DOMINIC SYMINGTON

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Symington Family
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Re: DOMINIC SYMINGTON

Post by Symington Family »

Wayne Logus wrote:Hi Mr. Symington:
I have some general questions about the definition of “Library” releases of old vintages. Does the term apply to older vintages that just happen to be held in the cellars of the producer and released primarily for marketing reasons? Does it only apply to wines bottled by the producer or can they be sourced from other agents or locations?

Is the ‘52 Grahams “Diamond Jubilee” Port released a few years ago, considered a Library release or was it a simply a decision to bottle from old casks of that year? In the scenario of red wine library releases, one sometimes sees vintages that are quite recent, particularly from America. Are there generally agreed upon requirements for a wine to be considered a “Library” Release?

Thank you in advance for helping me to better understand this term.

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Wayne
Hello Wayne, I wouldn’t get too tied up with the word Library, we've used it simply to describe some of the limited release older wines. These were wines that actually belonged privately to my father & uncles, but was a little too much even for them and therefore it was "sold" back to the company, they were "library" wines in that they were old and in a private reserve.
The use of the word is purely semantic.
The 1952 is a Colheita or Single Harvest as was released for a very specific reason, HM Queen Elizabeth’s Jubilee.
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Re: DOMINIC SYMINGTON

Post by Symington Family »

Eric Ifune wrote:Mr. Symington,
Is there currently a single individual overseeing viticulture at the various Syminton Family Estates; or is each individual quinta doing their own thing?
Thank you.
Hi Eric, all our viticultural operation is overseen by Charles. He has a team of Agronomists and Viticulturalists, most of whom are also Oenologists. The senior manager of this team is Pedro Leal da Costs who manages all our properties with his team; Alexandre Mariz, Mário Natário, Artur Moreira, Bernardo Nápoles, Ricardo Carvalho and Fernando Alves on R&D. We have divided the properties into regional groups for ease of management and from a viticultural point of view one of them can manage properties for more than one company. Ricardo for example manages both Canais for Cockburn’s and Sra da Ribeira for Dow’s.
Under this team each Quinta has a Caseiro, most easily translated as Bailiff or farm manger, this is the person responsible for the vineyard workers (pickers at the vintage) and it is they who will follow the instructions that will be handed down from their superiors.
As mentioned in a previous reply, where we can centralise services and management we do, and therefore there is also have a large backup team, central mechanic base for (huge) number of tractors and farm equipment, central purchase for all requirements be it for vineyard, plant, machinery, food etc…
Symington Family
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Re: DOMINIC SYMINGTON

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Al B. wrote:Dom

A light-hearted question. As you read our questions and compose your answers, do you have a glass of port on hand? If so what is it? If not, what was the last port you drank?

Alex
Last night I did, Warre's Otima 20 year Old, beautifully chiiled - I have to admit to more than 1 glass!!! As I write this, at the moment I'm thinking more about a cup of coffee!!!
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Re: DOMINIC SYMINGTON

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l zuckerman wrote:Hi Dominic. I have been enjoying colheitas since my recent trip to Porto. I am doing a wine tasting for my wine group next month comparing aged colheitas with a its corresponding tawny. I have two questions: since we will be tasting ten bottles among 22 people what food accompanments would you suggest other than the traditional Stilton and nuts. I have seen suggestions of a cured ham. Any other suggestions? The second question is storage once opened. Do you think it advisable to store an opened bottled in the refrigerator or like Madeira, it's not necessary? Thank you for great ports.
Firstly, please make sure they are served at a decent temperature and don’t allow the bottles to get to warm. 10 bottles will take quite some time to serve and therefore temperature control will be important to maintain a level playing field.
I always enjoy testing myself at a tasting and rather than exclusively providing what goes well with a particular Port or wine I think it’s also important to learn and understand why sometimes some things don’t! Therefore I would suggest you get some good quality dark chocolate with 70%+ cacao, this is, as I’m sure you know perfect with youngish Vintage port and wines like Six Grapes, Warrior and LBV’s etc but is a bit too strong for older tawny’s – but interesting to taste. Following through with the chocolate theme you can get some with lighter cacao content and also some milk chocolates, you’ll find these will progressively go better with the tawny’s. However white chocolate won’t, far too sweet.
For the foods to go with your tasting you can also have a some (Portuguese) custard tarts, crème brulée, small, warm apple tarts or Tarte Tatin.Aalso dried fruits, dates etc.
Regarding cheese I would suggest getting a selection of slightly lighter flavoured cheeses and not a sharp as Stilton, again very interesting to taste but you’ll find that tawny prefers a rather more mellow flavour rather than the sharper & stronger flavours such as Stilton or sharp, mature cheddar (real cheddar - not that plastic stuff!!!)
I'm also not a greta fan of Roquefort with (any) POrt, it's a delicious cheese but in my opinion, too salty for port.
Post tasting storage – not sure this will really be necessary!!!!! Tawny’s can be stored perfectly reasonably for a number of weeks in a cool dark place, not necessarily in the fridge, but good to chill them down again before serving. Do remember that the port in a bottle with only 2 or 3 glasses left in the bottom after a few weeks will not be as fresh and bright as it was when you first opened the bottle.
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Re: DOMINIC SYMINGTON

