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The Society's 150th Anniversary Vintage Port 2011

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One of the first wines to be secured for our special 150th Anniversary range by former long-term Port buyer Mark Buckenham, this Port, from the outstanding 2011 vintage, has been blended especially for Wine Society members by Symington Family Estates. Made from fruit specially selected from some of their riverside quintas in the Cima Corgo and Douro Superior, the heart of the blend is the deeply coloured, fragrant and robustly structured touriga nacional grape variety. A sweetly flavoured, opulent wine, with pure, concentrated dark fruit, hints of tea leaf and dried herbs, and a rich, long finish. Delicious now, it will continue to develop further complexity in bottle. For more on the story of this wine, please scroll down.
Price: £49.00 Bottle
Price: £294.00 Case of 6
In Stock
Code: PT1881

Wine characteristics

  • Port
  • 7 - Dessert sweetness
  • Touriga Nacional
  • 75cl
  • Now to 2035
  • 20% Alcohol
  • bouquet/flavour marked by oak
  • Cork, natural

More on the wine

Symington Family Estates was the obvious partner for our 150th Anniversary Vintage Port as they have been loyal suppliers to The Wine Society for decades. The family has been present in the Douro for five generations. They are an integral part of the long history of Port production and a dominant force in the Port trade, owning over 2000 hectares of land in the Douro valley alone, across 27 quintas (estates) in a wide variety of locations.

The Symingtons are behind the famous Port houses of Graham’s, Dow’s, Warre’s, Quinta do Vesuvio, Smith Woodhouse, Gould Campbell, Quarles Harris and, since 2010, Cockburn. The company was founded in 1882 when Andrew James Symington, a Scot who arrived in Oporto, started working for Graham’s before becoming a partner of Warre & Co and Dow’s Port.

Today, they are members of the Primum Familiae Vini group of top family producers worldwide, they own the largest organically certified vineyard in northern Portugal, and in 2019 became certified B-corporation members. They are also among the founding members of the Sustainable Wine Roundtable and International Wineries for Climate Action.

They are producers of The Society’s Tawny and LBV Ports, The Society’s Exhibition Crusted Port and our Exhibition Vintage Ports.

Portugal

Like its neighbour Spain, Portugal has been undergoing something of a quiet revolution over the last twenty years or so. A reluctance to follow trends and plant international grapes is now paying dividends and the new breed of full-blooded, fruit-filled wines are more than able to compete on the world stage. The unique flavours that are the hallmark of Portugal's indigenous grape varieties have become its trump card.

Vinho Verde, sometimes spritzy and youthful and sometimes made with the aim of creating a more serious white wine, is in the verdant north-west, bordering the Spanish province of Galicia. A wet and fertile area, the grapes ripen with moderate sugar levels and refreshing acidity, meaning that the wines are usually lowish in alcohol at about 10-11%. Astringent, low alcohol red Vinho Verde is also produced.

Trás-os-Montes is a remote region of harsh winters and hot, dry summers in the north-east of the country is bound on one side by high mountains and on the other the...
Like its neighbour Spain, Portugal has been undergoing something of a quiet revolution over the last twenty years or so. A reluctance to follow trends and plant international grapes is now paying dividends and the new breed of full-blooded, fruit-filled wines are more than able to compete on the world stage. The unique flavours that are the hallmark of Portugal's indigenous grape varieties have become its trump card.

Vinho Verde, sometimes spritzy and youthful and sometimes made with the aim of creating a more serious white wine, is in the verdant north-west, bordering the Spanish province of Galicia. A wet and fertile area, the grapes ripen with moderate sugar levels and refreshing acidity, meaning that the wines are usually lowish in alcohol at about 10-11%. Astringent, low alcohol red Vinho Verde is also produced.

Trás-os-Montes is a remote region of harsh winters and hot, dry summers in the north-east of the country is bound on one side by high mountains and on the other the border with Spain (the name means 'behind the mountains'. The schistous soils and the grapes are similar to those of the Douro. Reds are often lighter and more aromatic than those of neighbouring Douro.

The Douro is one of the most beautiful wine regions in the world, and deservedly Portugal's best known, the Douro has quickly emerged to lead the way as the country's premium wine region and there is a real pioneering spirit amongst the winemakers here, port shippers included. Although there is an enormous variety of different terroirs within the Douro Valley, this is essentially a sparsely populated, hot, arid region where grapes are grown on spectacularly steep terraced slopes. Wine grapes are the same as those that go into Port. Wines tend to be high in tannin and flavour.

