SAN FRANCISCO, Calif., June 24, 2014 – The Symington family released 656 bottles of Graham’s Ne Oublie Port that dates back to the arrival of their great-grandfather, Andrew James Symington, in Portugal in 1882. In 1891 Andrew Symington married the Anglo-Portuguese Beatriz Leitão de Carvalhosa Atkinson whose ancestors had been making Port since the mid-17th century. In the early part of the last century, this wine was purchased as it marked the year of Andrew’s first involvement in Port and in the Douro.
The family has named this wine Ne Oublie after the original Graham’s family motto and for the company where Andrew Symington started his life’s work. The name reflects the respect with which the family regard their great-grandparents’ joint decision to commit themselves and their descendants to Portugal, to the Douro and to Port.
Now, 130 years later, his direct descendants have bottled one of the remaining three barrels. The other two barrels have been entrusted to the next generation of the family and it is they who will decide their future, in 2025 at the earliest.
This extraordinary wine has been bottled in an individually numbered, hand-made crystal decanter designed by Portugal’s leading glass manufacturer Atlantis. Three sterling silver bands, molded and engraved by Scottish Silversmiths Hayward & Stott, and carrying the mark of the Edinburgh Assay Office, adorn the glass. The decanter is presented in a bespoke presentation box handcrafted with the finest leathers by quintessentially British brand Smythson of Bond Street, one of the world’s oldest luxury leather goods companies. Hence, Ne Oublie represents the work of the very finest artisans of the three nations from which the Symington family is descended: Scotland, England and Portugal.
Award-winning writer, Andrew Jefford, visited the family in the Douro in 2011 and tasted this wine. He wrote, “You simply can’t create complexity of this order in under a century or so, I suspect…There was a cleanliness and a precision about the wine, though, that was a testament to 130 years of exemplary stewardship… a synopsis of life and time.” – World of Fine Wine, Issue 37, 2012
Paul Symington speaking on behalf of his family said, “It is very, very rare to be able to taste a wine of such age and of such exquisite beauty. Ne Oublie has been a quiet 19th century witness to the passing of momentous and historic occasions that have shaped our world. We are immensely proud to be able to offer such an extraordinary memory and such an opportunity to see so far back in time.”
The 656 bottles of Ne Oublie will be available for €5,500 ($7,480) via an application list on http://www.neoublie.grahams-port.com and the Graham’s Port Lodge, www.grahams-port.com.
About Symington Family Estates: The Symingtons have been Port producers for five generations since 1882 but their involvement in Port dates back fourteen generations to 1652 through their great-grandmother Beatriz Leitão de Carvalhosa Atkinson. The family company is the leading quality Port producer with brands such as Graham’s, Cockburn’s, Dow’s and Warre’s as well as being the leading vineyard owner in the Douro Valley with 1 006 hectares (2 486 acres) of vines at 27 Quintas. Many of the region’s finest Quintas belong to the family. For more information on Symington Family Estates, visit www.symington.com and discover more on blog.grahams-port.com and www.facebook.com/grahams.port.wine.
