The Symington family launch their “lively & exuberant” 2019 Quinta Vintage Ports

The Symingtons have bottled six Quinta Vintage Ports from 2019 and will release two en primeur – Quinta do Vesúvio and Dow’s Quinta da Senhora da Ribeira. The release will be accompanied by two limited edition cases from both estates, each containing the 2019, 2009 & 1999 Vintage Ports. 

The other Quinta Vintage Ports produced in 2019 – Graham’s Quinta dos Malvedos, Dow’s Quinta do Bomfim, Warre’s Quinta da Cavadinha and Cockburn’s Quinta dos Canais – will age in the Symington cellars in Vila Nova de Gaia for future release.

The 2019 Quinta Vintage Ports are the result of an erratic growing season, with a little over 50% of the average winter rainfall in the Douro and almost none in the summer. Fortunately, showers at the end of August helped the grapes achieve more balanced maturations. Head Winemaker, Charles Symington, exercised patience and precisely timed the picking over six weeks – making it one of the longest harvests in recent years. The reward was a collection of perfectly ripe grape varieties in good quantities (averaging 1.27 kg/vine) delivering lively and exuberant wines. This was in contrast to the concentration of the exceptionally small years in 2017 and 2018.

Charles Symington, fourth generation winemaker, commented, “when reviewing the top wines from 2019, we felt that the best expression of our grape varieties came from our six principal quintas. These estate wines are always the starting point from which we judge the year’s Vintage Port potential and, from there, decide what to bottle. In 2019, the various plots of vineyards within each of these estates delivered small volumes of wine with fantastic depth and complexity. We believe these wines could not have been enhanced by blending across each of our port houses’ top quintas to produce a ‘classic’ Vintage Port. Instead, we decided to blend the best performing components within each of our estates and bottle six Quinta Vintage Ports. These exciting and lively young wines represent the absolute pinnacle of the 2019 harvest. They are stunning today and I believe they will age beautifully over many decades.”

As a celebration of the unique terroir of two of the Symingtons’ most renowned estates - Quinta do Vesúvio and Dow’s Quinta da Senhora da Ribeira – the family are releasing two limited edition cases from both estates, each containing three bottles of Vintage Port: 2019, 2009 & 1999. Separated by a decade, these Vintage Ports show the incredible ageing potential of the wines from the two quintas. Both are situated in the Douro Superior on opposite sides of the river, one north-facing, the other south-facing. These properties consistently deliver outstanding Vintage Port and reflect very different expressions from each year. 

Charles Symington and fifth generation port producer Harry Symington will present the family’s 2019 Quinta Vintage Ports via Instagram Live (@symingtonfamilyestates) on April 22nd at 19h00 (Lisbon/London time) in discussion with five guests from around the world.

En primeur release:

• Quinta do Vesúvio 2019 Vintage Port – 775 (12 x 75cl cases) 
• Dow’s – Quinta da Senhora da Ribeira 2019 Vintage Port – 375 (12 x 75cl cases)

Dow’s Quinta da Senhora da Ribeira Vintage Port video – narrated by Johnny Symington, Chairman