Symington acquires Quinta de Roriz

[oscarquevedo]

Symington buys all the shares of Quinta de Roriz - Vinhos, S.A. from van Zeller family.

http://aeiou.expresso.pt/gen.pl?p=stori ... ies/517173

Waiting for a English version of the deal.

[Eric Menchen]

Not a great translation, but I was impressed that google got "rapprochement".
http://translate.google.com/translate?u ... n&ie=UTF-8

So by my tracking, the Symingtons now own:

• Graham (est. 1820)
• Dow (est. 1798)
  • Silves & Cosens
• Warre (est. 1670)
• Quinta do Vesuvio
• Smith Woodhouse (est. 1784)
• Martinez
• Gould Campbell (est. circa 1797)
• Quarles Harris (est. 1680)
• Quinta de Roriz

I know they also own some Madeira labels. Am I missing any Port brands?

[Andy Velebil]

Wow, interesting as I thought they had recently parted ways last year.

BTW, I moved this to the port forum.

[Roy Hersh]

I thought it was odd that I ran into Cristiano Van Zeller while at the Symington's Headquarters a couple of weeks ago. Now it all comes into focus. Maybe our new member, Dan Carbon will comment for the record.


Andy,

Yes, Joao van Zeller had disbanded the joint venture with the Symington's. Whether that was late 2007 or during 2008, I don't remember the exact timing. However, at that time (I know the deal was done before my visit to Roriz in May 2008) Cristiano and Sandra were asked to take over as the oenological team.



Oscar,

Thanks for the heads up on this deal!

[Frederick Blais]

Really interesting and surprising. When I met Joao in 2007 he did say a couple of words about a dream he had of making a superstar hotel similar to Romaneira in standing and luxury... could it be just the money he was looking for? One thing is sure, in my opinion, Roriz will probably stay very similar to what it is right now and he'll keep being involved into it. He had such pride and care about the family estate, he never took one cent out of it, all the revenues were invested into the facilities and vineyard.

[Dan Carbon]

Its not easy to keep a secret in the Douro.

An official statement will be issued shortly, but I can say that the Symington family is extremely pleased and proud to have this property back - I can think of few other estates in the Douro that are as impressive and iconic. As those of you know who have visited this property, the winery has been completely renovated and is really top notch, and the vineyards are superb. The Ports and DOC wines from this property are really delicious, and I can tell you that internally we in the 'rank and file' were overjoyed at the thought that these wines would be returning to our dinner tables!

[Roy Hersh]

Dan,

You've been reading here for years, so you know how these things go.

One final question: will the Symington's make the wines and Ports or will they allow them to continue to be made by Cristiano and Sandra?

[Dan Carbon]

The Symington winemaking team has 9 years of experience managing the vineyards and making the wine at Quinta de Roriz and are very excited to pick up where they left off a little over a year ago.

I am now off to my home in Afurada to enjoy a beautiful sunny, balmy afternoon in Porto. Just right for a glass of cold Vinho Verde. To celebrate, perhaps this will be a Roriz Vintage weekend.

Have a fantastic Memorial Day weekend.

[Roy Hersh]

Thanks Dan!

Actually, that was last weekend, although I always thought it was the last weekend in May too.

You and Shannon and the kids have a wonderful time and enjoy the great weather.

[Glenn E.]

Actually, that was last weekend, although I always thought it was the last weekend in May too.

Heh, my wife ran into that problem this year too. Memorial Day is the last Monday in May, which doesn't necessarily follow the last weekend in May.

[Andy Velebil]

Dan,
thanks for the update....and there is no keeping secrets here. We search the internet daily for the latest Douro news

[Heather Hathwell]

This is indeed very interesting and I am curious too about Cristiano and Sandra's involvement as well as what they will do in the future. What does this mean for them? Just the Quinta do Vale d. Maria?