Post by Andy Velebil »

Hi Dom,

Earlier you spoke about block planting versus the old field blends as well as the experimental vineyards. What are some of the lessons, good and not so good, your company has learned from block plantings and from the experimental vineyards?
Andy Velebil Good wine is a good familiar creature if it be well used. William Shakespeare http://www.fortheloveofport.com
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Re: DOMINIC SYMINGTON

Post by Andy Velebil »

Hi Dom,

Me again with another question. You mentioned about the new lagars at Bomfim, are these fully up and running now? Given how exceptionally well the 1963-2011 Dow's VP's are, and being made using the old concrete auto-vinifiers, have the old auto-vinifiers been completely phased out? If so, what was behind the decision to go back to lagars? Or are the auto-vinifiers still being used to some degree?

Also, there has been some mention online about a new visitor center to be opened in the future at Bomfim. Can you tell us a little about it?
Andy Velebil Good wine is a good familiar creature if it be well used. William Shakespeare http://www.fortheloveofport.com
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John M.
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Re: DOMINIC SYMINGTON

Post by John M. »

Hi Dom;

Many thanks for coming on board for this week---has been so much fun to read and I appreciate your generosity. My favorite go-to ports are Late Bottled Vintages and you make some of the very best--particularly Warres and Smith Woodhouse which are made unfiltered. I was curious about your plans for Cockburn's LBV....will you be keeping it a filtered LBV? For that matter, are you planning on making any other unfiltered LBVs? (I may be mistaken but Dows, Quarles Harris, Gould Campbell and Grahams are all filtered).

Any thoughts on making a Q do Vesuvio LBV or any other single vineyard LBV (Noval does this)?

Personally, I love the aging aspect of these wines--they really build some depth.

Thank you.
Any Port in a storm!
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Re: DOMINIC SYMINGTON

Post by Symington Family »

Moses Botbol wrote:Dominic

I live in Boston and Classic Wines had been an importer of your ports for a long time. When did that start and end?
Hi Moses, Classic have distributed Dow's for at least 15 years and continue to do so.
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Re: DOMINIC SYMINGTON

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Symington Family wrote:
Moses Botbol wrote:Dominic

I live in Boston and Classic Wines had been an importer of your ports for a long time. When did that start and end?
Hi Moses, Classic have distributed Dow's for at least 15 years and continue to do so.
They were noted as the Importer back to on the 63's (Dow and Graham at minimum) which were purchased in the 70's. How many US importers do you have?

Also, some 70's came in OWC, others in in Cardboard. How is it decided which VP will have OWC, the other Cardboard? I am pretty sure I have 1970 cases of the same VP in both owc and cardboard from the same importer...
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Re: DOMINIC SYMINGTON

Post by John F. Newman »

Mr. Symington,

Bom dia.

I've been reading your answers, and am intrigued by the question of stock management. You mentioned feeling like you need a crystal ball. My question is whether you retain someone whose background is in mathematics, like an actuarial, to help predict stock management.

To that end, what technical or scientific aspects of this business exist that our forum members would be most surprised to discover?

And my last question concerns your non-fortified traditional wines. It seems that in the past several years, Portugal has received a lot of good press for its wines, food, culture and the entire country as a travel destination. What do you think of the current market for Portuguese wines in general and what do you expect for its future?

