SAN FRANCISCO, April 19, 2023 – Symington Family Estates, producers of some of the finest Ports in the world for five generations and owners of the renowned Port brand W & J Graham’s, is pleased to announce the release of The Stone Terraces Vintage Port 2021 (SRP $525/750 ml). Produced from two low-yielding vineyards of just seven acres laid out on narrow stone terraces at Graham’s principal estate in the Douro Valley, Quinta dos Malvedos, the Symington family only produce this Vintage Port when these vines deliver wines of incomparable elegance and complexity. This is just the fifth time that the family has chosen to make this wine – following the 2011, 2015, 2016 and 2017 editions.
While conducting the annual review of the best wines produced from the family’s finest Douro estates in 2021, Head Winemaker Charles Symington was astonished by the quality of the wines from the Stone Terraces at Quinta dos Malvedos. As a result, the family made the rare decision to do a limited bottling of the wine from these magnificent vineyards as Graham’s The Stone Terraces 2021 Vintage Port.
“The hand-built stone terraces at Quinta dos Malvedos have long been prized by my family for producing wines with an incredibly unique profile, which is entirely distinct from the rest of the estate. After being abandoned in the aftermath of phylloxera, these terraces were meticulously reconstructed by hand in the late 19th century. They were designed to produce ports of exceptional concentration and power, using viticultural techniques that have barely changed for hundreds of years. While the Malvedos estate is predominantly south-facing, the stone terraces consist of two vineyards with cooler aspects – one faces east and west, while the other faces north. The schist walls of the stone terraces have an incredible ability to store the sun’s daytime heat through the night, which creates gradual and homogenous grape ripening. This effect – together with their orientations – are why the stone terraces are some of the most intriguing vineyards we farm, and why they produce one of the greatest wines we make in the Douro.” – Charles Symington, Head Winemaker.
The 2021 growth cycle and harvest in the Douro were one of the coolest in recent years, with moderate conditions encouraging slower, gradual maturations with balanced ripening. The Stone Terraces are predominantly planted with mature Touriga Nacional with a few younger plantings of Touriga Franca, Sousão and Alicante Bouschet. The grapes from these vines were picked at the same time and co-fermented to enhance complexity, structure, and freshness.
Only 4,800 numbered 75cl bottles and 280 tappit hens (225cl) will be produced – this represents just 2% of the total production at Quinta dos Malvedos in 2021. The Vintage Port will be offered en primeur in 2023. The Stone Terraces 2021 Vintage Port will be bottled in May and be available in the US market mid-June 2023.
Given that the stone terraces consist of a limited number of vines, the quality does not always align with the pattern of classic Vintage Port years – as was the Symington family’s assessment for 2021. They concluded that the best expression of the year came from the family’s principal estates, which they will bottle as Quinta Vintage Port and age in their cellars for future release. These wines include the following:
- Cockburn’s Quinta dos Canais 2021 Vintage Port
- Dow’s Quinta do Bomfim 2021 Vintage Port
- Dow’s Quinta da Senhora da Ribeira 2021 Vintage Port
- Graham’s Quinta dos Malvedos 2021 Vintage Port
- Warre’s Quinta da Cavadinha 2021 Vintage Port
The family will not bottle Vintage Port from Quinta do Vesúvio because the winery was closed in 2021 due to Covid-19 restrictions. This was the second year (following 2020) since the winery was built in 1827 that no grapes were foot-trodden. Staying true to the tradition, the family have decided not to produce a Vesúvio Vintage Port from 2021.
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 fine wines and Ports with a deep commitment to the region’s land and people. Today, ten Symingtons work across their four Port houses: Graham’s, Cockburn’s, Dow’s and Warre’s, as well as their Douro wine brands – Quinta do Vesuvio, Quinta do Ataíde, Altano and Prats & Symington (of Chryseia fame). In 2017 they launched a new venture, Quinta da Fonte Souto, in the Alto Alentejo. Symington Family Estates is a leading premium Port producer and the leading vineyard owners in the Douro valley, with 26 Quintas covering 2,462 hectares and 1,114 ha of vineyard. All their vineyards are sustainably managed under a minimum intervention certification and 130 ha are organically farmed, the largest area of organic vineyard in northern Portugal. The family has invested significantly in viticulture R&D to adapt to climate change and have an ambitious sustainability plan, with a series of goals under the banner of Mission 2025. In 2019 the company became a certified B Corporation – the first wine company in Portugal to take this step – joining a global community of businesses audited for the highest standards of social and environmental responsibility, committed to using business as a force for good.
