Tiago Trigo is a director and partner in the newly released Maynard’s Port project in conjunction with the van Zeller family. He sent news of the launch of their new Port and included the press release (below). I am looking forward to sampling their very first release when it is made available.

MAYNARD’S PORT: A New Project from the historic Douro Valley, Heritage site and home to the oldest wine demarcated region in the world

At a time when the Port wine sector has had diminishing global sales over the past few years, a bold and positive launch of a new Port Brand was introduced at the BFT (The Big Fortified Tasting), on the 19th of April in London, under the Brand name of MAYNARD’S. Maynard’s Port is the revival of a Port name from a highly professional and dynamic team of people with vast experience in the world of wine, with a particular focus on Port, headed up by brothers Fernando and Álvaro van Zeller (previous owners of Quinta do Noval) and Tiago Trigo (previously of the Fladgate Partnership and Sogrape Group).

The brand name is a tribute to a former ancestor of the van Zeller family – Walter Maynard – recorded as being one of the first English exporters to be involved in the commercialization of Port wines – in 1652, long time before the creation of any Port Wine Company with British roots. The brand name registered by the van Zellers, forms part of the family business “Barão de Vilar – Vinhos S.A.”, and has been revived with a clear objective: to stand for prestige and quality and to be known as a premium Producer for the trade and consumers.

The ‘Business Plan’ offers a full range of Ports, based on high quality wines drawn from the stocks that the family has built-up over the centuries – the van Zellers have been involved in the sector since 1715 –, as well as a considerable investment plan to rejuvenate their winery and quintas ‘vineyards’ in the Upper Douro.

Commenting on the launch of the new range at “The Big Fortified Tasting”, Tiago Trigo (Partner/Director) said: “The Maynard’s Project has all the ingredients to succeed, supported by several key factors, notably: know-how from a family with a proven track record over many decades, extensive wine reserves of unquestionable quality standards, a premium image reflected in a contemporary look and feel, the involvement of a team of highly experienced people with specific skill sets in individual business areas, and the understanding of the team leading the project that good, solid growth is important – rather than just rapid growth. We know what we want Maynard’s to stand for and how to get there”.

The results from the event in London are already starting to pay dividends, with a number of advanced negotiations in progress with an importer and existing prospects of listings with several regional, high end retailers, in what is recognized as the most quality demanding Port market in the world (the largest percentage of special category Port is sold in the UK). Fernando van Zeller (Managing Director) commented: “for 2010 we have identified 6 ‘key’ markets and planned specific strategies to achieve the individual goals, with a target ambition to double the business of Premium Port Wine of ‘Barão de Vilar – Vinhos S.A.’ by 2015.”