Muito obrigado,

John
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Re: DOMINIC SYMINGTON

Post by Symington Family »

Roy Hersh wrote:Hi Dominic,

A good friend of mine, Robert Maliner asked me if I'd post this question on his behalf:

Bob wrote:
"In regards to Colheita Ports are they at their best when opened soon after bottling or do they improve with age? I am trying to learn more about Colheita — in the past I only drank Vintage Ports, but now find Colheita exciting. They seem to be better than a Tawny port of a similar age."

Thanks for responding to him when your time permits.

Sincerely,

Roy
Hello Roy & Bob.
Tawny's are generally bottled when the producer considers them ready for drinking and although they can certainly be stored for anumber of years they are not directly prepared for such.
There is one exception, a very small category called "Garrafeira". Although not bottled and lain down in the vintage port sense, they are Tawnys - cask aged wines - tarnsferred from cask, normally to demi-johns or other large glass flagons for further ageing. I believe that they also are then bottled when the producer considers them ready for drinking. Again these wines can be kept after release but I don't beleive they will benefit from any particular further evolution. There are a couple of house that offer these wines and Niepoort is known as a specialist in them. I have a few Garrafeira wine and they are absolutely spectaular, very distinctive from "regular" aged tawny's or Colheita's.
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Re: DOMINIC SYMINGTON

Post by Symington Family »

Hi Tolga, Midnight was a Reserve Ruby introduced to the UK market. The name was allusive to the very dark and concentrated colour of the wine and a play on the "after dinner" place for port. We haven't used this brand name for a few years now.
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Re: DOMINIC SYMINGTON

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Andy Velebil wrote:Hi Dom,

Earlier you spoke about block planting versus the old field blends as well as the experimental vineyards. What are some of the lessons, good and not so good, your company has learned from block plantings and from the experimental vineyards?
Hi Andy, great to hear from you, I hope all is well?

In short, we’re still learning. We are beginning to get some answers from some of the experimental vineyards although in reality we need some more time. Some issues are relatively straight forward, pruning and forming of the vine for example. We generally use the Single Cordon forming as opposed to Double so as to not over stress the vine with too many budding points.
Please don’t get me wrong, we’re not against filed blends, on the contrary, but we must also be pragmatic and run economically viable vineyards.
The viticultural teams have clearly understood that the vineyard layout in the 1970’s and 1980’s wasn’t altogether ideal and therefore a fair amount of work is being done on this front. The Douro now has a set of rules whereby terracing between various angles of steepness can firstly be vertically planted, then on two row terraces and eventually 1 row terraces thereby reducing the amount of exposed land and reducing erosion.
Vines are generally trained slightly higher than previously so as to lift them from being too close to the ground. This allows for greater air circulation, less damp effect from the soil and also makes mechanisation, pre pruning etc. easier. It goes on ...
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Re: DOMINIC SYMINGTON

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Symington Family wrote:Lastly, make sure you only serve Port in decent glasses, at least white wine size. Even the standard ISO is too small.
Hi Dom,

Does your comment about the larger size glasses apply to wood-aged Ports as well? Thanks so much for answering our questions. It has been very enlightening.

Cheers,

Steve
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Re: DOMINIC SYMINGTON

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Andy Velebil wrote:Hi Dom,

Me again with another question. You mentioned about the new lagars at Bomfim, are these fully up and running now? Given how exceptionally well the 1963-2011 Dow's VP's are, and being made using the old concrete auto-vinifiers, have the old auto-vinifiers been completely phased out? If so, what was behind the decision to go back to lagars? Or are the auto-vinifiers still being used to some degree?

Also, there has been some mention online about a new visitor center to be opened in the future at Bomfim. Can you tell us a little about it?
We've build a new small winery next door to Bomfim with stainless steel plunger-tank fermenters and also with our automated lagares. This was on stream this vintage and will essentially be for the Bomfim fruit and a small number of local top quality farmers.
We have a longer term plan to modernise the "old" Bomfim winery but our plan at the moment is to keep some of the smaller concrete autovinificators. As you rightly say, they make some spectaular wines - I don't see anyone pouring out their Dow's 1970!!!! Nothing is going to changen for a few years whatever happens.

