best results.

The Symington family, with Scottish, English and Portuguese ancestry has been present in the Douro for five generations — since 1882 — and through the current generation’s great grandmother, the family’s links to the wines of the Douro span 14 generations, to the mid-17th century and to the very beginnings of the history of Port.

The family has 2,071 hectares of land in the Douro Valley across 27 individual estates. These properties, known as quintas, have just over 1,000 ha of vines, the vast majority of which are planted on terraces, and amount to the most significant vineyard holding in the region. Generations of Symington winemakers have planted and cared for these estates, accumulating knowledge that they have employed in the making of some of the finest Ports and Douro wines. These vineyards are at the heart of the family’s wines.

Symington Family Estates is an entirely family-owned and managed company and is the leading quality Port producer, responsible for the making of approximately 33% of all premium Port categories. Five of the family, Paul, Johnny, Rupert, Dominic and Charles work together maintaining the vineyards and making the wines of their four historic Port houses: Graham’s, Cockburn’s, Dow’s and Warre’s. The family also own Quinta do Vesúvio, one of Portugal’s greatest vineyard estates. Paul’s daughter Charlotte and Rupert’s sister Clare also work with the family in the UK.

The Symingtons conduct extensive research into Douro viticulture and winemaking in their experimental vineyards at Quinta da Cavadinha in the Pinhão Valley, at Quinta do Bomfim in the main Douro Valley and at their ‘Vine Library’ at Quinta do Ataíde in the Vilariça Valley. In the past the family developed the modern treading lagares, which became the most significant advance in the production of premium quality Ports for many years.

They have also been amongst the pioneers in the development of Douro DOC wines, producing Chryseia, Post Scriptum and Prazo de Roriz with the Prats family of Bordeaux, as well as other Symington Douro wines from Quinta do Vesúvio, Quinta do Ataíde and the Altano range.

The family are the only Douro producer to have made a Port in the 21st century that merited a perfect 100 points from Wine Spectator; Dow’s 2007 Vintage Port. The family’s dedication to the wines of the Douro was further recognized when Wine Spectator ranked Dow’s 2011 Vintage Port as the Nº 1 Wine of the Year in 2014. Another wine, made in partnership with Bruno Prats, Chryseia Douro DOC 2011, was classified as Nº 3 Wine of the Year in the same year. This international recognition was an important step for the wines of the Douro and has significantly increased their reputation worldwide.

Great wines are born of great vineyards and generations of Symington winemakers have put vineyard ownership at the heart of the family’s winemaking philosophy. The family own 27 quintas (vineyards) in the Alto Douro and these estates are the foundation for the different wines of Graham’s, Cockburn’s, Dow’s, Warre’s and Quinta do Vesúvio, as well as of the Symington family’s Douro DOC wines.

The Symington family own quintas in the best areas of the Douro Valley that together amount to the largest land-holding in this historic wine region. The quality of these vineyards has been significantly enhanced over recent decades by research, much of which was conducted at the Quinta da Cavadinha experimental vineyard in the Pinhão Valley in a project led by Charles Symington. Studies carried out here have helped, amongst other things, to identify the best combination of the Douro Vitis vinifera varieties and American rootstocks onto which they are grafted.

In 2014 the Symington Grape Variety Library was established at Quinta do Ataíde. This vineyard has 53 distinct grape varieties and will make an important contribution to the knowledge of Douro and other Portuguese vines in the coming years (see separate entry in this section).

The Symington ownership amounts to 1,006 hectares of vineyards that provide most of the grapes required for their premium quality wines such as Reserve, Late Bottled Vintage and Old Tawny Ports. Since 2011 the family’s Vintage Ports have been entirely sourced from the family’s own quintas. These estates are fundamental to the success and international recognition that the family have received for their wines.

In addition to this Symington Family Estates purchases grapes from approximately 1,200 growers in the Douro, many of whom have supplied the company for several generations. These farmers’ vineyards, some of which are very small, are tended with passionate care by their owners and have excellent quality grapes that are of the greatest importance to Symington.

Of Symington’s total Douro vineyards, 221 ha are owned and managed privately by family members, who sell their grapes to the family-owned Port companies, depending on the style, quality and location of each of these vineyards. This is clear evidence of the family’s profound commitment to the Douro region and to its wines.

Symington Family Estates has two important wineries in the Douro at Quinta do Sol near Régua and at Quinta do Bomfim near Pinhão. Their principal purpose is the vinification of grapes purchased at each vintage from over 1,200 farmers across the Douro Valley. These two wineries are responsible for the production of the mainstream Ports and Douro DOC wines.

In addition, the family have seven small specialist wineries at the family’s most important quintas. Each of these wineries has its own winemaking team whose task is to produce the best possible wines from the grapes of each vineyard.

The Symington’s specialist wineries are located at Quinta do Vesúvio, Quinta da Senhora da Ribeira, Quinta dos Malvedos, Quinta de Roriz, Quinta do Bomfim (lagar winery), Quinta da Cavadinha and Quinta do Sol (Douro DOC ‘Reserva Winery’). Each of these wineries produces no more than a few hundred barrels of Port and Douro DOC, making them some of the smallest and most specialised wineries in the Douro region.

The objective of these small wineries is to realise the full potential of the very best grapes received from the family’s estates, and to be able to vinify the grapes straight from the vineyards. The winemakers at these wineries do not have to be preoccupied with making any but the very finest wines and can concentrate on only the very best grapes. The international success and awards received for the family’s wines in recent years are in large part due to these specialist wineries and to the family vineyards.

The family’s long winemaking experience in the Douro has encouraged new vinification techniques that combine the lessons handed down through generations with innovations that have ensured the quality of the family’s Ports and Douro DOC. An example of this is the development by the family’s winemaking team led by Peter and Charles Symington of the modern treading lagares, the first prototype of which operated at the 1998 vintage. These new lagares are the modern equivalent of traditional foot treading which for centuries produced the finest Ports. These modern lagares now match the traditional lagares in all key aspects and have surpassed them in some.