Dão is south of the Douro on granite slopes protected by high mountains and pine forests. The region produces one of Portugal's better-known reds of the same name. Once dominated by rather lack-lustre co-operatives, the area now has a whole clutch of dynamic, small producers making elegant, approachable and enjoyable wines.

Between the mountains and the coast, on fertile clay soils, is Bairrada (barro is Portuguese for clay). Better known for red wines, this is one of the only wine regions in Portugal to be dominated by a single grape variety,the tannic, high-acid baga, making wines that can be tough and astringent in their youth but which soften with age, becoming beguilingly perfumed. These days many blend baga with non-indigenous grapes to make a friendlier style, but the greatest are pure baga. The area also benefits from late-afternoon breezes which favour the production of fresh, food-friendly whites and increasingly popular sparkling wines.

Beira Interior is a rather disparate region covering a vast swathe of inland Portugal south of the Douro and east of Dão. Vineyards are grown at altitude on granite soils. In the north, grapes are similar to those of the Douro while the south has a whole mix of varieties.

Lisboa is a large, coastal region that runs north from Lisbon. Atlantic breezes help cool the vineyards and maintain the fresh acidity and aromatics in the mostly white wines. North of Bucelas, on the Atlantic west coast lies the strip of rolling countryside that contains nine separate DOCs under the umbrella name of Lisboa. This is Portugal's largest wine producing region in volume terms.

Bucelas was the first wine The Society ever sold! This tiny DOC is one of the closest to Lisbon. It produces breezy dry whites which are popular locally.

Tejo was formerly known as Ribatejo is known for good, everyday drinking wines in a range of styles from a wide range of permitted grapes. This region lies on either side of the River Tagus

Lying across the mouth of theTagus river, the Península de Setúbal is a flat, sandy region with the exception of the Serra da Arrábida a short chain of mountains with clay and limestone soils. There are two DOCs here, Palmela north-east of the peninsula where the castelão grape is ideally suited to the sandy soils, and Setúbal, where a sweet fortified wine is made primarily from muscat of Alexandria.

The Alentejo province stretches south from the Tagus to the Algarve and east to the border with Spain and covers almost a third of continental Portugal. Divided into seven diverse sub-regions, the undulating hills are home to many crops. Despite the challengingly arid climate here, this is a dynamic region, referred to sometimes as Portugal's 'new world'.
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Symington Family Estates

The Symington family has become a dominant force in wine and wine sustainability. Their ambitious ‘Mission 2025” plan for sustainability includes goals on a range of areas including reducing carbon emissions, increasing biodiversity and climate change adaptation. 
 
They own several well-known brands of Port, and since 1999 have been producing table wines from the Douro. As of 2017 they are also owners of an estate in the Portalegre sub-region to the north east of the Alentejo - their first outside the Douro - with the first wines released in 2019. The Port houses they control include Graham’s, Dow’s, Warre’s, Quinta do Vesuvio, Smith Woodhouse, Gould Campbell, Quarles Harris and most recently since 2010, Cockburn. 

History 
The family has been present in the Douro for five generations, having been founded in 1882 when Andrew James Symington, a Scot who arrived in Oporto, started working for Graham’s before becoming a partner of Warre & Co and Dow’s Port. Over 70% of the Port wine sold by Symington brands is produced from grapes grown on their own properties. 

Wines 
Their Douro wines include the Altano range, Quinta do Ataíde in the Vilariça valley in the upper Douro, and flagship Chryseia, which along with Post Scriptum and Prazo de Roriz, are produced at Quinta de Roriz in a joint venture with Bruno Prats, ex of Château Cos d'Estournel in Bordeaux. Quinta do Ataíde is also...

The Symington family has become a dominant force in wine and wine sustainability. Their ambitious ‘Mission 2025” plan for sustainability includes goals on a range of areas including reducing carbon emissions, increasing biodiversity and climate change adaptation. 
 