We have also created a vistor centre on top of the new winery which will have access, at vintage time to a viewing platform over the "working" areas. Our plan is to have this open sometime in the spring of 2015.
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Re: DOMINIC SYMINGTON

Post by Marco D. »

Hello Dominic,

My son was born in 2005 and although not a generally declared vintage, I did stock up on a few 2005 ports for him (especially the Vesuvio). I was wondering what your thoughts were of that vintage and how you think it will evolve.

Also, I hear there will be a "old vines" version of the Six Grapes released. How will it differ from the original? Will it be meant for aging or enjoyment on release?

Finally, how long in bottle will a "Single Harvest" wine hold before you detect a change (a loss of freshness perhaps?).

Regards,
Marco DeFreitas
Marco DeFreitas Connecticut, USA
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Andy Velebil
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Re: DOMINIC SYMINGTON

Post by Andy Velebil »

Hi Dom,

A question about Douro table wines; It's safe to say "modern" Douro wines started round about the late 1990's to early 2000's. What changes have you seen from the early days to now, such as oak treatment, changes in styles, etc?

What changes do you predict will happen in the future?

And thanks again for taking the time to answer our questions!
Andy Velebil Good wine is a good familiar creature if it be well used. William Shakespeare http://www.fortheloveofport.com
Symington Family
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Re: DOMINIC SYMINGTON

Post by Symington Family »

Steve Pollack wrote:
Symington Family wrote:Lastly, make sure you only serve Port in decent glasses, at least white wine size. Even the standard ISO is too small.
Hi Dom,

Does your comment about the larger size glasses apply to wood-aged Ports as well? Thanks so much for answering our questions. It has been very enlightening.

Cheers,

Steve
Hi Steve
This one's easy! All port should be served at least out of a white wine glass, I woudl venture that young vintage can even go up to red wine glasses, I don't suggest those out-size glasses but go quality red & white wine are great.
Most of us here in Portugal woudl love to see all thsoie little "shot" glasses smashed!!!! Genberally I woudl even go as for as to say that the official port glass is too small.
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Re: DOMINIC SYMINGTON

Post by Symington Family »

John M. wrote:Hi Dom;

Many thanks for coming on board for this week---has been so much fun to read and I appreciate your generosity. My favorite go-to ports are Late Bottled Vintages and you make some of the very best--particularly Warres and Smith Woodhouse which are made unfiltered. I was curious about your plans for Cockburn's LBV....will you be keeping it a filtered LBV? For that matter, are you planning on making any other unfiltered LBVs? (I may be mistaken but Dows, Quarles Harris, Gould Campbell and Grahams are all filtered).

Any thoughts on making a Q do Vesuvio LBV or any other single vineyard LBV (Noval does this)?

Personally, I love the aging aspect of these wines--they really build some depth.

Thank you.

Hello John
Thanks for your comments on the Warre & Smith Woodhouse LBV's. I totally agree, they are both absolutely outstanding wines.
I think we need to look at a bit of history here. These two are what one could term as genuine LBV - in reality they are nothing less than what most vintage port was in the early part of the last century. Obligatory two year bottling only came into play in the 30's. Virtually every bottle of Vintage Port earlier than this was at least a 3 year bottling and sometimes more. Many of you who have spme amazing cellars know this only to well.
I must admit to prefering to avoid the term filtered or unfiltered, tehse two are bottled directly form the cask and don't even have any fining or racking - ie; identical treatment to vintage proper, only having a litlte more ageing before botling therefore slightly softer tannins. I prefer to refer to these wines as either "traditional" or better "Bottle Matured"
For what are termed "modern" LBV, these are essentially single year Reserve Ruby's, excellent quality wines from selected vineyard sites that can also be vintage worthy in declared years. Here term unfiltered or not is a little confusing because frankly the difference between one and the other is (virtually) impossible to distinguish! As far as our wines are concerned, we give all our wines a light fining before bottling, apart form the two above.
We don't have any plans for a Vesuvio LBV.
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Re: DOMINIC SYMINGTON

Post by Rune EG »

Hello Dominic!
In my previous question about the importance of the Douro wines in the years to come, you replied:
"Douro DOC; we are sure that the Douro wine category will continue to grow and will become an increasingly important part of our business."

Do you have plans of releasing new labels of red or white, or will you rather be expanding volumes of the labels already introduced to the market?
Or may be both ways?

Regards
Rune
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