Symingtons unveil ‘bold’ concept for mature vintage Port

The Symington family has launched a ‘library release’ of four mature vintage Ports from the producer’s cellars with “a bold, new concept”.

The Symington family is introducing a new approach to how they re-release the limited quantities of vintage Ports that the company holds back for long-term ageing.

Releases of vintage Ports between 20 to 30 years of age have been given the term ‘Library Release’ to indicate that bottles have matured in perfect conditions in the family’s cellars.

The labels of the ‘Library Releases’ have been redesigned to distinguish them from the initial en primeur release. Each port house has drawn on its heritage and historical aesthetic to create distinct labels and gift boxes that convey key messages about the wine.

For the first time, these labels state the number of years that the wine has spent ageing in bottle in the family’s cellars. This is shown together with the bottling and release dates. There is also an indication that this is the second time the vintage Port is being formally released, following the initial launch 2-3 decades ago.

As part of the family’s “meticulous approach” to ageing Vintage Port, the ‘Library Releases’ have been carefully recorked to guarantee quality, and the labels display the year in which the process was completed.

The family’s vintage Port manager, Harry Symington explained: “We are thrilled to be launching our new Library Release concept with four exciting Vintage Ports from Dow’s, Graham’s, Warre’s and Quinta do Vesúvio. Following each Vintage Port en primeur release, our family has always held back a small quantity for ageing in our cellars and releasing decades later. What we are doing differently now is distinguishing these Library Releases from the first launch and emphasising that these bottles have matured in perfect conditions in our own cellars. Our third phase of Vintage Port release is when the wines reach extraordinary levels of maturity after 40-60 years of ageing and we launch a handful of numbered bottles in what we term our Private Cellar Release.”

The family have chosen to launch Library Releases of one of the finest classic Vintage Port years this century – 2003 Dow’s, Graham’s and Warre’s. The very hot and low-yielding year produced exceptional wines with incredible body and depth. With almost 20 years ageing in bottle in the Symington cellars, these wines have developed greater complexity, while retaining considerable ageing potential.

The 2003s are being launched alongside a Library Release of Quinta do Vesúvio 1995 Vintage Port – the seventh harvest for the family since their acquisition of the Douro estate in 1989. Peter Symington, head winemaker at the time, is particularly proud of this wine and believes it is one of the finest he made in the early years of the family’s ownership. 1995 also marks the year his son, Charles (now head winemaker) joined the family company.

Now with 27 years of bottle age, the family commented that the Vesúvio 1995 “is showing beautifully with great finesse”.