They own several well-known brands of Port, and since 1999 have been producing table wines from the Douro. As of 2017 they are also owners of an estate in the Portalegre sub-region to the north east of the Alentejo - their first outside the Douro - with the first wines released in 2019. The Port houses they control include Graham’s, Dow’s, Warre’s, Quinta do Vesuvio, Smith Woodhouse, Gould Campbell, Quarles Harris and most recently since 2010, Cockburn. 

History 
The family has been present in the Douro for five generations, having been founded in 1882 when Andrew James Symington, a Scot who arrived in Oporto, started working for Graham’s before becoming a partner of Warre & Co and Dow’s Port. Over 70% of the Port wine sold by Symington brands is produced from grapes grown on their own properties. 

Wines 
Their Douro wines include the Altano range, Quinta do Ataíde in the Vilariça valley in the upper Douro, and flagship Chryseia, which along with Post Scriptum and Prazo de Roriz, are produced at Quinta de Roriz in a joint venture with Bruno Prats, ex of Château Cos d'Estournel in Bordeaux. Quinta do Ataíde is also the site of a new winery, which is designed to reduce its impact on the environment. It will use renewable energy and the layout has been designed to maximise the amount of wine transfers that can be achieved through gravity. 

Environmental sustainability 
Members of the Primum Familiae Vini group of top family producers worldwide, they are one of the world's leading producers. They own the largest organically certified vineyard in Portugal and from 2019 are certified B-corporation members. Given Portugal’s significant water challenges, Symington have, since 2011, been working to reduce the amount of water needed in winery and bottling operations, and use a computer-controlled system of irrigation drips to minimise use of water in the vineyard. The company also manages more than 1,200 hectares of wildlife sanctuaries, which provide habitats for species including wild boar and birds of prey, and maintain 92 kilometres of stone terraces, which are classified as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. 

Social sustainability 
The company’s commitment to its local community is equally impressive. Each year they buy grapes from over 1,100 farmers and work with those suppliers to ensure that their practices are aligned with Symington’s minimal intervention approach. The company also prioritises local providers of goods and services to support the local economy. 

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Portugal Vintage 2011

Good, well-balanced wines were made with the north shining, particularly in vinho verde country. The residual water left over from the wet winter of 2010 and further rain in the following winter was important in sustaining the vines in this drier summer, particularly for the Douro and Bairrada, and this was topped up with some late August and September rain. The harvest there was carried out in excellent conditions by and large and it has ended up being a very good vintage indeed, particularly for tourigan nacional and touriga franca. Reds across Portugal did well and some lovely whites were made in regions such as Beiras, Minho (vinho verde), Bairrada, Dão, Lisboa and Setúbal.

Port - 2011 is only the second universal declaration since 2003 and there really is excellence throughout, marked by great purity of fruit, minerality and freshness overlaying richness and power. There is exceptional depth of colour and concentration of flavour, with wild-berry fruit and bitter-chocolate to the...
Good, well-balanced wines were made with the north shining, particularly in vinho verde country. The residual water left over from the wet winter of 2010 and further rain in the following winter was important in sustaining the vines in this drier summer, particularly for the Douro and Bairrada, and this was topped up with some late August and September rain. The harvest there was carried out in excellent conditions by and large and it has ended up being a very good vintage indeed, particularly for tourigan nacional and touriga franca. Reds across Portugal did well and some lovely whites were made in regions such as Beiras, Minho (vinho verde), Bairrada, Dão, Lisboa and Setúbal.

Port - 2011 is only the second universal declaration since 2003 and there really is excellence throughout, marked by great purity of fruit, minerality and freshness overlaying richness and power. There is exceptional depth of colour and concentration of flavour, with wild-berry fruit and bitter-chocolate to the fore, all built on a foundation of well-structured tannins that will provide for a long, long life. There had been rumours at harvest time that great things were expected and it is pleasing to be able to say that the vintage does not disappoint.
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The Times

No Christmas is complete without a glass of vintage port and this is my indulgent pick for 2024.

Jane MacQuitty

JancisRobinson.com

With the Society’s customer profile and lengthy relationship with the Symington family, one would expect high things from their 150th Anniversary Vintage Port. You won’t be disappointed. A classic example ...
With the Society’s customer profile and lengthy relationship with the Symington family, one would expect high things from their 150th Anniversary Vintage Port. You won’t be disappointed. A classic example – weighty and plush, generous in fruit and sweetness but all in very fine balance with an undertow of graphite and freshening acidity.
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Andy Howard MW

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